Just in time for this weekend’s Position Conference Richmond Biz Sense.com has published an article about AIGA (The Professional Association for Design) and some of the event speakers. I had a very good conversation this past week with Johathan Spiers one of the editors at Richmond Biz Sense. I highlighted some of the statistics about the Richmond creative scene. Specifically, a creative audit was conducted last year, and we found that there are nearly 80 firms and companies that identify themselves as creative or design based. This list didn’t include many single-person shops or small groups of freelancers that may be working together. Put these numbers in, and Richmond is home to over 100 design groups. When we as designers better understand topics like scaling, pricing, lead generation, and client interaction, we can do our jobs better and become stronger candidates for the next proposal we submit. Like with any industry, design becomes better through competition and increased skill. We want Richmond to have the most skilled designers so that we not only have strong design for the mid-Atlantic region, but also for the east coast and beyond.
To that end we are holding Position, a one-day conference focusing on how to grow design businesses on April 30th. We have a slate of speakers lined up including Michael Janda CCO at EKR in Utah, Chris Do from Blind and The Skool, Jill Spaeth of Citizen Creative in DC, and agency growth consultant John Heenan as well as CEO of Mobelux Garrett Ross. We have generated interest not only locally but also from neighboring AIGA chapters in the mid-Atlantic. Our target group is freelancers, in-house contract workers, and small shops and firms. We have some larger companies like the Martin Agency interested in sending employees as well, but with topics such as scaling, sales, and lead generation, this event is more for the shops with fewer than 10 employees. We anticipate between 200 and 300 attendees.
The event will be held this Saturday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at VCU’s T. Edward Temple Building at 901 W. Main St. Tickets to Position are $60 each and $20 for students with ID. A conference schedule and more information are available on the event’s website, Position Conference.
http://richmondbizsense.com/2016/04/28/group-looks-to-highlight-richmonds-creative-industry/