Ceindy at Creative South

My First Conference : Creative South 2019

Creative South 2019 was an amazing experience. I’m so super grateful to work for an agency that would send me to learn new things! First of all, all of the attendees were so nice! I think everyone was so friendly because we all have a passion for being creative. To keep this post short and sweet, here are some quick takeaways from the event.

Shy AF?

I know I am. In fact, I’m awkward, too – so it makes being shy even more understandable. Luckily I went with a coworker, so there was always someone to talk to. We are both – I’m not sure how to chime into new groups – people, so here was our trick. We approached mainly single persons. It was great because you could be more one-on-one or two, and your friend could think of other questions to fill any awkward silences. Another happenstance was one of the lettering artists I follow on Instagram posted she was there, so I messaged and said ME TOO, and we met up and talked for a while. I’d like to think everyone I met would chat with me again.

Ceindy at Creative South

OMGERSH YUMM

You know I was going to talk about food, right? I was really stoked that there were parties and free AMAZING food. There’s nothing like being fed delicious local foods to make me happy. There was a food truck event where I saw the CUTEST shaved ice truck. They told me it’s a renovated horse trailer. I mean, HOW STINKIN’ CUTE IS THIS?! And, pizza parties are always awesome. My friend is allergic to peanuts, and there were some instances where we couldn’t eat in some spots. Ever since working with him, I’ve learned that places can be really ignorant of this common allergen and I wish people were more aware of it – mostly because I want those fried, crispy yums!

Shave Ice Truck

Speakers and Speeches

Dude, there were so many great speeches. I loved many of them and my favorites, if I could only pick three, were Jessica Hische (of course), Efdot, and Rob Zilla. I felt that their talks were memorable and had really awesome actionable ideas that anyone could apply to their Graphic Design career. I loved their presentation style, that they showed a lot of their work (both work in progress and final) and how open they were about their lives and work.

Here’s where I’m going to say something that not everyone will agree with – I wish there were more variety and depth in the speeches. There were a lot of speeches that talked about mental health and mindset – which are great reminders of who we should be. But I really wish there was more. We work in such a big field and I feel that a variety of talks about agency life, freelance life, working with different clients, negotiation tactics, furthering your career, where/what to do when you feel stagnant – topics like those are just as important.

As for depth, there was a great introduction to accessibility and inclusivity, but I wanted more. I wanted examples, I wanted actions, I wanted less intro stuff and to be more in depth. I’ve felt this way about other workshops and speeches. To put it brutally – I am an avid googler, tell me stuff that’s not on the first page of Google, please. On the flip side, I do know that some of those ideas could have been very new to people, so there is a time and a place for it, I just didn’t know I was walking into that place.

Ink Wars 2019 Left Side Ink Wars 2019 Right Side

AGAIN?

Totes. I loved the conference experience and would totally do it again. I would totally splurge on a workshop, too. They had so many great little stations, like screen printing your own t-shirt and Ink Wars, the game theme was integrated throughout and everyone I met was truly enjoyable to be around. One thing I would not recommend, trying to walk miles in a new city at midnight. Just because it looks like home, doesn’t mean it is or that Google Maps will take you down the safe streets. Thank goodness for the active Uber community, they were worth every penny.

And Mother’s Day is next week!

Here’s a free digital download of a hand-lettered card for you in three colors—the black is for those with only b/w laserjet printers, like me! Just click on the color you’d like and it’s formatted for you to print out on a letter-sized sheet.

Ceindy Doodles Happy Mother Day in Blue Ceindy Doodles Happy Mother Day in Red Ceindy Doodles Happy Mother Day in Black

 

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