Last week I had the privilege to attend Plywood’s annual ATL Ideas Festival. The three-day event included Atlanta’s most promising visionaries, changemakers and dreamers looking to make a difference in the world with their organization. As a young man with an eagerness to put solutions to problems I see in the world it was refreshing to attend an event such as Plywood with people devoted to making a positive impact.
Organizations involved in the festival represented diverse communities solving complex issues. A few of the organizations included a rehab and re-entry program for former gang members, a headband start-up devoted to helping kids battling cancer, and a sustainable home group dedicated to ending global homelessness.
ATL Ideas 2019 delivered and made a lasting impression on Atlanta for the tenth straight year. Former attendees, now returning to the event as success stories, shared the highs and lows of their journey to inspire a new wave of smaller organizations from throughout the country. Speakers and presenters at the event noted their desire to solve issues within their community as their driving force. Most organizations began as small start-ups and are now mobilizing a team of employees to generate revenue and solve the problems they hoped to conquer.
The community Plywood has built over the last decade creates an environment of openness and familiarity that leads to more meaningful and insightful conversations with other attendees. From food trucks, befriending people playing Wii, to running into clients and former bosses I couldn’t have asked for a better experience at ATL Ideas.
Below are some of my favorite quotes and images from the Festival.
If you enjoy our coverage and curation from ATL Ideas, why not contact us to learn what we can see for your business and mission – Yalo is a talented marketing agency in Atlanta dedicated to helping our customers shine and stand-out in a sea of voices.
