Corwin Hiebert Managing Creative People + Creative Projects
Upcoming eBook
I’m letting the cat out of the bag here. I’m just putting the final touches on a new eBook that has been in the works for about 6 months – it will be available on Clamorate.com next week.
This has been a really exciting project for me actually! Here’s an unedited excerpt from the introduction.
To achieve our goals we need to build relationships not attempt yet another clever marketing strategy.
As well as sharing with you some of the behind-the-scenes stuff of my business I’m also going to highlight CREATIVEMIX, a personal project of mine that is a labour of love and is partly responsible for my small business metamorphosis. The lessons I’ve learn through running this collaborative community event has had a major impact on how I’ve built a new paradigm for my business. Through the examples I’m hopeful to inspire you to consider a new approach for your own business building effort.
We are human. Each one of us has the capacity to connect with real people in the real world and I believe that the success of our business depends on those interactions. I believe that what we say and do, and the demeanor in which we do it matters more than anything. This ebook is about bringing people along for the ride as you steer the moving ship. It’s about making meaningful connections with likeminded humans and building authentic relationships with those than need what you have.
Ultimately, this approach prepares us to answer the most important marketing question we’ll ever consider: Do you want to stand out from the crowd or do you want to attract a crowd?
In the pages that follow I’ve divided the content into three sections:
1. Drawing a Crowd. To set the tone I’ve started things off with an initial discussion regarding the business value associated with changing ones’ marketing paradigm from tasks to people. I share some of my thoughts on why I approach marketing projects from the position of eliciting curiosity and generating demand instead of the traditional advertising methodology of making as many impressions as possible.
2. Making Connections. I’ll try to give you a fresh take on how you can make new connections, turns contacts into leads, make the most of your networking opportunities, and spread the word about your creative work without selling your soul. It’s not about finding work, it’s about attracting people.
3. Making an Experience. I’m going to outline what it takes to host a well-planned, inspired event that creates the experiences and social framework that can propel your business forward. In other words, I’ll give you my take on how to approach, organize, promote and pull-off an amazing and affordable event of any size.This is not a quick-fix ebook. There’s no magic pill. Read, absorb, contextualize, and move forward in the way that seems best to you.
Hopefully this resonates with you in some way (or a entrepreneur you know). Stay tuned!
Events No More
Police cars in Times Square. I took this photograph while in NYC with Wade and Martin in 2008.
You may not know this but… I’ve been turning down event management gigs for almost a year now. To some it may come as a big surprise and to others it may simply be an interesting factoid that I used to be an event manager for hire. But the scoop is that my business has changed over the past few years (thanks to Eileen, CREATIVEMIX, David duChemin, and countless other people and scenarios) and it’s about to change even more. I love being around inspired people and experiencing creative brilliance. This enriches my life and makes me feel human. It inspires me to be creative too. Being an event planning paratrooper is no longer a good fit for me.
I love contributing to the people and the processes that creates culture, art and atmosphere. I do this by helping artists and creative service providers make their entrepreneurial dreams come true; I’m a creative small business consultant. If you need help planning your conference or fundraiser or whathaveyou… you’ll need to look elsewhere. That’s not to say I won’t be involved in events down the road, it just means they’ll be an extension of the work I’m doing with a creative client or collaborator. Over the next few months you’ll be seeing more tangible evidence of this metamorphosis so stay tuned.
My sister Carla pointed out that Event Planning is in the top 5 most stressful careers. 2 of the top 5 carry guns. Read Chad Brooks’ article on Yahoo! Canada. I’m a quasi-pacifist so it only makes sense that I break ties from this emotionally taxing career. Actually, I’m putting together a new eBook that will include a short feature re: my exodus from the event industry so I’ll save “the back story” till then (publish date is tentatively set for Jan.25).
Happy 2012 and all that!
Between the Lines
I’m feeling the need for a quick rave. Today I met with a fellow entrepreneur, someone who’s totally crushing it and making rain where there ain’t a cloud in sight! Cheesy metaphor, I know.
This small business owner is a blue-sky thinker and doesn’t let anything or anyone come between them and their dreams. They’ve got their foot on the gas, they work extremely hard and they take nothing for granted. They search for the right answers, they steer the moving ship. They get it. They’re built for this self-made life. The 90-minutes we spent planning and scheming was as invigorating for me as it was helpful for them – I think (and no, that’s not the coffee talking). They don’t take anything at face value. They know how to read between the lines and get to the core of who their customers are and how they can exceed their wildest dreams.
