Tweeting with ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7

While I was on vacation last week, I received a Press Release from CS Odessa about the release of the new MindTweet feature that was now integrated into to their flagship product ConceptDraw MINDMAP, and just today I had a chance to give it a try. Once you install the latest version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP V 7.1.0 you will now see the familiar Tweet icon on your toolbar. To start using the MindTweet feature you will need to authorize ConceptDraw MINDMAP to access your Twitter account which was quick and flawless. Once your account is authorized it is a cinch to use the feature to tweet directly from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP. Being able to tweet from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP is really a great idea and lets you get an overview of  what you have been tweeting. Having access to the brainstorming tool within ConceptDraw MINDMAP makes it a snap to quickly go from ideas to tweets with a click of the icon.

To get started tweeting from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP you simply type your tweet within a topic and then click on the Tweet icon on the toolbar. Once you do this the Tweet dialog box comes up where you can preview or edit your tweet before sending it. ConceptDraw MINDMAP also allows you to automatically place a check mark within the topic to give you a visual cue that it has been tweeted. If you have hyperlinked a URL to a topic it will also come over in the tweet which is handy. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you can quickly create a dashboard for your tweets so that you can see how your campaign is coming along. It would be nice if in future release if you were able to set the date and time of when your Tweets were sent. Likewise it would be great if you could generate a ConceptDraw MINDMAP from a Twitter hashtag or from a particular person you are following. Overall, ConceptDraw MINDMAP does a great job of integrating tweeting and provides me with a dashboard for my tweets - which gives me a great overview within a powerful mind mapping application.


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Brainstorming With Quartet Kapture

I have been kicking the tires as I explore the capabilities of Quartet Kapture over the last couple of days. Quartet Kapture works as promised and captures your hand written notes and ideas from a flip chart with ease. Here is a session that I captured and exported the notes as a Jpeg file. For more information about Quartet Kapture click here.http://www.tonkinnews.com

Are You Using Flip Charts in Your Meetings?

I just started to market a new product called Quartet Kapture and was interested in finding out how many of you use flip charts in your meetings when brainstorming or facilitation conversations.

theRealizer-MindManager Add-in

theRealizer is a clever add-in to MindManager that is elegant in its design and execution. When installed, theRealizer is accessible from a panel right within MindManager. theRealizer will work with MindManager 6 as well as MindManager 7. When you first launch theRealizer you are struck by its playful simplicity and its whimsical style. theRealizer is intended to help individuals and groups brainstorm new ideas, innovative products, and or new processes. While traditional brainstorming can become mundane and predictable, it is with the assistance of theRealizer that the brainstorming process takes on another dimension. Using lateral thinking prompts along with the structure built into theRealizer, allows others to expand their brainstorming sessions so that it is not business as usual.

As part of the process of using theRealizer you first click on the Setup Map which adds the following topics to your mind map: Define Challenge, Generate Ideas, and Prioritize. From there you select Define Challenge, which lets you type your challenge into an input dialog box. theRealizer also lets you select your challenges from a predefined list if you prefer. After you type your challenge you simply click on the Add button to add it to the Define Challenge topic. You can add as many challenges as you like and you can also use the whimsical set of cards that are intended to invoke some lateral thinking as you formulate your challenges. Once you formulate and have defined your challenge you can mark it on the mind map. This moves you to the next phase in which you can generate some ideas. Once again you can type them within theRealizer Input box which are then appended to the Generate Ideas topic. At any point in the idea generation phase you can use the Idea Impulse cards that make you look at the brainstorming ideas with a different twist. There are over 400 impulse cards with different prompts that can help to generate new and exciting and yet to be thought of ideas.

Once you have generated the ideas now it is time to prioritize them. You do this by simply clicking on the Prioritize button on theRealizer panel. This brings up the Prioritize Grid which allows you to sort your ideas according to the dimensions of Creativity and Realism. You can now drag your ideas around on the grid and when you are done theRealizer will sort the ideas on you mind map according to your placement. You can follow up this step in the process by clicking on Add Sorting branch which sets up a structure for you to drag your ideas around. On the Sorting branch you will find: Do It. Develop Further, Give Away, Save, and Throw. Simply drag your ideas on these subtopics to help determine which ideas you will work on. For the last step in the process, simply click on the idea you selected and add the Add Concept branches which helps you to further think through the benefits of the idea, the primary target, how to make money, and the slogan.

Once completed it is easy to distribute your mind map to communicate your new ideas. theRealizer is a simple put thoughtful add-in that adds a new dimension to brainstorming. It takes you out of the traditional brainstorming mode and lets you enter a realm that engages you to think about new ideas in a unique and creative fashion.