I can’t stand it! I can’t stand it no more! There’s two kinds of people in Vancouver: people who know about Pecha Kucha and people who don’t (don’t even get me started on TED). It’s not that I’m angry at PKN virgins I just think they’re missing out big time.
Now, if you haven’t heard of Pecha Kucha then this post has come at the right time for you, trust me. Here’s what you can expect: there are multiple presenters (hailing from design, architecture, art, culture, activism, fashion, entertainment, you name it) and each presenter is only allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. It’s highly entertaining, very inspirational, and in Vancouver it is usually at the uber-cool Park Theatre on Cambie Street where the beer flows (and the bottles roll down the isles every few minutes – Steven loves that part, I don’t know why). I’ve been three times so far and for $10 it’s a great night out.
Coming up on November 26th is Volume #9. The line up looks spectacular.
Chris Staples (Rethink)
Vancouver 2010 Design Team
Sarah Bancroft (vitamindaily.com and CREATIVEMIX speaker too!)
Tom Pedriks (Haymaker Creative)
TJ Galda (EA Canada)
Su-feh Lee (Battery Opera)
Elvy Del Bianco (Vancity)
Anne Pearson (Vancouver Special)
Michael Ziff (Hip Baby and Camp Moomba Yogathon lover)
Stephanie Hodges (Vitalis and Camp Moomba Yogathon lover)
So what are your plans this Thursday night? You know, that night of the week where you want to celebrate the fact that the next day is Friday, the day before the lovely Saturday?
Those who choose to register for the conference portion of our little event are in for a real treat. From 4:45 – 6:30pm, DJ Joel Armstrong (House/Melodramatic Popular Song/Techno) will perform live in our MIX Lounge for the Think & Drink reception, bringing us a cool vibe to wrap up a super rad day!
Okay, so for many of us the weekend isn’t actually the weekend, but who doesn’t need an excuse to party right?!
CREATIVEMIX is almost here! In just 24 hours Vancouver’s Ideation Conference will be underway and it’s shaping up to be an amazing day!
24 Hours Vancouver has published a piece on the conference (page 5) — just look for my pensive “Sssshhhhh… I’m thinking!” headshot — and it’s a great piece about the event. Terry McBride drops some very encouraging words and it really gets the vibe across.
So there it is. Creative math. 24 x 24 = October 22. Ha! I’m hilarious.
Okay, now let’s get on with it! Eileen and I have lived, breathed, and bled this thing and with one day left we can honestly say that we’re crazy-excited to see this event come to life. Bringing together Vancouver’s creatives in a “meeting of the minds” is one of those never-quite-completed tasks, but we’re having a blast doing it! Yes, we “think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” At this point, all I can think about is the Think & Drink.
Thanks to Kristen McKenzie for writing a great article and Editor-in-chief Dean Broughton for being our champion.
Businesses are successful when they’re committed to their people — when they invest in the development of their employees. If you manage a business and want to motivate or reward your employees, then think CREATIVEMIX instead of a fruit basket or pizza day. Yeah – it’s just two days away but hey, won’t you look like the cool boss! Here are some great (and some lame!) reasons why you should register your staff for Vancouver’s Ideation Conference.
5 GREAT reasons to send your employee(s) to CREATIVEMIX
Inspiration. You need a big idea and you need it now! Your staff will hear twelve in-depth talks on the nitty gritties of creativity, inspiration, and working outside the box. Maybe they’ll just come back with exactly what you need!
New connections. Collaboration is the name of the game. It’s not just about networking and generating sales leads anymore (that’s so 1998). Your team will mix and mingle with other top creative minds, which could lead to alliances and new business in areas that may surprise you.
Energy booster. Are your peeps stalling on a project or stuck in a rut? Give them some positive reinforcement – this will get the wheels turning for sure.
Cutting edge. How cool will you be sending your staff to an ideation conference? Who does that?! You’d stand out from competitors as an innovative company doing everything you can to get the creative juices flowing.
It’s local. Sure, you could spend thousands sending your crew to some status-quo conference in Vegas, or wherever, but the service providers, connections, and content will all be out of context. You need to inject some “local” into your business AND you don’t have the budget to send them out of town anyway.
