We’ve said it many times before: KKDL and wine country go hand in hand. Last month we took a day trip to one of our favorite backyard destinations, Sonoma County, for the first annual Harvest Summit.
This November we were honored to be invited to the inaugural Harvest Summit, a one day invitation-only “innovation field trip” in Sonoma County. Serving up a blend of farm-to-table bites, artisanal drinks and avant-garde conversations in a countryside setting, the wine country summit aims to ignite interaction and ideas that will have a social impact. And being one of 300 attendees, we can tell you they hit the mark!
The day started off with Early Morning Meditation with renowned fitness and wellness expert, Juliet Kaska and was followed up by a lovely local breakfast giving opportunity to meet with attendees and hosts.
The Big Barn Kick Off was perfectly punted by Jessica Kilcullen (of the famed “For Dummies” series) where she welcomed guests and introduced the day.
Bill O’Connor of Autodesk, Michael Perman of C’EST WHAT?, and Val Wright of Val Wright Consulting kicked off the discussion sessions with INNOVATE, exploring the process and framework to create innovation action plans. To get a sense of this session, check out Val’s book Thoughtfully Ruthless.
Steven Aldrich of GoDaddy and Neal Thornberry of Imstrat and the Naval Post-Graduate School offered unparalleled advice on the lessons learned during the early years of their innovative projects. Steven was gracious enough to personally chat about our business dreams, while Neal introduced us to his influential circle of friends.
As avid foodies, you bet we bee-lined it to the Chef Prospective talk. Chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus and Two Birds One Stone, Dustin Valette of Valette, and TV Host Leslie Sbrocco explored one of our favorite topics — restaurant and food trends.
Jessica Kilcullen closed out the Summit with Mark Burnett of The Voice and Survivor fame while wholeheartedly thanking attendees for their inspiring contributions.
We were so grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with electrifying entrepreneurs from near and far. Their insights were inspiring, and we can’t thank Harvest Summit enough for allowing us to participate in this wonderful inaugural event. We can’t wait for next year!
