Roadmap of the HATCH Experience
We were greeted with all the magic Montana has to offer on the first day of this year’s HATCH Experience. Halfway up the Big Sky mountain road, steady rain gave way to snowflakes, and the golds, greens, and reds of autumn slipped under a blanket of white. By the time we turned onto the final road leading up to the Moonlight Lodge at Moonlight Basin , low-hanging clouds drifted through the pine forest alongside us before breaking over the Spanish Peaks.
Inside the Lodge, over 100 HATCHers from across the country and around the globe came together, and the feeling was instantly – and powerfully – one of being with old friends or family. The rules, posturing, and conventions of traditional networking events dissolved to allow for authentic interactions and meaningful conversations.
Simply stated, arriving at HATCH feels warm and inviting; like a chance to be your true self. It feels like coming home.
That immediate sense of connectivity is a defining aspect of the HATCH experience, and moving introductions and performances that took place during our first evening together served as a roadmap for our next few days together.
HATCH’s Founder Yarrow Kraner put the phenomenon into words when he introduced HATCH as “three and a half days to accelerate relationships, to lose titles, to cleanse ourselves…to create and forge lifelong relationships.”
As renowned composer and cellist Philip Sheppard took the stage for HATCH 2015’s first musical performance, he expanded on the power of the connectivity in the room: “Everyone at HATCH does something that moves people…this is the best network you’ll ever have.”
When Philip was joined on stage by musician and beatbox legend Butterscotch, the musical collaboration that took place stopped us all in our tracks. Over one hundred people put conversations on hold and sat in rapt silence as the rich, resonate notes of a cello were matched by seamless transitions from rapid fire vocal percussion to smooth jazz singing.
The relationships created during the first hours of HATCH ultimately form the pathways to affecting meaningful change in our world. Facilitator Pete Strom closed out the first evening of HATCH with this powerful reminder: “What happens at HATCH is a result of how we interact…how remake this not about us; but about how we impact the world.”
The roadmap of HATCH makes it clear we have 3.5 days to move beyond any of our previous expectations for where we are, or where we’re headed.