5 TOTALLY LAME reasons to send your employee(s) to CREATIVEMIX
Extra space in the office. You want to move some furniture around or practice your Rockband guitar licks without anyone around. We get it. Get rid of them for a day.
More coffee for you. Your tired of sharing the coffee pot. Finally. . . a day when you can make the coffee the way YOU like it!
Stop the whining. They are getting on your nerves. Mask your frustration with a pro-d day and enjoy some free time from all the annoying questions and complaints.
Exit strategy. You’re going to fire them anyway but you need some time to plan the big boot. You can’t have a war room meeting when they’re within ear shot!
Laundry money. When trying to balance the books you found some fiscal discrepancies. To cover your tracks you need to spend some money quick.
Please call Corwin at 604-803-2019 for more information regarding group rates.
With the Vancouver International Film Festival coming to a close this Friday, you might mistakenly think that the cool screenings have come to an end, that you didn’t get your fill, or that you missed your chance completely. Fear not. The CREATIVEMIX Exhibition includes a mini theater where we’ll show short films by local directors. Exhibition-only tickets are FREE (if you sign-up online by October 21st) so there’s no reason to miss out. Learn more about our short film showcase here.
Here’s are two films that we are excited to include, both of which have been screened at the VIFF:
This short film is written and directed by Alan Miller. It’s based on a short story by Saki (AKA H.H. Munro) called “Sredni Vashtar.” The film is a darkly comic tale about a young boy who uses his imagination to fight the oppressive rule of his uptight guardian, Miss Anthrop, and is Miller’s “first” film. The quotations mean that the line between being a filmmaker and being an aspiring filmmaker is getting pretty blurry these days. If you want to get really technical about it, he’s been making films ever since middle school when he got his hands on the school’s first mac. But “Conrad the Wise” is a bit different in that he had, for the first time, the aid of a crew. And a budget. And a script. Ah… the sweet joy of funded collaboration.
In true CREATIVEMIX form, this film is the result of the contributions of people from all over the Vancouver film industry; from old pros, to film students, and one very talented kid. Miller managed to get the thing done without paying full price for anything, and without making too many enemies (as far as he knows…). The short of it is: it’s a tale of imagination, revenge, and hot buttery toast. You’ll love it.
Allison Beda, writer and director, calls a spade a spade with this witty and masterfully edited short about the rise and demise of a long-distance relationship played out over a game of tennis. What better way to answer the ultimate question, “Why is it called love if I’m losing?” than through–yep, that’s right–poetic tennis and dance. Brilliant.
Beda (Tea Party, How To Be A Model) worked with producer Stephanie Symns (ControlAltDelete) on this project. It was choreographed by Claire French (artist in residence Leeds University UK 2006-2007), scored by Leo award winning composer Teresa Connors (Dog Boy, How To Be A Model) and photographed by cinematographer James Liston (ControlAltDelete). The film features dancers Delia Brett and Daelik (who are the dance company Machine Noisy) and the voice-over was performed by recording artist Adrienne Pierce (songs from her album Faultline have been featured on The L Word, Veronica Mars and Grey’s Anatomy).
What do good coffee, local radio, and live music have in common? Oh come on people!
So if you haven’t heard yet, our CREATIVEMIX Exhibition includes the Mix Lounge, where you can enjoy some good coffee . . . we’ve told you about the coffee . . . and meet some new peeps. But what we haven’t told you is that you’ll also get to experience live performances by some amazing local talent.
For those of you who are tuned in to the newest and coolest local station here in Vancouver, 100.5 The PEAK, you will have heard of a little thing called the “PEAK Performance Project.” This is a seven-year, $5.29 million contest open to all musicians in BC, and was created by 100.5 The PEAK and Music BC to develop BC based emerging artists. To say the least, they hit the mother load right off the bat and we are ecstatic to have two of the finalists performing at CREATIVEMIX this year. Let me start with Ben Sigston.
