Writer, inventor and entrepreneur Mike Maddock, Iowa State ’87, was the 53rd Conclave’s first keynote speaker.

“You are prepared to change the world,” he said. “I’m going to help you do it.”

He said, “The smartest people I know ask for help,” and challenged officers and volunteers to start thinking about organizations around them that have wisdom they can pull from, adding that Conclave was an especially good opportunity to seek out innovative ideas.

Maddock is a Forbes magazine columnist and author of Free the Idea Monkey… to focus on what matters most!, and other books on innovation. Check out his articles on forbes.com and follow him on twitter @theideamonkey.