Joie de Vivre

Just attended an extraordinary weekend workshop at Esalen with Chip Conley, founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality. I've stayed at his Bay Area hotels over the years and always noticed its unique customer orientation. Chip discussed his application of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to business planning and management.

There were great small group sessions that allowed for some musing on the development of the FORA concept. One attendee asked me about FORA, and she responded, "Oh, a selective, gourmet YouTube." Another discussed an experience she had with a TED Talks video and we got into a discussion of online video as a source of inspiration and big ideas. That struck me as an essential element of what we do, and how we might drive our editorial process. Stories that inspire from the world's great public forums. Like Esalen, a place of brilliant ideas, inspiration and free thinking.