You will bring a design-based approach to creativity and problem solving to your region / community.
You can practice your own facilitation skills and try some new tools and methods.
You will extend your personal and professional network locally and all over the world.
You can subtly showcase your own experience and skills with participants and the press.
You will not get rich (the Global Jam are non-profit), but you might get famous(er).
You will certainly have a great time!
So, you are thinking about hosting a Jam? To help you decide, we put together the answers to nine key questions on this concise Slidedeck.
For more information, check out our FAQ for hosts. Of course, you can get help any time at help@globaljams.org
If you feel ready, sign up to join the host community and make your Jam appear on the Global map of Jam locations.
Anyone can host a Jam. You can be an expert, or a complete beginner – you only need to follow a few simple guidelines and rules. And as a local Jam Host, you have great freedom to shape your local Jam.
Your Jam should be open to anyone (as long as you have space). They might be (service) designers, entrepreneurs, academics, artists, government workers, students, customer experience experts, tech wizards, patients, unemployed folks, grandparents or kids. Anyone should be able to take part in a Jam.
No worries. While most Hosts lead their Jam through a discovery and development process based on design thinking or service design, any other method is fine too.
If you don’t know that way of working, simply use another method – or ask the Jam community for help!
The best Jams are run by a team, with a mix of skills. Each of them might be good at organising events, planning budgets, spreading the word, or facilitating people through a process. They might have some experience of design thinking or similar approaches, or they might be totally new. You might not know these people yet, but starting a Jam might be the best way to meet them.
No. Whatever happens, no-one should make money from Hosting at one of our non-profit Jams, but – having said that – no-one should get poor either! Local hosts often use their networks to find free spaces, ask friends to cook meals, or ask participants to bring and share resources, whether food or sticky notes. They might cover their remaining costs by finding sponsors or by collecting a small admission fee. In the end it is about making your Jam as open and accessible as possible.
Anyone can host a Jam. You can be an expert, or a complete beginner – you only need to follow a few simple guidelines and rules. And as a local Jam Host, you have great freedom to shape your local Jam.
At a Jam, participants spend up to 48 hours researching, ideating and prototyping possible solutions around a surprise Theme. Importantly, the Jam is not about discussing ideas. It is about finding an interesting problem, then hitting the streets in teams to talk to real people, generating a lot of ideas quickly, and turning them into prototypes which you test, refine, and test again – with real people if possible. Doing, not talking!
The Jam is a non-profit, community-supported event. Every time you have a question about the Jam - ask one of your fellow hosts either in our online community, or at one or our Host meet-ups. Someone is always happy to help. :) There is also an online course “Jam Hosting Essentials” which is packed with tools, time-plans, warm-ups and good advice from many Jammers all over the world. It's free to every Host.
It’s free to host a Jam. We firmly believe that there should be no barrier – and certainly no financial on – to take the Jam to all kind of communities.
At some point we might kindly ask for voluntary contributions to cover the costs of running the Global part of the Jam. But that will be up to you.
The Jams are global events, and Jammers love that international feeling. So, most Jams celebrate the international experience in some way.
Many Jams use a social media wall. All through the Jam, they show to the Twitter, Instagram, WeChat, Facebook and other social media posts by thousands of Jammers worldwide. You also might want to find a “twin” Jam, and link up by video calls at regular intervals throughout the Jam weekend, or by helping each other’s projects.