By Bowen Dwelle, an EO San Francisco member and CEO of 8 Meter Media

What is Flow?

Flow is the mental state of being fully immersed in energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of an activity. We are happier, more productive and more our best selves in flow. If you’ve ever lost yourself riding a wave, playing music, dancing or meditating, you’ve already experienced flow. 

Flow Forum inspires and challenges us to lead extraordinary lives by focusing on being active in the outdoors, challenging ourselves with physical goals, and learning to use flow in all aspects of our lives.

How did you get the idea to start your own MyEO Forum around this topic?

After 4 years of my local Forum, I was interested in how to push the boundaries of forum, and I also wanted to incorporate physical, outdoor activity into forum. I met one of the founders of the Flow Genome Project and as we spoke, I realized that “flow” could be used as the foundation for a MyEO forum. I decided to redefine my forum experience from the ground-up based on the idea of flow.

How did you go about starting your Forum? 

I fleshed out the idea for Flow Forum in a presentation (attached), and publicized the idea within my chapter. Two of the members of my prior forum decided to join, and several others expressed interest. We had a couple of calls to brainstorm ideas and set the schedule for our first meeting, which occurred in September, 2014.

Tell us about your Forum and how it works.

Flow Forum is based in San Francisco and meets quarterly.  Meetings are designed as mini-retreats lasting 36-48 hours, usually beginning early Friday morning and ending Saturday afternoon. We include a challenging, outdoor physical activity (such as hiking, trail running, surfing, climbing, diving) as well as traditional forum presentations and experience-sharing. We seek members who have been in EO and in a forum for at least 3 years and who are located in the San Francisco Bay area, or are willing to travel here for quarterly meetings.

What words of wisdom would you share with others who might want to start their own MyEO Forum?

1. Have a clear vision for your forum – WHY should members consider joining, and WHAT is the purpose or mission statement of the forum?
2. Write up a proposal for your forum as you would for any business idea, and discuss the idea with other EO members.
3. Have an ideal forum member profile in mind. What are your requirements and criteria for evaluating prospective members?
4. Create a constitution addressing questions such as schedule, costs, conflict resolution, etc.
5. Set a standing meeting schedule and plan out the entire year to come.