Ben is one of those rare artists who can capture an audience’s attention with only a piano or acoustic guitar. He crafts melodic gems that work as well stripped down as they do produced with a full band. His early works, filled with bright, tasteful piano playing, weeping Beatle-esque guitar lines and instantly memorable vocal melodies, found instant success with numerous placements in both TV and film. A 2007 development deal with Warner Music put Sigston into contact with producer Warne Livesey (Midnight Oil, Matthew Good). The two discovered that they shared a common musical vision and enjoyed collaborating, and so decided to work together to record Ben’s first EP “Free Now.” It is Sigston’s unique ability to marry the abstract with the well-crafted pop song that makes him such a unique addition to the current crop of singer/songwriters.
Not to mention he goes great with an Americano. Mmmmmmm!
Ben will perform in the MIX Lounge on Thursday, Oct.22 at 10:30am and exhibition-only passes are $10 (but they’re FREE if you register online here.
Have you seen the poster? We’ve been spreading the word in lots of ways but this one has been the most fun so far (AKA the blender fish). Other than the fact that it’s a bit sadistic it’s been really effective – it’s catching people’s eye and getting them to stop for a moment, read the details, and it’s sticking in their heads. What else could we ask for? We wanted to make sure we didn’t create a bunch of waste so we only printed 400 posters and we have been placing them in locations where community or poster boards are managed (that’s right, no phone polls, mailboxes, or construction walls) which works out well because one poster will last 2 or 3 weeks verses 2 or 3 hours.
It hasn’t exactly been all peachy keen however. I was talking about CREATIVEMIX with someone at a party last week and when I mentioned the poster they responded with: “Oh, that’s you?! I’ve seen that poster! I really liked it, in fact, I’m thinking of buying a new blender.” I guess you can’t win them all.
Anyway, if you see one of our posters do this: stop, point, and yell “What a great poster! What a cool conference! I’m going to visit double u double u double u dot creative mix dot C A right now!” You won’t look like a dork at all.
A special note for Diane Haynes: no goldfish were hurt in the making of this poster.
Are you a business owner in Vancouver? On October 6th come celebrate the launch of LoCo BC, a new business network striving to create a diverse, vibrant local economy by strengthening small and mid-sized businesses, connecting and having fun in the process. The goal is to educate consumers and businesses about why it’s important to buy products and services from locally-owned companies whenever possible.
There are only 7 spots left so be quick about it. It’s only $20 BTW. You can learn more about this event and buy your tickets here.
This event is called Harnessing the Power of Local: Positioning Your Business to Thrive in a Shaky Economy and it will take place at Chambar Belgian Restaurant (very close to the Dirty Apron Cooking School… ah yeah). There will be a brief introduction to LoCo BC’s plans to drive local purchasing and support local businesses and then the focus will shift to the effective use of branding and new media tools.
Some of the groovy peeps involved with this event are:
Kierstin Dewest of Conscientious Innovation (Ci), a sustainability marketing firm and think tank, will draw on Ci’s annual survey of 5,000 North American consumers to highlight why local is an important and authentic brand advantage for your business. Ci has extensive experience with integrity brands® globally and at home – Worldchanging, Nike, SPUD, Novex, and UBC to name a few.
Robert Ouimet of Bigsnit Media Consulting will illustrate how digital media (websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook) can be used effectively to drive sales and create brand lift. Robert will explain how a merger of your online business presence with your core business is necessary for most businesses to keep up with technology, keep flexible enough to avoid a website revamp every two years, and keep it manageable with limited time and budget. Robert has worked in digital publishing with clients like the CBC, Biovia organic distributors, and VANOC’s collaborate art project CODE.
Coming up next weekend is The Drift 2009. It’s an art walk and open studio tour happening October 3 & 4 on Main Street in Vancouver. Over 100 artists will be featured! You’ll get to check-out 35 working studios and all the funky shops of course (how cool is the South Main and Mount Pleasant area – don’t forget to have breakfast at Slickity Jim’s).
So the basic deal is… drift along Main Street and see an eclectic variety of fine art and original handcrafts from established and emerging local artists including ceramics, painting, sculpture, photography, woodcarvings, collage, mixed media, glass works, jewelry, film, clothing design, textiles & multi-media compositions. If that doesn’t get a CREATIVEMIX shout-out what would?!
