CREATIVEMIX Launches in Vancouver

Conference Attracts Nettwerk's Terry McBride

Vancouver's first CREATIVEMIX Ideation Conference takes place October 22 at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown. Featuring 12 of Vancouver's top creative minds, including Terry McBride of Nettwerk Records, the conference covers 9 artistic industries ranging from film to photography, design, publishing, comedy and even cooking.

With the goal of "giving people something they can walk away with," CREATIVEMIX is distinguishing itself from other local events like Pecha Kucha and TEDx Vancouver by focusing on the creative journey as opposed to the outcome.

Produced by events manager Corwin Hiebert, and singer-songwriter Eileen Rothe, CREATIVEMIX comes on the heels of rampant funding cuts to BC's arts community. "We're concerned about creative professionals," said Hiebert. "When you stop celebrating creative work, people can't find the buzz they need. The creative economy needs an avenue and venues to show their stuff."

But Hiebert and Rothe also believe creative ideas are often borne of tough economic times - when a lack of resources spawns innovation. "This could have an impact in terms of cross-sector collaboration," said Rothe. "This could foster job creation."

Creating CREATIVEMIX

The creative couple came up with the idea for the conference on a cross-Canada tour promoting Rothe's EP Dream Girl. "We got a lot of ideas as we were driving," she said. "We had sunk everything emotionally into the tour and we just started talking about that creative process."

They decided to take their own ability to innovate to the next level by developing an event that would be completely different from the corporate conferences they've attended. "We made a list of things we hate at conferences - the static, the marketing noise, the bag of paper you walk away with. We wanted to create activity."

That desire has resulted in an exhibition area dedicated to hands-on experience. "We wanted to hit people on every creative level," said Rothe. "We wanted it to be a sensory experience involving visual and auditory stimuli, as well as smell and taste."

Creative Conference Exhibition

The exhibition area will enable participants to paint, listen to live music and collaborate with people in different sectors. "We found that inspiration often comes from people who don't do what we do," said Hiebert, referring to cross-collaboration. "We thought about what we wanted to do at the conferences we've attended, and it was the experience factor."

Having produced events for many years - including Vancouver's Camp Moomba Yogathon and Blissfest, Hiebert said the response from the creative community has been overwhelmingly positive, and the duo is expecting a solid crowd of 200 to 300 participants.

"Vancouver is exceptionally creative, but it's still coming out of the woodwork," said Rothe. "It's not flamboyant about it - we're just too busy being creative to boast about it."

Full-day passes to CREATIVEMIX can be purchased for $159.