Last Wednesday the community experienced one of those rare cultural events that will impact the community for years to come. That morning 1,050 people gathered at the Lincoln Center to see best-selling author Jim Collins. The audience included people from small businesses, large companies, area nonprofits, city and county government, law enforcement, and the school district.
I don’t remember the last time I was at an event with the CEO’s of the leading companies in town, the police chief, the sheriff, the superintended of schools, school board members, the mayor, the city manager, city council members, and university leaders.
Nobody left disappointed. Collins was a powerful presence, and it showed in the faces in the audience. You could here a pin drop most of the time. Nobody was fiddling with their technology or chatting or gazing at the ceiling. They were dialed in to Collins.
The presentation focused on his newest book, Great by Choice, and he presented and discussed 12 Questions that all organizations should be asking.
During the final hour on stage, he had the audience take a few minutes to work in small groups to identify the one question they’d to ask him. Then audience members lined up to ask their questions. It was impressive all around, both Collins and the audience. He responded thoughtfully to all of the questions posed and the audience showed its collective smarts and willingness to ask not only business questions but how his insights apply to communities and to ask him personal questions.
Social media was abuzz during and after the event. Search #FCThoughtLeader on Twitter to read comments and reactions from the event.
A huge thank you to our sponsors. To bring in someone the quality of Jim Collins requires serious coin, only made possible with their financial support. The Overall Sponsor was Otterbox. Other sponsors were Bohemian Foundation, CSU School of Business, Everitt Companies, Woodward, BBVA Compass, City of Fort Collins, Heath Construction, UCHealth, Advanced Energy, Allergy and Asthma Center of the Rockies, Banner Health, Brinkman Partners, Brock & Company, CPAs, Chrisland Commercial, EKS&H, Flood & Peterson, Foothills Mall, Forney Industries, Otis & Peters, LLC, Yancey’s, High Country Beverage, Advance Tank, Community Banks of Colorado, CSU Bookstore, Larimer County, Maxey Manufacturing, Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, Poudre River Library District, Poudre School District, Wolf Robotics, Lamar, Rocky Mountain Publishing and Old Town Media.