Running a small business is hard work, so hard in fact that I’m not sure I’d encourage very many people to take up the challenge. But for those that dare… I think it’s imperative that they figure out what’s beyond the obvious, knowing how and when to go deeper into their craft and their service. When a business person can solve the problems that are unknown to their competition they have one serious leg-up. And more so, they have proven themselves to the marketplace that they’re in this for the long haul even if they’re the “new kid” on the block. Nadia Albano – this rave is for you. You are no longer Granville Street’s best kept secret… Nadia, you are Vancouver’s Style Superstar!
The Tower by Chris Guillebeau
Chris Guillebeau released a free eBook yesterday which stopped me in my tracks. It’s called The Tower: A Free Report for a New Way of Life. As you know, because of my work with Craft and Vision and some of my other projects, I spend a lot of time in eBookland and to be honest my expectations were low when I saw the tweet and followed the shortened URL to his blog. From that point on my expectations were exceeded beyond belief.
Chris didn’t ask for any information, there was no trap door or strings attached. It was a simple file download and that was it. There was no pomp or fan fare just a freebie. Cool. When I opened the PDF I was immediately impressed with the layout and format; it is beautiful! Then I started to read it, preparing myself for light and airy discourse about something that will make me feel good or inspired about being creative or working for myself or what-have-you. But that wasn’t the case at all. I was being challenged. Word after word, page after page, Chris was exposing the insights he had gained from a personal experience that I could relate to and I couldn’t stop reading.
Captivated, mesmerized, and eventually disgusted by a game on his phone Chris discovered some important truths about his life and his work. As far as I’m concerned, The Tower is the most important piece of writing he’s done yet.
The first item that caught my attention wasn’t a fancy callout or a bolded heading but simply the statement that “visual progress [is] a powerful drug.” The point he made in regards to progress was a simple but a powerful reminder that sometimes it’s hard to see the fruits of our labour but it by no means diminishes the legacy that we leave behind. I needed to hear that. The heart of the eBook is really about one’s legacy and I really appreciated his take on doing important work and most importantly being a generous citizen.
“Instead of knowledge, pleasure, or happiness, the purpose of life is to create something meaningful that will endure after we’re gone.”
- Chris Guillebeau
I’ll leave my remarks at that. I think everyone should read this eBook. I believe the experience, process, and advice Chris shares is important. Get out your notepad, make a cup of tea, and take 30min to read and digest this for yourself.
Are You Nuts?
This is a photograph of a nut (or a bolt) on a lamp post in Central Park, NY. I took this picture while in Manhattan with the infamous Martin Prihoda and yogi superstar Wade Imre Morissette in 2008.
I don’t think I can keep my mouth shut any longer. I’ve seen it to many times. I care to much to let this crazy behaviour continue. Creative small business owners need to stop doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.
Just because they’ve done it before, doesn’t mean they should do it again. Regardless of the fact that they’ve tweaked something doesn’t mean it will work. So what if they’ve made it prettier, it doesn’t mean it will be any more effective. Who cares if someone ‘cool’ gave the thumbs up this time around. Being in business is a risky venture but the risks associated with becoming complacent is greater than pushing the envelope or simply relinquishing a mediocre initiative.
Replicating the same old crappy sales pitch, marketing campaign, or daily routine can be extremely dangerous to ones’ work. When creative credibility is on the line it’s important to throw ideation back on the table and generate some new solutions to reoccurring problems. When the bank account is in the toilet it’s imperative that the pocketbook stays in our pocket and we roll up our sleeves instead.
Stop hitting Send/Receive on your email 100 times a day. Stop printing new promotion collateral that you blindly mail out. Stop making yet another business card and giving it to the wrong people. Stop spamming your social networks hoping to convert them into customers. Stop convincing yourself your next big client will come to you because you’ve got a new piece of equipment (which you bought with a credit card). Stop hoping and start doing.
Change the pattern, mix it up, do something different to create new opportunities. New challenges give us the fight we need to gain new ground.
Be creative, not a creative nut job.
What Happened?
