greenville grok
Last week, I had the privilege of attending Greenville Grok — a ‘conference’ that’s a little hard to explain because it’s not really a conference. There were no guest speakers. No ‘theme’ or a single overarching topic. And no exorbitant price tag. But over 100 people from all over the country gathered here in Greenville to meet each other, pose questions and ask advice from their peers in the creative industry — mostly ten and twenty minutes at a time. To sum it up, it was a weekend of idea sharing that left everyone pretty inspired.
Photo by Mike Meyer, sign created by Marco Suarez
Somehow our industry (or at least this corner of it) has moved away from the highly competitive norm, and things like Brooklyn Beta and Grok are sprouting up for the purpose of helping each other learn and grow. Independent designers definitely seem to be the majority in this world. My theory: independent designers — much more than their agency and in-house counterparts — have embraced collaboration (perhaps out of necessity) and found that it’s a much more effective way to get things done.
You can see some really great photos of the event by Ismael Burciaga here.
I thought the Grok format was really refreshing. We were broken into four random groups for each session, so each set of topics was able to draw on a different combination of minds. It sounded like there were a lot of really fascinating talks happening simultaneously, but here are a few I was able to be part of:
Don’t lose the joy of creating. — Marco Suarez
Complete projects are energizing, so if your days are full of long-term or never-really-ending projects, be sure you also pursue side projects that have an end. Create things that bring yourself joy and that process will recharge your batteries.
Consume data in a more responsible way. — Rob Wright
This was a great reminder to be careful what we believe and endorse online. Everyone has the ability to ‘publish’ and yet it may not all be accurate. Value first-hand accounts more highly than others and take time to digest the information you’re receiving before pushing it back out there in a retweet or link.
The ethics of technology. — Katie Stewart
The big question “Does knowing about something make you responsible?” Is there an ethical way to use and own technology or is our consumerism in the technology realm creating harmful situations for people on the other side of the world? One of my big takeaways from this discussion is that we need to reconsider the permanence of objects — aka how often do we treat non-disposable things as disposable?
Content Ownership — Cameron Koczon
Reminding us how much content we have strewn all over the web and asking aloud if the keepers of our information will be good stewards of it. We give up a lot of our rights on the web without a second thought, but it’s an issue we need to start thinking about because we’ve given a lot of people a lot of our content (facebook, twitter, pinterest, path, etc, etc.). Also, what happens to our information if that company goes under?
Other things to ponder:
· A fascinating look at John’s phone: a great date night phone?
· “Technology should help us be more productive, not less productive.”
— David Stevens in relation to email.
· Giving the Inbox Zero method a try.
· Some great suggestions for making Indie Craft Parade more profitable.
· Take a closer look at our current ‘team building’ events. Are they all competitive by nature or are they collaborative and actually encouraging teamwork?
· I really need to read more.
design, greenville, life, Business,life in greenville.
I spent part of my Saturday working on the Life In Greenville project, an idea that was first introduced to me over 2 years ago. I remember this because 1) it was also the day I met most of the (now) CoWork crew, and 2) at the time, I was the only person in the room without a Twitter account (which was remedied shortly thereafter).
I’m very excited about this project, partially because of the way it’s taken place. The idea itself: Use our talents to create a good looking website for Greenville. One whose design more accurately represents the city we live in than the existing ‘official’ Greenville sites. In short, help outsiders realize how great Greenville is.
Fantastic site design by Jeremy of Headlamp Creative in progress
Because everyone stays busy with their own projects and jobs, nothing usually comes of ideas like this — no matter how great they are. But CoWork planned a hack-a-thon/design-a-thon for this weekend to make sure the idea didn’t get neglected. Organizational meetings, content writing, design, illustration, development, and everything else it takes to build a website was done by a team of about 2 dozen people working off and on over a few days. The entire project was built by people who love Greenville.
CoWork Greenville headquarters
There will, of course, be bugs and improvements to be made after the fact, but if you know anything about website building, you know how amazing it is to create a full site from scratch in such a short amount of time — not to mention a responsive site that looks amazing on any device. It shows what amazing talent exists in the Greenville web community.
The developers writing their various languages and doing what they do.
I did a tiny bit of content writing and a some design support — helping select and resize images to fit the amazing site design. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I feel privileged to be part of this project even in a small way.
The site launches later today, so check out LifeinGreenville.com to see the final product!
All photos courtesy of Life in Greenville.
Business, Greenville, good ideas, local,on expectations.
“When a lot is expected of you, it’s very easy to let the pressure of meeting those expectations get to you. In fact, it can be paralyzing, and that’s not good.
