RGD Creative Business Summit
September 29, 2010

For the Kingston event, click here.

9:00am-5:00pm
University of Toronto
St. Michael’s College
Co-op, Ground Floor of Brennan Hall
Behind 81 St. Mary Street

Schedule

8:30-9:00am
Registration. Continental breakfast served.

9:00-10:00am
Bob Hambly R.G.D.
Curiosity – The Designer’s Secret Weapon

Curiosity “killed the cat” and definitely got a monkey named George into lots of trouble, but it will make you a better designer. Bob Hambly R.G.D. takes a closer look at curiosity – how it can be nurtured and encouraged rather than feared and under-valued. Bob shows you how to better assess and understand your own curiosity and isolates 5 areas where improvements will help spur on your own creativity.

Bob is a founding partner and creative director of Hambly & Woolley Inc., a multi-disciplinary graphic design firm based in Toronto. H&W was founded in 1990 and their work has received over 350 citations from design juries throughout the world. He oversees the development of a range of projects, with a particular focus on branding initiatives. Bob is also an illustrator and a frequent lecturer on illustration, graphic design and design-related topics to various institutions and associations. Among them: OCAD, Sheridan College, York University, ARIDO, IIDEX, NEOCON and RGD Ontario (DesignThinkers).

10:00-10:15am
Break.

10:15-11:15am
David Berman R.G.D.
Designing With a Purpose: Strategy’s Role in the Creative Process

It is not enough to have great design: we need great design that gets the right things done. Including strategy in your design process will make you a more valuable designer.This presentation explores a step-by-step approach to framing a problem and identifies strategy’s important role in results-oriented design. Any project worth doing deserves to start with strategy, and when we invest in strategy we always get that time back … along with better results. David will introduce some of the proven and celebrated techniques he teaches in professional development seminars that unleash imagination, establish control, avoid hurdles, and fully exploit opportunities … in language that will demystify the strategic communications process. Attendees will enjoy exploring some of the most important aspects of the strategic process, while gaining insight into how clients see the value in our work.

David Berman, is internationally-acclaimed for presenting keynotes, workshops, seminars, and books that change attitudes. He has recently been named a high-level advisor to the United Nations on how to use design thinking to help fulfill the Millennium Development Goals. His clients include Accenture, IBM, and the International Space Station. In 2000, David led the development of a code of ethics which embraces social responsibility and sustainable practice for graphic designers in Canada. This led to his involvement in developing similar standards for national bodies in USA, Norway, and China. He served as the first elected president of RGD Ontario. He has served as the national Ethics Chair for graphic design in Canada since 2002. In November 2005, David was elected to Icograda. He was re-elected to a third term in 2009.

11:15am-12:00pm
Ashlee Froese
Protecting your Brand Online

With over 1.7 billion Internet users, today, a company’s website is often the primary gateway to its brand. This seminar examines brand management issues specific to the online world. You’ll learn the fundamentals of cybersquatting and typosquatting and how to tackle them. Find out about the coming release of new gTLDs and internationalized domain names and how you can factor these considerations into strategizing your company’s online portfolio. And, Ashlee will explain how to navigate through domain name disputes. Whether you manage one corporate website or handle the many online experiences of your design firm’s clients, you’ll leave this session better equipped on the legal issues surrounding the most powerful media for any brand.

Ashlee is a lawyer and trade-mark agent at Keyser Mason Ball, LLP. Her practice encompasses intellectual property, branding, packaging, labelling, marketing and advertising law. Ashlee assists clients from a wide variety of industries in all aspects of brand protection, including copyright, trade-marks, branding and domain name law. She is actively involved in the Intellectual Property law community and with a number of intellectual property law associations. For example, she is an Executive Member of the Toronto Intellectual Property Group, on a number of committees with the International Trademarks Association and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and regularly lectures at U of T and Seneca College.

12:00pm-1:30pm
Lunch break. Lunch is not included in this event.

1:30-2:30pm
Ruben Goulart, Keyser Mason Ball, LLP.
Risky Business:  The Top Ten  Employment Risks facing Employers

This interactive session examines today’s most critical issues in employment law. Topics to be discussed include:  overtime, vacation, “independent contractors” vs. employees, termination vs. quitting, severance, maternity/parental leave, medical leave and medical information.

2:30-2:45pm
Break.

2:45-3:45pm
Ian Chalmers, Pivot Design Group
Design as Research

Traditionally, a client hires a designer, hands over a creative brief and expects the agency to come back with design concepts and solutions. The typical design process neglects to incorporate crucial information about your customers’ real world experiences. Organizations assume they understand their audiences. But their conclusions, gleaned from internal assumptions, focus groups or conventional analytical tools, often miss the mark. In this presentation, Ian will discuss the Design Research approach and how this can improve the work you do as a designer.

Ian is a creative entrepreneur whose keen energy and passion for design have sparked many innovative start-ups. Ian’s operating principle champions methods and processes that embrace the human element. This translates directly into the success of the project, but more importantly, it impacts positively on the well being of business or organization. A graduate of OCAD in both Fine Arts and Communication Design, Ian has over 18 years of expertise in creative problem solving, graphic design, corporate communications, not-for-profit campaigns and user centered design. In addition to launching Pivot Design(1998), Ian also co-founded Torch Partnership(2006), a Design Strategy firm and Akendi(2007), a User Experience firm.

3:45-4:45pm
Emily Ruth Cohen
Creative Briefs – Aligning Expectations and Measuring Results

What is a creative brief? Why do you need one? When do you write one? As a consultant to creative professionals, Emily Cohen is on a mission to help corporations, designers, marketers and strategists improve how they can collaborate to develop smartly-crafted creative briefs that achieve results. Creative briefs are typically repetitive, long-winded, over reaching and, at worse, a manifestation of corporate politics and insecurities. The best creative briefs provide a clear set of expectations and define measurable objectives to guide the progress and success of a project. As an added benefit, the Creative Brief and the development process can express and support the value and power of thoughtful, strategic design in achieving creative and results-driven solutions.

Emily has consulted with design firms and in-house corporate creative departments for over twenty years. During this time, she has provided confidential, best-practice insights and advice on staff, client, and process-management strategies, conducting client surveys and writing winning proposals, creative briefs, RFPs , and contracts. She helps creative teams improve operational effectiveness and helps companies build efficient teams and processes. She served on the board of advisors of InSource, on the AIGA In-House task force and as Secretary for the AIGA/NY Board of Directors. Emily has also taught classes and conducted seminars for many leading design schools and organizations. Emily is a frequently-requested speaker on business-related issues for the creative industry and has spoken at the RGD, HOW, MYOB and InHOWse Conferences, as well as at numerous AIGA events. Learn more at www.emilycohen.com and www.cohenmillerconsulting.com.

Pricing (+HST)
Professional Member: $90*
Prov RGD: $50; Student Member: $25
Non-Member: $125; Group Member**: $100

* Includes professional members of the following organizations: ACIDO, AIGA, ARIDO, CAPIC, RGD Ontario, GDC, IABC, SDGQ + TSA.
** A group member is one person from a group of 3 or more who are attending from the same company.
*** If you are an R.G.D. or Prov. RGD coming 100 KM or more from the event site, a discount may be granted. Call 1.888.274.3668 x 24 or email events@rgdontario.com for details.

Registration:
To register click here.

If you have any questions please call 1.888.274.3668 x 24 or email events@rgdontario.com.

Source: RGD Ontario

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