The image for this beautiful poster is by Drift artist Laura Zerebeski - her studio is at Beaumont Studios – 316 West 5th Avenue.
I just swung by The ARC Cafe to get my afternoon coffee (a triple long-shot espresso made to perfection) and had a great chat with the owner: Joe. I brought him some coffee sleeves, of course, and I learned a bit more about the cool creative community they have at The ARC.
The building has 80 artist live+work studios at the corner of Powell and Commercial and attracts all kinds of artsy-fartsy types: sculptors, painters, musicians, actors, potters, performers, etc. The units are spacious with great views and the building has the types of things working artists need: a freight elevator, wide halls and doors, sound proof walls, and of course one can not be without, a kiln, wood shop, metal shop, dark room, dance room, and a 24-hr LOUD music practice room. The real cool thing about The ARC is the community. Residents collaborate on projects, join forces to host events, and support each other in the creative life. Sounds like a GREAT place to live.
I also stumbled across Lourdes Lara’s blog, an Honduran-Canadian ARC resident who is an painter, sculptor and multimedia artist. Very cool work.
CREATIVEMIX speaker Kelly Deck is presenting this weekend at the Interior Design Show West (IDSwest) – Western Canada’s annual premiere residential design show. Kelly will take the stage at 12:15pm on Sunday. IDSwest is a great event featuring 200 exhibitors showcasing quality products and services to an audience of industry professionals, architects, designers, consumers and media. Learn more at IDSwest.com
Here’s a couple upcoming events you’ll want to check out:
Vancouver Innovation Camp is an opportunity to learn and practice creativity and entrepreneurial skills through a series of activities inspired by the book What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (by Tina Seelig). During this 16 hour workshop, students will participate in a variety of exercises. Each activity focuses on practicing key principles of being an entrepreneur – identifying opportunities, learning from failure, defining success, and innovating. By the end of the workshop students will possess the tools to look at problems from a fresh perspective and identify opportunities, and the confidence to produce and implement creative solutions.
It’s being held at the Kontent Creative Office: Suite 203, 55 Water St. Vancouver BC. The first workshop is October 13th so don’t wait – sign-up as quick as you can.
Trend City, Vancouver
Join the League of Kickass Business People for a stylish, thought-provoking evening with Vancouver’s leading business trendspotters, tastemakers and opinion leaders. Conversation and networking is kick-started with a panel discussion on what’s hot and what’s next in design, branding, style and media.
The featured panelists are: Kirk Lapointe (Managing Editor of The Vancouver Sun, Adjunct Professor at University of British Columbia and author of the mediamanager.com), Ginger Grant, PhD (Digital storyteller and creative business consultant. Author of Re-Visioning the Way We Work and Branding: From The Inside Out), Eric Karjaluoto (Creative Director and Principal at smashLAB, Founder of MakeFive and design/brand/experience blogger at ideasonideas.com), and Paul Melo (Designer, photographer, style-spotter and founder of stylequotient.ca and meloCreative).
The panel discussion will be moderated by Angele Beausoleil (Associate VP Strategy and Client Service at Fjord Interactive, former CEO of ITP Entertainment, interactive media marketer, inventor and Renaissance woman).
It’s coming up quick – September 23rd – and will be held at Cossette on Homer Street. Learn more here.
The buzz is building around CREATIVEMIX – literally. As we all know, a lot of creative people drink coffee so we’re spreading the word about the conference using 100% recycled coffee sleeves. Saul Brown . . . you’d be proud of us.
Custom coffee sleeves are a surprisingly untapped method of advertising and we think they’re a perfect fit. What we like about this is that they’re useful. And when it comes to approaching cafes, it’s a pretty easy ask since we’re helping them save money. One thing is for sure – there’s just too much collateral out there filling our mail boxes, sitting on window sills, or cluttering up retail checkouts. We don’t want to add to that chaos. And the impression statistics on coffee sleeves are solid: the average to-go coffee is in use for 45-180 minutes and is seen by 7-10 people, not to mention that it’s being groped!