Images by Jeremy Lim
Just thought I’d share some images from CREATIVEMIX. We have our official team review meeting this week so it’s on the brain again, not that it ever left 
Now stop surfing the web and go: “DO EPIC SHIT” – Dave Delnea, CREATIVEMIX 2011.
Welcome to CREATIVEMIX
Image by Jeremy Lim
It’s been three days since CREATIVEMIX – man what a ride! It was a home run and I can’t begin to thank all the people that helped make it happen – though I’ll try my damnedest on the conference blog throughout the week
The conference planning fits into the margins of our world (which makes for a wild build-up to the event) but 10 days prior to the big day I came down with an absolutely wicked flu that kicked my ass. When Nov.3 rolled around I was on the mend but I still required a heavy line-up of meds to get me through the day. Sometimes just surviving something feels like a major victory!
Sure CREATIVEMIX is a ton of work but it’s self-inflicted and both Eileen and I feel it’s so worth it! Seeing everyone connect and grow together was so inspiring!
Anyway, for those of you who couldn’t be there I thought I’d share my opening statement – it’s how I kicked things off. It set the tone for the day and it reflects the heart and soul of why we run this conference. If there’s spelling mistakes or grammatical errors so be it – I blame Tylenol Cold Night-time as this was written late at night and I don’t have the energy to edit it now (not that it would help).
We’ve gathered here today because we want to be inspired, we want to put ideas to work, and we are eager to find camaraderie amongst those who Get Us. WE have a lot in common.
Our passion has brought us to the place where our craft, or our creative endeavour, is inseparable from who we are. Our place in the world makes sense to us when we put our creative energy to work, making things, inspiring people, or challenging the status quo.
We are restless if we are not pursuing fresh ideas or innovative ways to express our feelings and opinions. Whether our creative work produces a paycheck or requires one to support it, the integrity of our work is never for sale.
Our biggest fear isn’t paying the bills it’s loosing our edge. When our creativity runs away from home, and inspiration is no where in sight, we feel as if the world has crumbled around us. But, we know that the only way to stay sharp is to reach into the shadows, to try something new, to not give up, and to always work beyond our limits.
We explore creative means and mediums far beyond the reach of our own competency. We’re intrigued by the work of those who create differently, or different things entirely, and we’re okay if our expertise or niche takes a backseat once and awhile.
Exposure and access to the tools of modern creativity excite us in ways we can’t explain – we are compelled to dabble in other forms, processes, and manipulate strange elements and ideas.
The fruits of our labour are less important than they used to be. We’re increasingly willing to accept the struggle it takes to produce something and we’re okay with a little chaos once and awhile. In fact, we put our hopes and dreams in doing it all over again instead of seeing our hard work simply be a flash in the pan.
We will not abandon our soul-giving craft, not because we can’t but because we don’t know how. We are creative – and that’s that.
We are likeminded because we share in the belief that being a lone ranger is so very old-school… in a lame and not gnarly way. Through experience or intuition, we know full-well that our creative life, and our work, can only exist within the context of community.
We are our own worst critics. We beat ourselves up and we chip away at our own creative capital with little regard for the effects. But, we know that the only way to protect us from ourselves is to be surrounded by fellow creatives who are at least as self-deprecating as we are.
The chaos that comes from the unreal expectations of others, laughable deadlines, and idiotic budgets, can often be the push we need to get out from our comfort zone in search of the collaborators we need in order to thrive.
We don’t care so much about delegation as we do solving problems together. We prefer to uncover the creative challenges, artistic hurdles or business issues through a collective effort.
Whether we work in a company or we ARE the company we want to be part of something bigger. We want to belong to a community that isn’t made up of industry inbreeders. We’re sick and tired of shameless self-promotion or the clever abuse of social networking—it’s all about hard work, creative exploration, and taking relentless action on half-baked ideas with people we trust.
We want to stand out, but not at the expense of our character. We want to fit it but not so badly that we relinquish new friendships from unlikely places. We are not waiting for the world to come to us, we are intentionally pursuing community in our own back yard.
The demands on our creative leadership, as artists, service providers, and professionals is on the rise within our industries and within our city. As we dwell together in this beautiful city by the sea let’s become even more militant about doing important work together, let’s seek opportunities to inspire as much as we crave inspiration.
