Extraordinary Experience #20: The definition of FUSE.

As we've been tweeting and posting our activities over the past two days, our friends outside the industry have asked, 'What does FUSE mean'? When the question was posed we realized that we didn't know the answer. Does it have a meaning? When the conference launched 15 years ago, how did it get its name?

Well, we're creative people, when we don't know the answer, we seek out possible answers. So, we turned to the definition of Fuse:

Webster gives us these options:
: to reduce to a liquid or plastic state by heat
: to blend thoroughly by or as if by melting together

When this doesn't do it, again, we're creative people so we start making things up. Perhaps it was an acronym of some sort. Here are some we considered.

1. Future Understandings and Sights Enlightened.

2. Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education.

4. Fairies Under a Shared Enlightenment.

(to honor the woman having to walk around in a fairy costume)

Did we nail it? Anyone think we have it with option three above? Perhaps.

Now again, we're creative and until you take the project away from us we'll continue to work on it until we believe we've got it right. So, we explore further.

FUSE: Blending design, innovation, research and commerce. It is the conference where these unfamiliar people mingle (thank you Mingle 360), talk, exchange ideas, sing, laugh, connect, hand over business cards, shake hands, and generally find ourselves inspired by others.

Perhaps this isn't what FUSE meant when it was formed, but from our interpretation it has come to be known as a place where these four disciplines have been immersed in the same warm pool to hang out and learn from each other.

Day two has proven to be as fruitful as day one. Plenty of intellectual and emotional content to keep us all scurrying from room to room for the next insight.

Find us (Kitty Hart and Aaron Keller) and we'll share your story with FUSE. Find us and we'll share what we've learned so far. Find us and we're certain you'll enjoy the conversation.