Thanks to the following establishments for carrying our sleeves last week: Boulangerie La Parisienne, Chez Faye Cafe, Urban Fare, Scuie, Cito Espresso, Raw Canvas, Beans, Wicked, Solley’s Bagels, Caffe Express, Blenz, Cafe O, and Nester’s Market. CREATIVEMIX sleeves will be in more cafes around the city in the coming weeks so be on the lookout (and if you know a cafe owner who would be into carrying them, please feel free in introduce us).
Registration Announcement: Today is the last day to register at the discounted price. You’ll save $20 if you register before midnight tonight. To register, please visit our RegOnline.com page.
Rain, rain, don’t go away. Yeah, that’s right, it’s time to start training yourself to embrace the mild weather. The summer has been beautiful but with all of the forest fires it’s nice to have a little shower now and again. Sure, I’m not thrilled it’s going to be a wet weekend but it’s not like we’re going to the PNE on Saturday… oh, wait, we are. Bummer.
*Speaking of rain, here’s an idea for you. When walking around today offer to share your umbrella with the drowned rat beside you (a.k.a. a person who forgot their umbrella or someone who refuses to use one, like me). If you’re headed in the same direction, and they look harmless, then take a step closer and ask them if they’d like to join you (insert legal disclaimer here). Let’s do what we can to make the rain a good thing.
*Speaking of umbrellas, did you know that the Arts Umbrella is the charity of choice for our conference this year? One of the goals of CREATIVEMIX is to support creative education and we felt it was important to feature a non-profit organization that is helping children grow their creative skills. And, in light of recent government cut backs, we feel even stronger about doing everything we can.
We particularly want to highlight the work they’re doing with their Outreach Program. They provide free of charge, high quality arts workshops to pre-school, elementary, and high school students in communities throughout British Columbia. As a result of these programs, performances, and workshops they’re providing an opportunity for young people to explore their creativity through all of the art forms offered at Arts Umbrella while removing geographic and financial barriers to their participation.
This deserves a shout-out for sure! We’re honoured to support the work they are doing and are thrilled to include the Arts Umbrella in our Creative Exhibition; President & CEO Lucille Pacey will also be making some remarks as a part of the program. So, when registering for the conference know this, your registration is helping the next generation of creatives.
Okay, let’s face it… buttons are cool. I remember collecting buttons when I was in elementary school and they were nowhere near as cool as they are today. Do you remember those really big ones? As a 10-year old I had these massive buttons from events like EXPO 86 and by my favourite pop stars like Corey Hart; I think I even had one of the A-Team… or was it Airwolf?
Buttons have evolved… big time, but thank goodness they’ve gotten smaller. And what’s really cool about living in this modern age of buttonness (fake word) is that anyone can make them! Artists and nerds, social activists and marketing wizards, anyone and everyone can make their own one-off button, a collectors series, or a gang-run of thousands. I had some made for the Camp Moomba Yogathon back in 2008 and they were so much fun to share and use as a conversation starter. Personally, I don’t wear them on my clothes but I like sticking them to a bag or on a cork board. I think a jean jacket is the ideal “canvas” for 1-inch buttons but I haven’t worn a jean jacket since 1988 (forgetting, of course, the denim relapse of 2003) so I’m not likely to start flashin’ the hot action at my next meeting any time soon.
Well, if you haven’t yet guessed where I was going with this… on October 22nd you’ll be able to make your own buttons at CREATIVEMIX! Chris Bentzen, from This is Plan B, will be bringing his button making magic to the Creative Exhibition so we can all get in on the action! How cool is that!
Special note: CREATIVEMIX is more than a conference, there will also be a Creative Exhibition which will be open to the public. Visit the Exhibition page to learn more about the hands-on stations like button making, painting, and photography. As well, if you want to show off your own creativity (or that of your company) please contact us right away as there’s limited space for exhibitors.
Posted by: Corwin Hiebert
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Check-out the action from the 2008 event
Now, whether you’re an artist, a button-wearing junkie, or just a curious creative you’ll want to attend their big event coming up. Here’s the details:
Event title: Hot One Inch Action
Date: Saturday Nov 7, 2009
Time: Trading starts at 8:00pm
Location: W2 @ Flack Block Gallery (157 Hastings)
They’re bringing together 50 artists, 50 buttons, and some hot button trading action with Vancouver’s hottest art audience. Conceived by Jim Hoehnle and Chris Bentzen in 2004, Hot One Inch Action is the original, one-night only show of art, music and social interaction.
