Get Creative

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Get creative conference 2018
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“Would you consider yourself creative?”. A question posed by Joan Mulvihil (centre director at IC4) the mc for the evening. I spent my afternoon with this question looming on my mind and wondering was I creative in a way I had never thought of before? Through my schooling life I would always consider myself more logical than creative. After a few failed attempts at learning musical instruments and my drawings being more bin-worthy than Pablo Picasso, I gave up on the idea that I had a creative mind. The ‘Get creative’ conference held on the 30th of October in the Helix was a wonderful insight into the mind of successful business people and how these talented innovators each turned their own creativity into business ventures. After listening to these speakers my opinion on what creativity meant had completely changed.

The speakers were as followed;

Followed by a panel led by Joe Cullinane that featured;

 

The event kicked off with Aisling Cowzer who was first to the stage. She was an excellent speaker and discussed how her role as a manager in Accenture requires her to use a design thinking process every day in work “whether that be Monday morning or Friday afternoon”. I had never heard of this process previously and as Aisling mentioned when thinking of the word “Design” my mind immediately jumped to fashion or interior not digital design in a large corporate company.

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On Accenture’s website part of their mission is helping “clients provide better experiences to the customers they serve”. Aisling explained how she works with banks and large companies at local and national level to put “people in the heart” of problems that arise, as often with technology human interaction and empathy are removed. She provided different scenarios of how one approach may work with some companies but not work with others. For example she mentioned how you do not want to receive constant letters from the tax office, but if you order something online you want an update regularly.

Aisling introduced me to the Double Diamond, a form of design thinking they use in Accenture. Instead of first searching for solutions for the problem the Double Diamond process requires you to start with the research and insights first, and then look at the ideation and prototypes in order to avoid wasting your time trying to solve “the wrong problem”.dt double diamond

The Double diamond design process is definitely something I will take away and use as a tool to succeed in my career after college. Aisling sparked a new found meaning of design in me and highlighted how as a business it is so important to consider customers thoughts when tackling a problem, rather than focusing solely on the business perspective.

Followed by Aisling was Tania Banotti, Who works on behalf of Creative Ireland to make creativity the centre of the governments public policy. On their website they describe themselves as “a culture-based programme designed to promote individual, community and national well-being”.

Tania discussed a number of wonderful initiatives set in place to achieve their aims such as their plan to offer resources to all schools around the country so that students have access to the arts from a young age.According to Tania children perform better in school if they are exposed to creativity. One of Creative Ireland’s aim is to establish “creative schools and clusters” funded by the government, whereby all children have access to music, drama and cultural activities. Having completed the leaving cert myself I can agree that it is “uncreative” and if given the opportunity to take part in something that encouraged me to do well, rather than feel like exams are a burden I would have jumped at the chance. By giving young people the resources needed, the programme’s aim is to have a generation which if faced with Joan’s opening question, reply with a confident yes.

ci ireland

Creative Ireland (2017)

Another project creative Ireland worked on was the commemorations for the 1916 rising in Dublin. This is where the idea initially arised for the programme. This sparked an interest in me as I had taken part in the events (Road to the rising) Tania was discussing. I had worked in collaboration with Rte to recreate a wedding procession on O’Connell street on the anniversary of the 1916 rising. I was reminded of the atmosphere that shredded through the streets and the country around this time. I found Tania’s discussion very intriguing as she hoped to capture that atmosphere and spread it nationwide with CI’s programme. I also questioned why the Irish government had never funded such a programme before. Surely, they’d hoped to create a country full of rich culture and creativity, since, after all, we are known as the land of saints and scholars.

Joanne Looby was next to speak on stage. Joanne is the head of Global innovation at Diageo, a large drinks company that creates products such as Baileys and Smirnoff. Joanne herself was a graduate of DCU and immediately I felt at ease with her, as if she was an old friend. Joanne showed each student the endless possibilities that could be achieve with a degree from DCU.

She gave a brief history of Baileys and explained how her job was to reinvent the brand after sales plummeted during the recession. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say I left the conference hungry and craving Baileys.

Joanne showed us a number of adverts on how Baileys branding had changed from an alcoholic beverage which had been marketed towards women to something which was considered a “grown up treat”. Baileys transformation through the years was fascinating and enlightened me on how a company must adapt in the current market in order to gain success. I have linked below one of the many mouth-watering adverts Joanne showed us at the event.

 

Ailbhe Keane was up next. All the other speakers had set the bar high and Joanne was a tough act to follow but with the catchphrase “If you cant stand up stand out” Ailbhe grasped my attention from the get go. In my opinion she was the Highlight of the conference. Having finished a degree in NCAD Ailbhe created the company Izzy wheels, A business which specialises in custom wheelchair wheel covers. Ailbhe came across as a relatable, driven business woman and truly someone to be looked up to. She spoke about how she had no previous background in business but with a passion and a killer idea her business continues to grow each day. Ailbhe reminded me that with determination and hard work anything is possible, something I must remember when leaving DCU to pursue my own business career.

Ailbhe discussed how she had collaborated with many well known designers such as Orla Kiely and how she used social media to market her company. This form of marketing is perfect for a beginner company like Izzy Wheels as it is low cost and very effective. The comapany I work for have adopted this approach by launching a social media campaign on Instagram, using bloggers and influencers to market their products. The results from this campaign have been tremendous for the profit of the company, like with Ailbhe and Izzy wheels as their company is solely online.

Ailbhe was accompanied by her sister Izzy, who the wheel covers were originally created for. Izzy was a wonderful advocate for the brand, she showed just how positive an effect Izzy wheels product could have on its consumers and squashed the negative image surrounding wheelchair users. Izzy spoke proudly about her wheelchair and the large wardrobe she now had for her wheels.

The brands success through selling on an online store gave an insight into how the world of business works today and how even though there is no physical store you can create an online industry through the web. Upon reflection I realised that Ailbhe was everything I aspired to be when creating my own business. By taking her vision, regardless of her lack of business knowledge, she showed us how to build a successful brand through hard work and turned her passion into profit.
The final speaker of the evening was Patrick Hickey who discussed how he work with clients to market their products and the failures and successes of his career. I have linked below the video his company created in association with Daintree paper which made confetti to celebrate the same sex marriage referendum being passed in Ireland. Rothco’s idea was brilliant and truly outside of the box.

 

The conference concluded with the panel featuring Brian Dillion from the band Meltybrains, Ahkil Voorakkara (Eirloop) and Mark Bennet (Talent Garden). The discussion between the various business men and their idea of creativity was fascinating.

Leaving this conference, I had a new found understanding of the word creativity. I have come to the realisation that although I would not consider myself a creative person, everyone is creative in their own way. I may not be talented in the field of art or music, but I have my own form of creativity when it comes to more logical problems.

This conference gave me the confidence to believe in my own ideas and the knowledge and insight into what it takes to create a successful business. I look forward to the next conference ‘Get Digital’, where I hope to be inspired furthermore and open my mind to the different sectors in business as I did at ‘Get Creative’.

 

 

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