For those of you who don’t know, The Behavioral Grooves is both a meetup and a podcast – sort of like a breakfast cereal and an energy drink at the same time.

Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan, Behavioral Alchemist founded the Behavioral Grooves as a non-profit organization to share their enthusiasm for the application of behavioral sciences with a wider audience.

Read along for a brief overview by Tim as he takes us on a ride through the experience:

Day 1: The Minneapolis Meetup

The first iteration of the Behavioral Grooves was the Minneapolis meetup. We gathered 25 people in a pub in Minneapolis to have a little social/networking time, an 18-minute presentation by a speaker, and about 45 minutes of table discussions based on cues from the speaker.

It went well. Really well, to be honest. Everyone walked away invigorated and asking for more. So, we did it again. And again. And again. At this writing, we have held a Behavioral Grooves meetup on the Third Thursday of almost every month since we launched in August 2017.

Day 2: The Podcast

We soon realized that a once-a-month meetup in Minneapolis was not enough. The list of academics and practitioners that we wanted to have in front of our group was stretching out into the year 2029 at this rate. We needed an alternative means of sharing ideas. The podcast was born.

The Behavioral Grooves podcast was launched in December 2017 and we already have listeners in 54 countries! We’ve interviewed guests across the United States, India, Sweden, England, Denmark and Kenya. We also have plans to interview practitioners and academics from Australia in the coming weeks.

The podcast is a long-form informal discussion that comprises of three key parts:

  1. The introduction. Kurt and I tee up the podcast with an introduction of our speaker and highlight key elements of the interview. This is just a couple of minutes.
  2. The interview. As much as is technically possible, we try to ensure that our podcast interviews are published uncut an unedited. The interviews last between 20 and 40 minutes.
  3. The grooving session. Following the interview, Kurt and I groove on the key points that struck us during the interview. We might ramble a bit here or explore rabbit holes that, at the moment, feel like they need to be explored. Our grooving session lasts about 10 – 20 minutes.

Day 3: The World

The podcast opened up all sorts of questions about personal appearances, the Behavioral Grooves Meetup is going on the road.

In April, we held a Behavioral Grooves Meetup in St. Louis at Cortex, the technology barn in the heart of the city’s innovation centers between St. Louis University and Washington University.

In May, we’re holding a meetup in Dallas to coincide with Kurt’s and my presentation at World at Work. (Date = May 22nd, Time = 5:30pm, Location = Del Rio Room at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas)

In June, we’re headed to Chicago – date and location TBD.

What’s Next?

Want to get involved? Interested in hosting or sponsoring a meetup in your town? Give us a shout – we’d be happy to have a conversation about it.