The original work of fifty different artists will be chosen to be presented on one inch buttons. These one inch buttons are displayed on the gallery wall and the audience is offered the opportunity to buy randomly selected buttons in bags of five. If the bag purchased does not have the desired button, you are invited to trade with the people around you. How bad do you want that button?
Chris and Jim are now accepting submissions. It’s free to submit artwork and chosen artists receive 20 free copies of their button. Only one submission per artist. Check out details on hotoneinchaction.com. Submission deadline is Friday October 30 at noon.
Steve Martin is one of the most diversified performers and this is truly a rare opportunity to go behind the curtain with this amazing comedian, actor, author, playwright, producer and musician. Pre-sale tickets are now available to comedyfest club members.
So, here’s a CREATIVEMIX shout-out to the team at Destination Funny for bringing this inspiring entertainer to Vancouver.
Be there or be square (and leave your banjo at home).
Have you read Tribes by Seth Godin? I just finished this bite-sized book, my first by Godin, and though I’m not all that keen on the writing style (a bit too blog-ish) I do feel it was time well spent. I love to read and sometimes when things are busier than normal it’s nice to have a light book that can spark ideas, drum up good feelings, and give a little positive reinforcement along the way; Tribes did this for me.
Since starting my own event production company I’ve never been busier than this past month (Camp Moomba Yogathon & GeoWeb – just two weeks apart). The next big event on the calendar is CREATIVEMIX and I just can’t switch gears that fast (yogi-fest to geospatial uber-tech to artsy-fartsy think tank) so I needed something to ease my brain into a place where I could make that transition. I needed an exercise that would help me prepare for the next 10 weeks of planning. Ultimately I needed to focus on what truly matters when it comes to working towards CREATIVEMIX: building community.
I loved reading Tribes because it spoke directly to the unique planning effort for CREATIVEMIX (and gave me a buzz word to attach to all this work, hehe). We’re calling it Vancouver’s Ideation Conference but it is much more than a conference. The event, by its nature, requires the existence of a community – both before, during, and after October 22. In the spirit of all things Godin, it requires a tribe in order for it to be successful, to truly contribute to the lives of creative people.
The scary part is… one just can’t create a tribe. Despite all the high praise for social and viral marketing it would be foolish to think that we could spontaneously muster up a group of people that want to attend an event like this. Even if we could it’s not how we’d want it to happen – generating demand is overrated with respect to event marketing, meeting demand is vital. When Eileen and I birthed this event (read Behind it All) it came out of a desire to simply connect our creative friends together. That’s it. We’re surrounded by so many inspiring people that it felt like if we don’t do this we’ll miss out on all the fun. When we started planning CREATIVEMIX we’d talk it up with friends as well as people we had just met to see what the response would be and it was clear right from the get-go that it resonated with people (phew). Since January we’ve dedicated ourselves to the discovery of, and connection to, as many local creative leaders and tribes as possible. How fun is that?!
The result has has looked, at times, like we’re pulling together a macro-tribe, though that sounds grander than necessary, even a bit cyborg-ish, sorry. The fact of the matter is: creative people want to be around other creative people and we’re honoured to contribute to that cause. Godin says that “Tribes are about faith – about belief in an idea and in a community” and our hope is that CREATIVEMIX will be a gathering of Vancouverites who share our passion for, and dependence on, creativity, creative expression, and idea making. We want to celebrate and foster the cross-pollination of creativity. We want to see as many tribes come together as possible so that each person can take their own creativity to the next level and contribute to the growth of their own tribes.
We’re having a blast discovering all these tribes, especially the heretic leaders behind them, and we’re really excited about how this CREATIVEMIX community is coming together.
Tell us about your tribe! Okay – now it’s your turn. Our city is full of creative groups, clubs, teams, companies, meetups, projects, charities, schools, and clusters of friends that feed and grow the creative spirit in Vancouver. We want hear about them all! Leave a comment below, send us a DM (@CREATIVEMIXca), or post a comment on our Facebook Fan Page and tell us about the creative tribe(s) you lead or are a part of.
