Upstate Discussions
Earlier, we wrote about our goal of infusing more “festival” in to our conference this year. While formal activities like workshops are great opportunities to grow as a designer, we’ve come to understand that the most valuable part of any event is having casual, yet focused dialogue with other community members.
Simply put, there’s a huge benefit to just talking shop with fellow attendees, and those opportunities need more emphasis. This is a concept we wanted to sit with for a while.
Finding a Better Way to Talk Shop
In the scope of an event like Create Upstate, you may find a pocket of time between presentations or during lunch to find another designer and start talking about finding work, Sketch, or even what to charge clients (gasp!). We’ve heard before that these 5–10 minute conversations end up making the most impact in terms of conference takeaways. Why? Not only do you get specific answers to specific questions, but you make a connection with someone going through the same thing you are.
This year, we’re introducing a program that cultivates this beautifully, and we call it Upstate Discussions.
Birds of a Feather Talk Together
Upstate Discussions consists of four focused sessions on the following topics: UI/UX, Branding, Freelancing, and Running a Design Team. The goal is to get the right people in the room to have meaningful conversation so you, as a web designer for example, aren’t reluctant to ask a CSS question to a room of print designers.
Now, a room full of talking designers needs some structure, so we invited some of the best in Upstate to help lead the discussion. In each session, three design teams will each start by giving short presentations to spark the conversation. Then, attendees will have the opportunity to grill our presenters as they sit on a panel together.
Come with your best questions, too. Lob no softballs; our leaders are well-equipped to tackle the hard design questions facing you in 2017. We want you to leave these discussions feeling like you have a good grasp on how others choose fonts, support old browsers, find good hires in your neck of the woods… or anything that’s been a stumbling block for you and your company.
CU’17 Upstate Discussions Leaders
Now the good stuff. We’ve tasked some of the most knowledgable folks in our area with leading Upstate Discussions:
UI/UX
Adjacent, Helm, Fancy Labs
Branding
Truth Collective, Idea Kraft, Bear Design
Freelance/Independent Artist
Ira Marcks, Brittany Statt, Tyler Finck
Running a Design Team
IBM Design, id29, Zaengle
Join Us on 5/4!
We’re extremely excited for Upstate Discussions and the potential impact it’ll have on our attendees. Make sure you’re in town on Thursday, May 4th at noon to get in on the action. It’s all taking place at Cinemapolis, a fun movie theater set right in Ithaca Commons, so you know there’ll be popcorn waiting for you.
If you haven’t grabbed your ticket to CU’17, head on over to our site and get one while the gettin’s good.
