Creative South is quickly becoming the premiere creative conference in the South, heck probably in the country. More than 500 design professionals, students, and even spouses from all over the world descended upon the quaint city of Columbus, Georgia.
With speakers like Tad Carpenter, Jen Mussari and Nick Sambrato, there was no shortage of talent on the stage. But it was the in-between moments that make Creative South so unique. You quickly realize that even the stars of the show are just as human as the attendees. This conference is all about bringing people together in the name of design, and that is exactly what they do.
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I headed down to Creative South with 3 other E3ers: Jenny Tod, Bob Ewing and Drew Hill. We came back with a lot more than just bellies full of biscuits and fried chicken. Below are the top 10 things we took away from this year’s conference:
1. WE’RE NOT FRIENDS
“Come as friends, leave as family” is Creative South’s tagline. The founder, Mike Jones, treats everyone as family. From hugging necks to breaking bread, Creative South feels like home, and it’s hard to leave at the end of the conference.
2. BATTLING TO THE END
It’s the only place where a war on a bridge (Ink Wars) and a slew of fights in a ring (Type Fight) bring competitors closer in the name of art, design and friendly competition.
3. BREAKING IT DOWN
The event concluded with an epic and long-winded dance-off between 5 talented artist competitors, fighting for the ultimate designer prize – a Wacom Intuos tablet.
4. GETTING OUR HANDS DIRTY
Hands-on workshops taught by esteemed professionals like Danielle Evans, Nick Slater, and Von Glitschka provided an immersive experience for us to get in and get our hands dirty. Not to mention the chance to play with our food.
5. HUMAN FIRST, DESIGNER SECOND
Meg Robichaud, along with a few others, reminded us that although we share a common love for creativity, we are called first to love others as individuals and humans. Creative South provides a place to build friendships, not just contacts.
6. SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY
You guessed it. The warmth, kindness, and accents are nothing short of southern in Columbus, Georgia.
7. LIFE, FAILURE & CREATING
In the most glorious of fashions, Lenny Terenzi admitted his failures to 500 of his closest friends, thus proving it’s never too late to find yourself. Tears were shed, but we all left feeling joyful and inspired.
8. CREATING THE NEW NORMAL
Will and Susana Gay encouraged everyone to keep presenting the oddball work that you really want to do, because pretty soon THAT becomes the new normal for your boss, client or whoever is approving your ideas.
9. AVOIDING FAILURE
Nick Sambrato of Mama’s Sauce has an easy recipe for success: be honest and do your best work. Say “no” if you can’t do either of those things and you will avoid failure in your career.
10. HAVE FUN AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO
Tad Carpenter wanted us to remember that we GET to do this, so have fun and design what we want because no one else is going to do it for us. He was also a really big fan of a slightly not-safe-for-work local sculpture erected nearby in Columbus, Georgia.
As you may have noticed there wasn’t a lot of talk about design above. Don’t get us wrong, there was a lot of design talk going on, but the biggest things we took away were the life lessons and life-long friendships we formed while there. Creative South’s tagline “Come as friends, leave as family” is their differentiator. The investment we made on this conference has already paid off.
