Indianapolis hosts Forbes’ Innovation Summit — gala at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

A few hundred people concluded Forbes Innovation Summit at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Late Thursday night, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine was on the Bankers Life Fieldhouse court chatting it up with Pacers guard George Hill.

George Hill (right) with Forbes’ Steve Forbes.

It was down there, where Hill and Steve Forbes must have talked for a good 20 minutes on the sideline just in front of the Pacers’ bench. To conclude a special day in the business world, participants in Forbes’ Reinventing America: The Innovation Summit made their way down to the court to see the inside of bowl, shoot hoops, and meet Hill, an Indianapolis native.

For the past three years, Forbes Magazine has annually focused on this reinventing theme and trying to bring these successful organizations to a national and international audience. A few hundred business leaders were in Indy for Forbes’ now annual innovation summit, which was sponsored by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Elevate Ventures.

Following the success of the inaugural summit last March in Chicago, next year they are planning to have three summits — with stops in Chicago, Detroit, and California.

Early Thursday, the summit opened with speakers and panels at the JW Marriott. The speaker list included Angie Hicks (Founder of Angie’s List), Jon Lauckner (President of GM Ventures), Scott Dorsey (Former Chairman and CEO of ExactTarget), Jan Lundberg (President of Eli Lilly & Company), and Jim Morris (Pacers Sports & Entertainment Vice Chairman).

“We spent the day talking about innovation and all of the exciting things that are happening in the midwest and this organization and those guys really represent those better than anybody,” said managing editor Dan Bigman.

Forbes says it reaches approximately 75 million people worldwide per year on a number of different platforms. The magazine recently released a list of best states to do business and Indiana moved up one spot to 15th, its highest ranking ever. I asked Bigman, who hails from Brooklyn, New York, how Indiana is perceived for innovation to outsiders.

“I think the problem is that they don’t,” he answered. “And that’s really why we’re here. We really fervently believe in the exciting things that are happen in the middle of the country.

“Without the heartland, the country is in big trouble.”

It was fitting that as I spoke with Bigman, who praised the city and Pacers Sports & Entertainment for their warm welcome, in the background, the evening program opened with a highlight from the movie Hoosiers.

After opening remarks from Pacers Vice Chairman Jim Morris, Indiana Governor Mike Pence took the microphone and concluded with a short and simple message: Indiana is open for business.

The point of this summit is to bring folks together, exchange ideas, learn from others, and network. There surely will be some deals made as a result of a meeting or an idea sparking from the day. Leaders in Indiana are also hoping it’ll lead to more business being done in the state.

“Indiana is at the forefront of the exciting changes taking place in America’s heartland,” said Victor Smith, Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce. “It’s a great place to do business, and it’s the perfect place to host a gathering like this.”

The keynote speaker Thursday night at the gala reception was longtime NBA front-office man Donnie Walsh, now a consultant for the Pacers. Highlights from his talk are below:

Donnie Walsh has an incredible knowledge of business, and of the NBA.

• Walsh highlighted the power of teamwork. He’s from New York and says most young kids had a ball and could find a hoop, but they played on their own at a local public court. However, “Here in Indiana, it’s the first place I’ve seen where … any child, female or male, gets to be five years old, they are given a uniform and a coach, and then they have these little leagues all over the state and in every town. They begin the game as a five-man game so they quickly learn that it’s a team game.”
• “Anytime I’m with Larry Bird, I can assure you that little old ladies with white hair come up and go, ‘Oh, there’s Larry,’ and they start talking to him about what he should of done and how he should of played the game. I haven’t really seen anything like that and it’s refreshing, particularly to somebody that has been their whole life in basketball.”
• When asked about the winning culture, Walsh talked about understanding the Pacers’ small-market position and how they have to do things differently. Unlike some teams, such as Miami in recent years, they could not attack big-name free agents and spend oodles of money on them. “I don’t care how many stars you put on a team. That isn’t going to assure you of anything. When you see that during the summer, the press started awarding the championship a full year before you played. … The one thing they forget, I don’t care if they’re stars or non-stars, they have to become a team. They have to become a great team. And if you do become a great team and [even if] you don’t have the same kind of talent, you can beat those teams.”
• When Walsh had a head coach opening in 1997, he met with Bird in Indianapolis. Walsh asked Bird what he was going to do with the team, which was very-well put together and had all the makings to be successful. Bird then took Walsh through his plan for the entire year and told him everything he would do all the way to the NBA Finals, painting very vivid pictures. Thinking back afterwards, Walsh was amazed how Bird told him what he was going to do, “and that’s exactly what he did, down to the periods.”
• Walsh also discussed differences in his jobs with New York and in Indiana. New York has a different philosophy, and a much large budget. For instance, when he joined the Knicks in 2008, they were making four times what the Pacers were. Also, if they fire you, Walsh says the Knicks would cut ties and give you your money right away rather than deferring it. They wanted you away immediately.
• Walsh on the Pacers’ cap situation (nothing new): “This franchise can operate up to the cap.”

Attendees were very appreciative of the city and Bankers Life Fieldhouse for welcoming to the city and into the building. After Walsh got done speaking, a dessert tray was brought out and folks made their way down to the court. In addition to shooting on the main floor, they could tour the locker room.

One group of about 10 was astonished and thankful for the backstage tour. It put a cap on a strong day of business — and some fun — in downtown Indianapolis.

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