Creative South 2023
I’m writing this as a reflection to what was the hands-down the best conference I have attended in my career as a creative professional. If you haven’t heard of Creative South before, it’s a conference held in Columbus, Georgia in the spring that lasts for 3 days and is geared towards creative professionals in Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Videography, UX, UI, website design, and other related fields. The conference took place from March 30th to April 1st and seemed to be just the perfect time of year for an event like this in a place like Columbus because the weather was just right - not too cold, and didn’t quite get hot yet. This was my very first time attending and wish that I had tried attending it sooner! In short, while not perfect, going in with the right mindset and goals can definitely ensure that you come away having a stellar experience.
Thursday, Arriving
The conference officially started on Thursday morning at 9:00 AM when the first of the paid sessions began. As far as the schedule goes, Thursday is primarily for time slots of creative breakout sessions that you pay for separately. I decided to do 2 sessions with the Design Biz Academy, Kenzi Green and Marisa Burgett, two women that focused on helping creatives that have careers in or related to branding to gain clients and earn more per client with a few carefully crafted techniques.
The first lab, Pricing Mindset and Boundary Setting, was focused on directing your efforts on website design and social media to be directing people to your services. The social media aspect was saved more for their second session, but in the first session they went into how they started their careers. The second, their social media technique for driving potential customers straight to their website and straight into a form to inquire about services.
The second session was run by the creator of Atomic Child, Jimmy Bryant, and how he built the clothing brand from living with his parents and making band posters for basically no money. It was interesting to hear his presentation and his lifelong journey to get to where he was, and he had a few encouraging tips for those trying to take a similar path by doing markets and grinding on off time.
While they were helpful, the sessions on Thursday had their limitations - there is really only so much you can tell people in just a couple of hours, and in the end, it was nice to be around other creatives. If I had to cut out a day for one reason or another, it would probably be the Thursday sessions.
I had a gallery showing that night at the South River Arts Studios for not one but TWO pieces (more on that in my previous blog post), so I unfortunately missed all of the good parts of the bridge party with the free food trucks. Next year!
Friday, Taking it All In
What was great about Friday was that 1) the vendor hall was open, and 2) we got to meet in the main hall for all of the talks. Each talk was different, they all had something different to say about their career paths and how they got to where they were, and I really appreciated all of them for taking the time to come down and offer their time.
What was also great about the main session was that everyone was sitting around randomly wherever they wanted to, which offered more great opportunities for everyone to socialize! I’m not the most social person, but man oh man did I get to talk to a bunch of different people. I’m still amazed at how many stickers and business cards I got to come home with, and how many awesome people from across the country that I got to run into. It was truly a unique networking experience that I got to be a part of where everyone felt welcome and encouraged to just start talking to whoever you ran into. One of whom was the famous George F. Baker III that paints murals all over Atlanta, who I’ve been trying to meet for some time now!
while in Rome, take a psychedelic-ish selfie with your awesome shirt that is either grapefruits or oranges.
The vendor alley was also a great little spot to get a look at how other people are doing it - they had a lot of great people bring excellent merchandise! Hellcat was definitely a solid pick, I grabbed one of their shirts for the wife. Inch x Inch also has great branding, and I love their hats! I picked one up too, they’re so comfortable. Native Screen Printing Company had some amazing posters and graphics, I’m thrilled to have been able to pick up a poster from them! If I had more wall space I definitely would’ve picked up more, they’re so good!
That night we had the opportunity to come back for the “open mic”, which was even more intimate as only about a quarter of the attendees showed up. It was still a great time that felt like a bit of an afterparty even though there was still another day full of events!
Saturday, Over Too Soon
I was genuinely sad to reach the end of the conference. We stayed out a bit later on Friday night, so I was tired to say the least. It went by so fast. For lunch there was another food truck festival (but by the city this time) with entry included with your Creative South badge. I got some Birria tacos that were downright insanely good, and had a bit more time to hit up the vendor hall before they closed to get my poster from Native Screen Printing Company designed by the amazing Katie Kicksass! AND I got to do the ink pull myself. I haven’t touched a screen in maybe 12, 13 years, and if I had the space I would definitely get back into it.
My first time in Columbus, GA
Columbus, at least in the downtown area along the river, is a very nice location to have a conference. I’ve been to areas around Columbus but it was my first time setting foot in Columbus Proper. I was pleasantly surprised with the combination of old and new buildings that reflected on their history and tied in the University for a unique feel that’s a bit more walkable than Athens. I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, but I enjoyed my time there walking along the river walk path and visiting the different shops along their main street.
Biggest regret - not bringing any stickers!
A huge part of Creative South was people trading stickers, I sadly only brought my business cards and I almost felt bad. They should really put that on the website or something, I have so many that I bring to markets but didn’t have any to trade! Definitely on the list for next year.
Comparison to Adobe Max 2019
I think that Adobe Max was a great experience, but as someone else I had met at CS this year put it, it’s more of a “evangelist creative” experience as you would think going to a mega-church would be like. It’s nice to have the celebrities and insane vendor market but it’s just not the same kind of event for networking and connecting to other creatives. When I attended Max in 2019 I met maybe 5 people, and most people weren’t as open to socializing.
At CS, it’s expected for you to be open to everyone, as everyone was open to me. It’s astonishingly easy as such an introverted person as I am to get to talk to so many people that were interested in talking about being in the creative field. It was truly refreshing and I need to find more events like this!
Biggest Criticism - connecting at the very end
My biggest criticism for this conference was that they pushed all of the networking groups until the very end of the conference. It was mentioned multiple times on stage that it would happen but it got pushed to the tail end when everyone wanted to go home. Tired, no, EXHAUSTED, I think that having it on the 2nd day would’ve been much more productive (or earlier in the morning). The networking groups was where they told everyone that we were being split into groups (optional) where people in the same fields can make connections before going home. I wanted to speak to Michael Fugoso, however he was tied up with maybe 10 other people trying to pick his brain and figure out what made his career take off.
In conclusion, this conference was downright amazing. I wish that I had tried it earlier in my career, or right after I had moved to Georgia. Finding other creatives in a new city can be very difficult, speaking from experience, but this conference may be exactly what you’re looking for if you’re a creative new to Georgia (or the south in general). Columbus is a great city for this, even though it’s a solid 2 hour drive from Atlanta I really enjoyed my time and really hope I can make it to the one next year!