What is good is that if you succeed and you meet those expectations, the cumulative impact is exponential. That’s because expectations are just leftover praise. You’ve earned them by doing something great.
So, the next time you feel overwhelmed by expectations, just remember that if you weren’t capable of meeting them, they wouldn’t exist.”
— Words of wisdom (part 1) from Chris Shifflet at Brooklyn Beta 2011
Business, design, quotes,winning.
If you’re a business owner or an artist, don’t miss this opportunity! Indie Craft Parade is giving away two ad spaces on the blog for the month of December. It’s very easy to enter and winners will be chosen next Friday the 25th!
Find out more info here.
handmade, local, Greenville, Business,keep it local.
A few weeks ago some friends and I headed up the road to Asheville, NC. The main reason for our trip was to meet Grace of D*S at her book signing there. We had so much fun exploring the city and checking out the shops, galleries and restaurants before we headed over to the bookstore. (If you want to see where all we went, look for more photos at Erin’s blog.)
Asheville has always had a strong ‘buy local’ movement (see examples of their campaigns below), but I was excited to see a new ‘Local is the new Black’ promotion around town. Beautiful silver screenprinted posters stand out against shop windows all over town.
Various Asheville Grown Business Alliance (AGBA) Campaigns as seen around town. Photo credits clockwise from top right: alicia.pimental / briface / ello lovey / Ron Gunzburger
It’s a great reminder as we head into the holidays. Every city has independent retailers struggling to make ends meet, and we can choose to support them and our local economy with our purchases.
If you’re not sure where to start, there’s a growing movement that can help. The 3/50 Project has been very instrumental for me in demonstrating exactly what kind of impact buying local can have. From their website:
“For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that money in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.”
The basic idea behind their project is to encourage consumers to pick 3 local businesses whose doors they would be sad to see close, and commit to spend $50 (total) each month at these stores. This is a great campaign with a very worthy mission.
I’ve seen a sign online that says “If you really want to occupy Wall Street, do your holiday shopping at a small independent merchant.” While I don’t know if that’s the entire answer, it’s definitely a good start! Support your local businesses this holiday season — whether that’s an artist or a restaurant or shop owner in your city. Think of creative ways to give gifts that support others in your community.
Greenville, local food, products, art, Business, christmas, good ideas,a taste of New York.
One of my favorite parts about visiting New York is the wonderful shops and restaurants on every block. We had great success with food on this trip, probably because most of the places we went were recommended to us by friends who live there.
The first morning we hit up 5 Leaves, where we devoured our food before I ever thought of taking a photo of it. So we took one of ourselves instead, happy to have just eaten such amazing food and already loving our vacation.
Some of the other meals we had (some pictured, some not): gouda mac & cheese, meatballs from The Meatball Shop, cannoli and gelato at Fortunato Brothers, a burger and amazing macaroni & cheese at Brinkley’s, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World (quite possibly true), and Grimaldi’s Pizza.
We also made our way out to Brook Farm General Store, a beautifully curated collection of goods that we discovered online last year. It was a must-see on our list, and well worth the walk!
One of my favorite stops was By Brooklyn, just a few blocks from our hotel. This shop was handmade heaven. Everything in it — from chocolates and food to jewelry and skin care — was made by Brooklyn-ers. I absolutely love the concept of this uber-local store, complete with regular classes and tastings. If you’re ever in Brooklyn, and want a taste of what’s local, make sure you find your way to this shop!
brooklyn inspired.
Right now I’m in New York for Brooklyn Beta, a web conference that has far surpassed my expectations. I feel incredibly privileged to be here and want to say a big thank you to OOBE for sending me out for it. From the minute we walked in the door, you could tell that everything was going to be top notch.
A photo of the conference space before things kicked off.
To say this has been inspiring would be an understatement. The underlying theme of the conference has been Make Something You Love. But today’s discussions deepened that concept by adding Make Something that Matters. It’s great to be reminded how design and development can actually make a difference in people’s lives, especially when I work for a very customer-oriented company whose goal is just that. Lots to think about.
The concept and the people behind this conference are amazing, the details are perfect (hand-painted signs, incredible local food, etc) and the sheer number of people I’m meeting is pretty overwhelming. It’s good for me to get out of my comfort zone though, and I’m looking forward to what tomorrow holds!
design, inspiration, Business,“I have observed that inexperienced business people sometimes make poor decisions because they are terrified the opportunity will pass them by and they will regret it for the rest of their lives. That is rarely, if ever, true.”
— Martha Stewart, The Martha Rules
quotes, Business, craft,Happiness.
“…we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.”
— Tony Hsieh in Delivering Happiness
