Your theme will be the lasting memory of your week. It will appear on your posters, your T-shirts, and in the titles of your educational programs. We naturally judge and categorize things immediately. Our brains are trained to sort things as good ideas or bad, worthwhile or not. The key to brainstorming is to turn off that judging process so that ideas flow freely without anyone trying to figure out whether or not they will work, if it costs too much money, etc.
People are often reluctant to offer ideas, fearing the criticism of others.
If you conduct a productive brainstorming session, people will feel comfortable blurting out any thought. OUT Judgment is suspended until a later screening or evaluation session. Allowing yourself to be critical at the same time you are being creative is like trying to get hot water and cold water from the faucet at the same time. Results are tepid. The wilder the ideas, the better.