We are creative, we are like-mined. And today we have OCCUPIED YALETOWN to grow our creative spirit, not as individuals, but as a family of movers, shakers, ?and idea makers.
Welcome to CREATIVEMIX.
Clamorate Magazine – Vol.2
Last week Dave Seeram and I published our 2nd Clamorate magazine and it’s awesome!
This 34-page PDF is full of articles that hardworking creatives will totally dig! It’s packed with content covering topics like: collaboration, branding, marketing, social media, tax planning, engaging with clients, project planning, social networking, and public relations!
When it comes to press attention, we feel like the weedy kid in P.E. class who’s always picked last for the team. But it’s not that we’ve been deliberately overlooked – it’s just that we’re not showing up for the right class. – Steff Metal
I know you’ll love it. You can download it for $3 on Clamorate.com.
Speak Easy
I can’t believe it! CREATIVEMIX is three weeks away! Crap! I guess we better get to work!
The 2011 CREATIVEMIX Conference is shaping up to be the best one yet! As always, it features some of Vancouver’s most creative minds (speaker roster below) and to say we’re honoured to have these top-dogs involved is a major understatement! We’re blown away! Each speaker is hand-picked because they are a perfect fit with the vision of the conference. Our keynote presenters are a big deal and each of them are heavy hitters. November 3rd will be an absolute home run!
A lot of people don’t know this but we only invite one speaker per industry – no shotgun approach here. We pick 8 industries and then we work with our top picks until they either give in or are unable to confirm. It’s our BIG ASK approach and 100% of the time it works almost every time Ultimately, the goal is to build the best possible program with the most like-minded creative leaders we can get our hands on. For three years now we’ve made that happen and it’s all because of the generosity and kindness of these amazing innovators. It makes this little conference the best kept secret in Vancouver and it’s really refreshing to not be quite so “secret” anymore; third time is a charm I guess.
Click on the speaker’s picture to learn more about them. The speaking schedule is available on the CREATIVEMIX Details page.
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Third Time is a Charm
Eileen Rothe and Corwin Hiebert at CREATIVEMIX 2010. Image by Jeremy Lim.
CREATIVEMIX 2011 is coming up quick! November 3rd is just around the corner (gulp). We’ve announced the speaker roster BTW – check out the CREATIVEMIX BLOG.
I really can’t believe this will be our 3rd year running the “little conference that could”. Planning, producing, and hosting this event is a labour of love for sure but it’s self-inflicted and it has become who we are. Thankfully we’re not alone. Our relationship with Boca Del Lupo has gone to the next level and we’re now one big happy family. Eileen and I are still the producers but the partnership with Boca Del Lupo is a testimony of the creative spirit and collaborative soul of this very special event and we’re deeply grateful for their support as stakeholders.
I’m not sure how many people actually get how big of a deal it is that CREATIVEMIX is back for a third year. There’s a lot of reasons why this small, creative conference shouldn’t have made it this far. Off the top of my head, here’s a few reasons why CREATIVEMIX is thriving despite the odds:
- Vancouver is an event graveyard. There’s a ton of hot events that happen once and then never surface again. They’re to expensive, sponsor-dependent, or miss the mark in some way.
- We don’t have big money to throw around. We’re not on a lot of people’s radar. We’re the best kept secret in Vancouver’s creative community… still.
- The conference is industry agnostic which makes our target audience wildly diverse and difficult to market to. We love the challenge but it’s harder that you think.
- We mash together professionals, students, solopreneurs, arts groups, small businesses, and creative people of all kinds – it’s an unconventional audience to say the least.
- The theme never changes – it’s all about creativity and collaboration; deal with it.
- Our exhibition is not a trade show (because trade shows suck); we give the space away to people and groups and companies that inspire us.
Anyway, clearly it’s built for success thanks to the amazing creative community that lives and works in this wonderful city by the sea. The conference connects with people in a way that truly inspires and motivates them to be creative within the context of community. It’s an awesome thing to be a part of.
Kudos to the speakers, musicians, exhibitors, staff, partners, and supporters (past and present) – we are driven to make CREATIVEMIX what it is because it represents the creative spirit you so generously share with those around you.
Now go buy a conference pass for $99 ‘cuz we’re expecting a sellout and I want to fill the room with all my friends
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