Creative Operations New York 2023

First Sessions Announced

We are busy developing an exciting agenda for Creative Operations New York 2023 so keep your eyes peeled for details. Register your interest here to be the first to hear about new sessions and speakers!

In the meantime, check out the first five sessions announced:

 

Building the Plane While Flying...

Join The Home Depot team to hear how they navigated the challenge of shifting from channel-specific creative and marketing execution to an omnichannel approach - operationalizing the strategy into action by building and connecting:

• process
• structure
• technology
• and teams

With Stacie Santana, Sr Director Creative Services & Operations, Barbara Vining, Operations Process and Colleen Strouse, CPMO Senior Manager from The Home Depot

How to Keep Your Creative Teams Motivated

Even without the incentives common in for-profit companies​

Kate Schmieding runs a creative department of Civil Servants. That means no bonuses, no stock options, no fast promotions, and no all-expenses-paid trips to Disney – not sour grapes, just public sector, ‘it’s the taxpayers’ money’ reality.

In this session, Kate will share the techniques she uses that keep writers, editors, graphic artists, and producers engaged and motivated.

You will leave Kate’s session energized - ready to put many of the tips in place in your own organization.

Some sneak preview tips from Kate:

• Variety in roles on projects
• Low pressure, high payoff creative expressions
• Emphasis on work-life balance (for real)

With Kate Schmieding, Creative Operations Director at Office of General Services

Productivity Tools and Techniques for Creative Ops Leaders

As Creative Operations leaders, we are often seen as the adults in the room-- bringing order to chaos and removing administrative bonds that can dampen creative spirits.

A Creative Operations expert should both set standards for ways of working that achieve more with less swirl and should exemplify personal productivity best practices to inspire direct reports and senior leaders.

Referencing personal experience, historical best practices and neuroscience revelations, Tess Dixon and Jerry Melichar will explore the tried-and-true fundamentals of personal productivity (including leveraging your "outside brain", "essentialism", the 30x rule, and developing deep focus). 

Productivity in a vacuum is of limited value - the presentation will identify specific, actionable tips and strategies to increase the focus, productivity and creativity of your managers and direct reports.

With Jerry Melichar, Managing Director of Operations at VMLY&R and Tess Dixon, DesignOps Leader

Defining the Value of the In-House Agency

With so many organizations dependent on their internal creative teams for marketing, advertising, communications, PR, and now media, it’s surprising that more in-house agencies do not have a way to value their services to the business.

Aleka Sansom, Executive Creative Director of Vanguard’s in-house agency (RHC), in partnership with Andrea B. Ruskin of Blum Consulting Partners, Inc, has developed a methodology to determine the value of the in-house creative agency. Join Aleka and Andrea as they present their case study that details the reason behind creating the value, the necessary steps it takes to define the value of the in-house team, and the benefits to the business beyond cost savings, by working in-house. 

With Aleka Sansom, Executive Creative Director at Vanguard RHC and Andrea B Ruskin, Partner & Strategic Advisor for Blum Consulting Partners

Building Creative Tenure

The renaissance in brand culture has emphasized the benefits of having an internal creative team.

Their value has moved beyond cost containment. It includes:

• The advantages of a dedicated, always-available, team
• Direct access to the product and marketing groups; permanently focused on the brand’s success
• Access to confidential customer data
• Deep institutional knowledge of the company’s products - perhaps the most important advantage of them all

Now for the challenges. Because in-house agencies have transitioned from their pioneering days and reached greater levels of maturity, they confront the same issues external agencies have grappled with for decades: how to attract, develop, inspire, challenge, reward and retain top talent in a fiercely competitive marketplace.

This panel will discuss a wide range of approaches to meeting these challenges – a diversity of views on how best to build tenure and loyalty across an in-house creative team - while keeping work ‘new day’ fresh.

Moderated by Roger Hyde