"Know" Less - "Learn" More - Innovate!
Expand Your Future

June 8-12, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA
Will be hosted by Woodbury University in Burbank

Conference Sessions

Friday June 10, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM: 4 Simple Steps to Inspirational Innovation, Part 1.
Friday June 10, 1:15 PM - 4:15 PM: 4 Simple Steps to Inspirational Innovation, Part 2.

The In2:In Thinking Network was formed in 2001 by a group of students of the work of W. Edwards Deming and related theorists. The aim of our network is to make thinking about systems, variation, knowledge, and psychology, and their interaction - which comprises Deming's system of profound knowledge - more conscious. We believe that such thinking about thinking, which we call "inthinking," will allow people to better perceive relationships and interdependencies in human endeavors, and consequently act to make those endeavors more valuable, more satisfying, and more joyful.

Why settle for the prevailing style of thought?
Be a leader in thought and action.
Improve your thinking about thinking.

The vision of an annual “west coast” Forum dates back to the summer of 2000.  We had ideas to share and saw the role of a conference to help us expand a localized southern California thinking network into something much larger – an international thinking network.  In envisioning the Forum, we borrowed ideas from conferences we had attended and integrated them into the design of our event.  For example, we took the concept of a forum from the annual “Deming” conference in Cincinnati, the Ohio Quality and Productivity Forum, also known as OQPF.  Similarly, we borrowed the idea of a weekend event from the annual W. Edwards Deming Institute (WEDI) conference.  We also borrowed the idea of a low-cost event from the WEDI conference, and settled in on $250 as the registration fee for our first Forum in 2002.  To this weekend conference activity, we added two days (Thursday and Friday) of pre-conference seminars and workshops and defined the entire 4-day event, pre-conference plus conference, as our annual Forum.  The conference activities begin at 4pm on a Friday and end at noon on the following Sunday.

The design requirement for a low-cost entrance fee was achieved through the efforts of our founding members to work together, amongst themselves and with an alliance of “partners,” most of who were in a position to offer us pro-bono support.  For example, through a partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne, we offer the two days of pre-conference seminars and workshops, onsite at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s offices in Canoga Park, California, at no fee to attendees.   Beginning in 2006, we began offering post-conference seminars and workshops as well.  We also owe a debt of gratitude to our speakers, both for our pre-conference and post-conference seminars and workshops and weekend conference, for participating without fee.  We are grateful to our speakers for agreeing to appear pro-bono, and are likewise proud to connect them with the members of our thinking network.

Forum Team

Beginning with two dozen Forum teammates in 2001, our team has since expanded each year to include over 50 volunteers on our 2013 Forum Team.  Most are located in the United States, from north to south and coast to coast, and we are joined by several teammates in the United Kingdom.  We are organized into specific roles, such as teams for program design, finance, marketing, and communications, and logistics.  Other teams handle finance, our website, scholarships, sales, and registration.

Brochures by year:

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