Find your inner illustrator, build an animated representation of yourself, tell stories, or just have fun making random drawings; Do-it-Yourself comics is the name of the game at Pixton.com.
Creator Clive Goodinson, and his Vancouver-based Pixton Comics Inc., is a leading developer of innovative social media applications. They’ve launched a killer website that every social media user should check-out. The quick scoop is this: it’s free, the comics are viewable to non-users, they’re sharable, and the DIY web-app is absolutely the coolest thing ever! It’s a perfect tool for those of us who can’t draw worth a darn.
The feature that seems to get a lot of action is “remix”. Your friends can add onto your comic without screwing up your original build – how great is that! The idea of building comics in community is pretty cool.
What’s really got my attention as of late is their education campaign:
“Pixton for Schools, a private, virtual classroom that integrates their award-winning comic creation software in a fun web-based learning environment. Pixton for Schools lets teachers and students create, publish, and share their own comics – without having to draw. A powerful and intuitive comic editor makes it easy to design characters, insert props, and add speech bubbles – all within the comic pane. Characters can be articulated, their facial expressions changed, and attributes such as hair and clothing style selected, simply by clicking and dragging.” Read more at Pixton.com.
So, this is a CREATIVEMIX shout out to our friends at Pixton. Good one.
CREATIVEMIX is a Vancouver-focused conference. That’s right. It’s not for everyone. It’s not that we’re trying to be exclusive (well, we are, but we have good reasons) it’s just that we’re focused on community, face-to-face relationships, and the collaboration that comes from living in proximity to other creative people. As a result, the majority of the content posted on this blog features local idea makers, news on creative events, and some fun bits about life as a creative person living in Vancouver. However, from time to time we’ll blog about people, places, and things from outside metro Vancouver – we’ll be categorizing these items as Creatives at Large.
To get this party started we need not look far, just south of the boarder in fact, to Seattle where photographer and director Chase Jarvis dwells. I’d like to say I know Chase but I don’t. I know Chase by extension; so extended in fact he doesn’t even know who I am. But, he’s a friend of a friend (our very own David duChemin) and from the moment David told his first “Chase story” I couldn’t help but add his blog to my RSS feed and make plans to keep tabs on this guy. There’s not much I need to say about him other than this: he gets it. He’s a “creativemixer” (new word, just made it up) and so I want to send a “shout out” to him, a fellow West Coast creative. Here – read Chase’s bio and you’ll get a sense of why this guy is uber-cool and easily fits into the Creatives at Large category:
I haven’t swashbuckled with pirates, nor have I swam the English Channel. I haven’t even been to Antarctica. But I have traveled to many far away places, created a lot of still and moving pictures for myself and others. And I’ve made it my life’s goal to be as creative as possible toward everything I endeavor. Outside of my morning cereal, that is.
I don’t always make my bed, but lazy I’m not. On a deserted island, I’d go insane without photography, film, music, my wife Kate and our family pets. Storytelling, creative innovation, and visual voodoo-no matter the medium-make my heart go thump thump; and sharing all this online with the world, plus as much of my professional experience as I can muster, makes my soul sing. I’m fond of crows, and love that they’ll fly toward anything shiny. I feel like a crow on most days. I can find humor in anything. I’m still working on that.
I’ve won a boatload of awards for my work, and I’m grateful for every single one of them, but I’ve always been unsure of whether I earned them or whether somebody I knew, or somebody who knew somebody I knew, rigged the jury. I was transparent long before it was hip to be so, and I believe deeply in teamwork, community, and collaboration. Let’s be friends. Better yet, let’s swim the English Channel.
You can follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter (@chasejarvis)and be sure to bookmark his blog. Oh, you should know he’s very much a web 2.0 guy. If you’re skeptical about the power of social media then you’re probably playing too safe – watch his promo video for his upcoming talk The Consequences of Creativity (Art Directors Club of Denver).
Well… the cat is out of the bag about CREATIVEMIX – Vancouver’s first annual ideation conference and the response has been great so far! 2,100+ visitors to the site and registration is gaining momentum. Phewph. Turns out we’re not totally crazy!
