Our colleagues in the Media & Entertainment industry from Latin America faced a challenge that required a totally different approach. The colleagues had access to a large amount of information on how they could help their customers in the new digital era. The challenge was to find the right answers to specific questions, in particular in the area of how to drive innovation opportunities in the ongoing digital revolution. Going through the pile of information was probably not an option in the short timeframe.

They decided to launch an internal Jam session during 48 hours, based on the experience of the IBM’s Jam events. A Jam session is a moderated discussion about a set of well defined topics, addressed to a community. This Jam session started with four key questions and was addressed to the internal community of people working for the Media & Entertainment industry.

In the past I have moderated Innovation Jams and contributed to other Jam sessions. My previous experiences were always instructive and expanded my network. I decided to join this one as well.

Nearly 1200 people from all around the globe joined the Jam. Despite the short notice a great success. The 48 hours discussion resulted in over 200 valuable postings, well catalogued around the four key questions.

From this session I have learned two things. First, compared with the situation in Europe is the media and entertainment industry in Latin America facing similar challenges. Second, great new ideas were expressed; now I have to think about how I can put them forward on the local market.

Yes, it was worth the time invested.

Yes, Jam is a great example on Collaborative Innovation.