I trust that in these recessive times of tight budgets conference organisers have a hard time to sell their events. From my very own German perspective the fact that those events I find most inspiring & worth going to are usually taking place somewhere abroad is often frustrating :-(
Therefore I’ve been more than thrilled when I was invited to attend the 2009 edition of the Creative Company Conference (CCC) that takes place in Amsterdam on Tuesday, 26 May 2009! In contrast to many other conferences it’s a one day event fully packed with keynote speeches, break out sessions, the 3 minute pitches, and special themes. In case you’re interested in a review of last year’s edition you might want to visit Erik Roscam Abbing’s blog. As we’re going to and twittering (#CCC2009) from the conference together you might also want to read his announcement of the event.
As a sort of anecdote on the Netherlands and Amsterdam as the location let me share this: While delivering a seminar on “Strategic Thinking in Brand Management” at EURIB in Rotterdam last week quite a few participants asked me about my passion for the Netherlands and the fact how it comes that I understand most and talk some basic Dutch. Except for the travel industry this still seems to be quite unusual these days ;-)
In any case my response to their questions has been that for me having had my teenage days in the early 80′s the Netherlands always served as the ‘brand gate’ to the world (outside the little town 12km from the Dutch border). I clearly remember the envious looks of my school mates when I wore one of the first pair of Nike sneakers (Blue with a Yellow Swoosh!) in my class ;-) Also McDonalds had their presence in NL long before they decided to enter this big thing called Germany. Nowadays as I do a reasonable portion of my business with/in the Netherlands I do still think that the Dutchmen are at the forefront when it comes to adopting ‘Creative Class’ & the likes … anyway I’m drifting here ;-)
After all for me the USP of the Creative Company Conference 2009 is definitively Sir Ken Robinson. In case you shouldn’t know him yet watch him perform at TED! There you will see how he speaks with extraordinary warmth, passion and wit about creativity in business and education. His latest book “The Element” talks about the creative potential of people and what they can achieve when natural talent meets personal passion.
Similar to Ken Robinson all other speakers (with Erik Spiekermann amongst them) are also like minds professionals in branding (TCHO), design, innovation (RedesignMe.com), marketing and entrepreneurs (University of Amsterdam) from every business sector, from the Netherlands and from abroad, all with a common interest of stimulating creativity in their environments.
The price for the ticket is € 695,- and includes 1 Full Access pass to the Main event and CCC breakout sessions, 2 tea/coffee breaks, lunch, soft drinks, delegate bag with inserts and drinks and snacks at the CCC network closing event. Compared to the usual TED conference ticket that costs you approx. € 4.000,- I think this is a good value for money! ;-)
In case you should decide to go to the conference make sure that we’re connected on twitter (@iterations) and that you’ll drop me a note. A ‘real’ beer is guaranteed! :-) Hope to see you there!
