The speakers in our first evening event are all building exceptional communities aimed at creative audiences. Chris Do (The Futur), Wes O’Haire (Blacks Who Design), Perrin Drum (AIGA) and Milan Moffat (SuperHi) will talk you through what it takes to build a following of like-minded people and evolve it into regular social interactions.
There’ll be Glug Birmingham vibes as Mama Roux’s plays host to proceedings, with Digbeth Dining Club next door delivering the very best street food the city has to offer.
Building Diverse Design Communities – Wes O'Haire
We all know there’s a diversity problem, but how can we use design to help? How can we iterate on solutions? How can we recruit help?
In this talk, we’ll explore how Blacks Who Design got started and cover the practical takeaways that you can use to promote diversity within your community.
Building Influence Online – Chris Do
Every company has customers. Few companies have an audience. An audience gladly shows up and gives you their attention, whereas you have to pay customers to pay attention. The Futur has grown from thousands of subscribers to 500k in the span of a few years. Our audience is highly engaged and active online. How did we do it? Why did we do it? What are the benefits of growing an audience to build influence? Some honest talk, insights, and things you can do to grow your influence.
IRL to URL – building an online-first creative community – Milan Moffatt
How do you help and support thousands of students in 80 countries and 15 timezones that you’ve never met learn online? What are the challenges of teaching online, when all you see are usernames and avatars? What are the benefits of online-only communities and how can we design them to be diverse, inclusive and welcoming?
SuperHi is an online school and community that helps creative people learn new skills, make cool shit and grow in their careers. In this talk, I’ll discuss why it’s important to rethink the ways we communicate and learn online, the challenges of working remotely and how we grew our community from the ground up.
Community Isn’t Always Nice – Perrin Drumm
We may need one another now more than ever, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get along—and that’s a good thing.
Speakers
Chris Do
CEO and Chief Strategist of Blind and the founder of The Futur
Chris Do is an Emmy award-winning designer, CEO and Chief Strategist of Blind and the founder of The Futur—an online education platform that teaches the business of design to creatives.
He currently serves as the chairman of the board for the SPJA, and as an advisor to Saleshood. He has also served as: advisory board member for AIGA/LA, Emmys Motion & Title Design Peer Group, Otis Board of Governors, Santa Monica College and Woodbury University.
He has taught Sequential design for over a decade at the Art Center College of Design. Additionally, he has lectured all over the world including Digital Design Days Milan, Lu Xun Academy Fine Art Dalian, Motion Conference Santa Fe, MIT Boston, Bend Design Conference Bend, VMA Design Conference San Francisco, Graphika Manila, Create Philippines, Rise Up Summit Cairo, RGD Design Thinkers Toronto, California Institute of the Arts, LA Art Institute, Otis College of Design, UCLA, MGLA, Cal State Los Angeles/ Northridge, Post Production World, Adobe Video World and San Diego University.
Mr. Do has given talks and conducted workshops on: Negotiations, Pricing & Budgeting, Leadership Mindset, Branding, Graphic & Motion Design, Social Media Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Business Management, and Client Relations.
Milan Moffatt
Design Lead at SuperHi
Milan Moffatt is a designer, educator and mentor based in New York City (or anywhere in the world with a solid WiFi connection). She leads all things design at SuperHi, an online school and community helping creative people from 80+ countries learn new skills and grow in their careers. Before SuperHi, she was designing at agencies and early stage startups in Brooklyn and Santiago, Chile. She spends a lot of time thinking about typography, creating inclusive spaces on the internet and how to keep the unreasonable amount of plants she has in her apartment alive.
Wes O'Haire
Product designer for Dropbox, Founder of Blacks Who Design
Wes O’Haire is a product designer for Dropbox, where he’s helping design a more enlightened way of working. Before joining Dropbox, his work spanned designing products for Nike, Hudl, and several startups. He also founded Blacks Who Design, a directory that highlights Black designers. He cares about the future of technology, mentorship, and diversity in tech.
Perrin Drumm
Founder & Director of AIGA Eye on Design
I was born in Pasadena, CA, which anyone will tell you is a very safe place to live, but in between the time I was born and where I am now, I’ve had two concussions, cracked my front tooth, split open my lip, been stung by a stingray, and broken my arm (all the way up to my shoulder). When the cast came off I had a scar on my elbow in the shape of a nipple. I have a scar on my chin where I cut it wide open falling out of bed. I have scars on my knees from playing little league as a little girl and then softball as a Panda at an all-girls high school in L.A. During one practice I blacked out and fell on my face in center field and got a scab on my upper lip in the exact shape of Hitler’s mustache. Luckily, it didn’t leave a mark.
I went to Santa Fe University of Art and Design (formerly the College of Santa Fe), where I played cricket recreationally and didn’t get hurt once. I got a B.A. in creative writing and studio art and then an M.F.A. in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
I live in Brooklyn and work as a writer and editor, a job you’d think is pretty safe, but in the past few years I’ve been thrown from my bike twice, torn my rotator cuff, and undergone minor toe surgery. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
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