How the Jam Works

The Jam platform is dynamic, offering many ways to share ideas and opinions. There’s a lot going on but it’s still user-friendly. This page is dedicated to making sure you know how to navigate the platform before you even login and tips for getting the most out of your experience.

Step-by-Step Instruction
Jam Roles
Screenshots of the Jam Platform
Why a Jam?

The Jam: Step by Step

Getting Started

Register:

The Jam starts with you doing a quick, one-time registration. Registration only takes a minute or two. Be sure to check your email for a confirmation to complete your registration.

Login:

Login with your username and password. Feel free to customize your profile too, including updating your photo. After logging in a Jam homepage will show you the ten forums as well as upcoming conversations, VIP guests, content you’ve created so you can pick up conversations, and emerging hot topics.

Getting the Most From the Jam

Once you’re logged into the Jam platform there will be alerts that let you know when a VIP guest joins so you can participate in that conversation if you want. There will be emails and communication during the jam to let everyone know what’s happened so far and what the most exciting upcoming things are.

  • Jam alerts are a great resource to find interesting conversations by hosts and VIPs.
  • Rate posts to express your opinion.
  • Participate in polls—and send us ideas for polls you would like to see.
  • Use the Ideas widget—especially the Emerging Ideas widget—to see what is trending and help evolve the thoughts and ideas shared in the conversation.

Once you are in the Jam platform

Start talking:

Pick the forum you want to explore and you’ll be taken to a page with the main question, top tags, hottest posts, and a complete list of all threads under this discussion. You can join any forum at any time.

The Jam is a lot like a chat room—you can post a comment or respond to one and people can respond to you. You’ll be able to see everyone else’s comments from the whole jam so you don’t miss out. Posts and their responses are grouped so it’s easy to keep track of conversations even when they go off topic a bit or very deep. We recommend tagging your content according to what area/topic it best fits to make searching and filtering easier.

Additional Ways to Engage in the Jam Platform

Polls: There will be occasional polls where everyone will be asked a question and the results will be put into charts and graphs. Polls are on the homepage and forum landing pages.

Special Session Chats: A number of special session chats are scheduled throughout the Jam. These are more intimate conversations with a Chat Host on a specific topic with participation capped at about 30 people. Participation is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

People & Roles During the Jam

Jam Forum Hosts

Jam Forum Hosts are thought leaders with a natural connection to one of the forums.

Jam Forum Hosts will be dropping into the conversations in a particular forum throughout the 60 hours to make sure the discussions stay active and relevant, and to push exploration on key ideas.

VIP Guests

VIP guests are notable leaders in the subject matter who will be joining discussions on a schedule date and time.

Check out the full list of nearly 100 VIPs and be sure to mark your calendars for the discussions you want to join.

Chat Hosts

Special Session Chats are a chance to have a more intimate discussion with a Chat Host. Chat Hosts are subject matter experts on a particular topic.

Please note that Chats happen at a scheduled time and have limited seats allotted on a first-come, first-serve basis. See a full list of chat times and topics. All other forum conversations during the Jam are open to everyone.

Facilitators

Conversations are managed behind the scenes by facilitators who work three-four hour shifts and then hand off information to the next facilitator so there is continuity throughout the discussion to help make connections from the entire conversation even though participants come and go.

What You’ll See During Registration and in the Jam

Peruse the screenshots below to get a feel for key areas of the platform so when you login you know what to expect and can get to right where you want to be. Click on an image to see it full size.

Registration Page 1

The Jam Registration Page - start your registration here and be sure to check your email to confirm your registration before logging in. You don't have to upload an image but if you do you can change it at any time.

Welcome page close up

The Jam Welcome Page. Inviting you to pick whichever forum you want to participate in or explore.

Your Jam Page 1

Your Jam Homepage. A starting point for incredible conversations.

Your Jam Page 2

The bottom of the your Jam Homepage. You'll find schedules, polls, trends, and information you need to know here.

Forum Overviews

Forum overview page - learn more about which forum is exploring ideas you are interested in.

Forum Close up

Chat schedule close up

A close up view of the chat widget. Check back often so you don't miss these first-come, first-serve special sessions.

Emerging Ideas close up

A close up view of the emerging ideas widget. Look here for ideas that are taking conversations to new, exciting places.

Poll close up

A close up view of the poll widget. Another way to share your opinions, polls are quick and yield powerful insights to participant's views.

Joining a Chat

A close up of special Chat session information and how to join.

Forum Landing Page

A forum landing page example. See an overview of the forum and a list of discussions you can join.

Conversation Close Up

A conversation example - start a new comment or respond to a fellow Jammer.

Why Jam?

  • Why is it called a Jam?

    The name “jam” comes from the tradition of musicians coming together for a jam session. There, they play unprepared music that has often led to some of the most memorable songs in history. A jam session is about bouncing ideas, skills, and styles off your fellow members to expand and be inspired. It’s a community of growth that has the ability to ignite an influential future—just like a Jam.

  • Behind the Scenes

    During the Jam a lot of data is being collected—about which topics rise to the top, new ideas, polls, engagement levels on different topic etc. after the jam IBM will use their system to sift through all of this data and provide a report to analyze and identify key takeaways.

  • A Jam breaks the rules.

    You’re not held to the schedule and location of a conference, workshop, or seminar. And that’s because the Jam isn’t any one of those things. It isn’t confined by space or time so that your ideas aren’t confined by space or time. You won’t simply sit in a room and listen to a lecture. A successful Jam needs your active participation to envision a brighter future.

    It’s a worldwide brainstorm that occurs in ways a typical conference never could. In a matter of 60 hours, thousands of people—researchers, scholars, students, thought leaders, executives—will unite in a unique virtual environment to find solutions. Discussion forums moderated by expert guests engage participants across the globe to share knowledge and prompt research on a compelling subject—in this case, the future of business education.

  • Your participation, your way

    Participants can log in from any internet-connected device, from anywhere, at anytime. You’ll collaborate with people you might not have met at an in-person conference.

    Join a conversation on your morning commute, during your lunch break, or when you get home from work. The Jam is ongoing over three days, making it flexible for all kinds of lifestyles. As VIP guests come onboard, we’ll keep you updated with a schedule of when and where they’ll be logging on. This is your chance to flex your intelligence and creativity with some of today’s greatest business minds.

  • Just the beginning

    The Jam is a massive convergence of ideas, concepts, and collaborations that are a launching point for building the next generation of innovation. It’s the first spark. What you contribute will be published for the world and will have the potential to become influential realities.