I’m really happy to be speaking at HOW Design Live. I’m also a huge fan of the conference and a lot of the other speakers I’ll be sharing the stage with.
There is so much knowledge and insight that is shared in a short period of time, it is one of the events that I look forward to every year.
A cool thing about the conference is that it’s like Disney World, there are so many things to do ALL. THE. TIME. But, like most attendees, one of the challenges I have is how to pick and choose to get the most value out of it.
Here are 3 protips about what I have found to be helpful in navigating a conference and some insight into what I’ll be checking out.
1. Have a plan
It’s always good to have a strategy in place. A lot of my interests are around growing as a creative leader, so those are the sessions I’m going to be drawn to. There are tracks in the programming, so if your interests are In-House, Packaging, Brand/Design, or Marketing, you can just focus on those session. Creative Leadership comes from many places, so I’ll be popping around a bit.
2. Get to the session early and sit in the front.
I do this for two reasons. People who sit in the front retain more information. I had learning challenges in school and this strategy is amazingly effective. Secondly, if you sit in the front row, the speaker will see you. So, when you want to ask them questions or network with them later, they are more likely to remember you. Every time I’m giving a keynote or speaking at an event, I practically memorize the people in the first 3 rows.
3. Network
These types of events are fantastic for meeting like-minded people and growing your network. I can’t express how many great opportunities in my career have come out of conferences like this.
Here are the session that I’m interested in.
Monday April 30th
Susan Cain
She is a really interesting thought leader focusing on the power of introverts. As a card-carrying introvert, I’m interested in how she is going to kick off the event.
Josh Higgins
From my experience at GE, doing creative work at scale is super challenging. I like his work at Facebook and I’m curious about his approach to designing on that platform. Also, considering everything that is going on around Facebook lately, I want to know about how they address ethics in design.
Emily Cohen
Emily is a great consultant to some heavy-weight creative professionals. She has a “No BS” attitude and talks straight. She has a new book coming out which I can’t wait to read. She will be talking about “Saying No”, which, in my career path, has been a developmental opportunity.
Tuesday May 1st
Nick Law
Nick was leading R/GA for a long time and consistently doing innovative work. He’s now leading the Publicis Groupe. His keynote should be impressive.
Stephen Gates
Gates is profoundly insightful about creative leadership and typically packs the house. He is also doing a double-feature. After his talk he is going to lead a design therapy session to address the biggest challenges in the audience.
Sagi Haviv
Sagi will be talking about “Things He Learned From Ivan Chermayeff”. Ivan was one of the greatest living designer who, unfortunately, passed away this year. He will be missed and I’m grateful that Sagi will continue to run with the torch.
Wednesday May 2nd
Daniel Pink
Daniel is a great author. I find his insights around human behavior to be applicable to creative leadership, practical to execute, and immediately impactful.
I’ll be speaking 🤔
Following up last year’s highly rated and crowd favorite session, I will dive deeper into strategies, insights, and tips to help you accelerate as a design leader. Stop by and sit in the front row.
James Sommerville
I love the work he drove at Coke and Attik before that. Now he is the CCO at Vanguard. I’m interested in his career trajectory and global design philosophy.
Thursday May 3rd
Mackey Saturday
Mackey has worked on some amazing brand developments and rebrands for global companies. Having led similar work, I’m always interested in other people’s best practices for navigating projects through the corporate matrix.
Debbie Millman
Debbie is the like the Patron Saint of Creative Leadership and I learn something every time I listen to Design Matters. She will be interviewing Chase Jarvis, who does smart work. I think the conversation will be thought provoking.