Now, before going any further, I just want to make sure you know who is behind the vision and direction of the conference, as well as the content posted on this blog. So, who are we? We are proud Vancouverites and local creatives who passionately seek the company of, and inspiration from, other creative types – people who, like us, are driven by their inspiration and “must” pursue their ideas and find a way to make their living doing what they love (or desire to). We believe that, as we grow in our creative efforts and delve deeper into our own artistic crafts, we must also expand horizontally to gain new relationships with, and understanding from, creative people of disciplines other than our own. This is our heart and the core reason for hosting CREATIVEMIX; we want to take our creativity to the next level and believe that we are not alone.
We are Corwin Hiebert and Eileen Rothe. By the time October 22nd comes around, we will have been married for 13 years. Though I’m pretty sure we can’t self-proclaim the status of “Power Couple,” we definitely live our lives in such a way that we plan for, and expect to, work together on nearly every project. We co-birthed and are co-producing CREATIVEMIX, and we are extremely excited to champion other local creatives and gather together like-minded Vancouverites this Fall. Here’s a little snapshot on each of us:
Corwin Hiebert
Specializing in strategic event design, marketing, and logistics management, Corwin has 14 years of experience in the event industry and has handled near every kind of event, from international road shows to local fundraisers. A one-time consultant to the largest software company in the world, Microsoft, he managed over 300 international training events in under four years. Some of his local events include the Western Canada’s largest yoga event, the “Camp Moomba Yogathon,” supporting Canadian children impacted by HIV/AIDS, the Hoop-Law Charity Basketball Tournament, and the upcoming 2009 GEOWEB conference. Corwin is also the manager for Wade Imre Morissette (kirtan performer/yoga instructor/author) and David duChemin (photographer/author).
Eileen Rothe
Eileen is singer/songwriter with a piano-driven style and a soulful, edgy voice. She’s been graciously compared to the likes of Kate Bush and Tori Amos but has her own unique je ne sais quoi. Over the past couple of years, Eileen has been extremely fortunate to work with renowned vocal coach Judith Rabinovich (known for her work with Sarah McLachlan) and continues to pursue excellence in her music. Her debut EP “Dream Girl” (Hipposonic Records) has the magical touch of producer Jeff Dawson (John Wozniak, Holly McNarland, Daniel Powter) and mixer Mike Fraser (Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rush) and in the spring of 2008 she ventured out on her first Canadian tour that took her from Vancouver to Ottawa. Early this year Eileen travelled to New York, as she was invited to audition for a roadway musical – this has thrown her into a new and challenging direction in her career and she is very excited about it. She is also working on new material and is back in the studio this summer.
So there it is. Sorry for the self-promo . . . I just couldn’t come up with any other way to introduce ourselves. Maybe I should have had someone interview us – though that sounds even more presumptuous, don’t you think? Nonetheless, thanks for being a part of our CREATIVEMIX family and please be sure to subscribe to the RSS Feed, follow us on Twitter, and tell your friends about October 22nd.
Think & Drink. I’m sorry . . . what?!
Have you seen the poster? We’ve been spreading the word in lots of ways but this one has been the most fun so far (AKA the blender fish). Other than the fact that it’s a bit sadistic it’s been really effective – it’s catching people’s eye and getting them to stop for a moment, read the details, and it’s sticking in their heads. What else could we ask for? We wanted to make sure we didn’t create a bunch of waste so we only printed 400 posters and we have been placing them in locations where community or poster boards are managed (that’s right, no phone polls, mailboxes, or construction walls) which works out well because one poster will last 2 or 3 weeks verses 2 or 3 hours.
Are you a business owner in Vancouver? On October 6th come celebrate the launch of LoCo BC, a new business network striving to create a diverse, vibrant local economy by strengthening small and mid-sized businesses, connecting and having fun in the process. The goal is to educate consumers and businesses about why it’s important to buy products and services from locally-owned companies whenever possible.
The buzz is building around CREATIVEMIX – literally. As we all know, a lot of creative people drink coffee so we’re spreading the word about the conference using 100% recycled coffee sleeves. 
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