Creative professionals discuss the pros and cons of remote work and returning to the office.

There’s no bad time to look at how we balance our lives with work, but there are events that demand we stop to take stock. Maybe we create a new human or gain direct reports or have a thriving project outside our day job; how the hell do we maintain our efficiency with any number of new responsibilities?

Work is an important part of our lives, and all of us should be regularly questioning how these two – work and life – function together.

To help you make the time to do just that, we’re bringing together three speakers, each discussing a big life change that helped them find balance, efficiency, and a renewed appreciation for the value they get from both professional and private success.

SPEAKERS

Natalie Armendariz, Partner and Design Director at Funsize

Stu Smith, Creative Director and Product Designer at Atlassian

one of The Butler Brothers (want to know which? buy a ticket!)

Freelancing comes with both wonderful perks and specialized pitfalls. There’s freedom to work when and where you want and to choose projects that excite you. But there are also tasks generally performed by someone else in a company or agency environment, like business development and account management.

When you’re out on your own, there’s a lot of flexibility and a lot of responsibility. There’s a lot of charting your own course. To paraphrase that Captain Phillips movie, you are the boss now.

So, how do you find your next gig? How do you bring your whole self to work when you’re ducking in and out of internal teams? How do you make sure that this project is the one you want? When is the freedom of freelancing not worth the drudgery of tax season?

We’re bringing together three dynamic speakers to help you answer those questions. They’re freelancing themselves, they’re hiring freelancers, or they’re defining company culture with all of these questions in mind. Whether you’re just dipping your toes in the waters of freelance or you need to be reminded why you’re doing it, come hear from these experts.

Speakers:

Martyn Watts, Hulu

Cara Schaeffer, Buzzfeed

Ray Hwang, Honey

*Drinks and eats provided

The side hustle comes in many shapes. Perhaps it makes money or fills a void or is that much needed personal practice that keeps a person ideating and striving. It’s something people keep giving time and attention to, seemingly no matter what. For many creatives, there’s an unstoppable desire (nay, need!) to keep making things even when the workday is over.

But how do they do it? Why do they do it? When do they do it? Where do they find the time to do it? We’ve brought together a few of the very best Austin’s ever seen to talk us through it.

Not every job title immediately makes sense. They can feel unnecessarily murky or even misleading; am I qualified for this one or not?

We get it. We look at job titles all day, every day, and even we’re flummoxed by them now and then. So to illustrate what these jobs mean, we’re gathering a few people who hold those funky titles to talk about how they got to where they are, what their title means to them, and how to prepare yourself for a career in a field that isn’t always straightforward.

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SPEAKERS:
Charley Zheng, Creative Strategist
Leah Davidson, UX Designer & Researcher
Tomás Valladares, Creative Producer

“I love job interviews,” said no one.

Whether they’re anxiety-inducing or a thrill, or most likely somewhere in between, interviews are rarely easy or straightforward.

Let’s talk about why. Let’s look at all the ways they’re fun or scary or difficult or joyful. Let’s break away from seeing them simply as a tool of judgement, and instead look at how they affect our minds and bodies. Let’s make them easier for all involved.

We’ve got a Psychotherapist and a Design Director to help us explore interviewing, how it impacts us, and how to improve the experience. Don’t worry, it won’t feel anything like a job interview.

Every one of us has a story. We bring our history along to every job, on every first date, to each new friendship. But, how do we use it to our advantage? And once we’ve mastered integrating our personal selves into our professional lives, how do we find the career we’re passionate about?

Sarah Kay is the Head of Global NXT Marketing at Nike, leading a team of bold thinkers to move the brand, the consumer, and the world forward. While all our heads are here in 2018, she’s planning the next decade of Nike’s evolution.

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Special thanks to our sponsors:
Las Primas Kitchen, Buoy Beer, & Adelsheim

Can Design Thinking change your life? Will fabricating your truth get you further in your career? We’re not sure, so we’ve brought in the experts. Elayna Spratley and Rose Newton are both designers and thinkers. They know a thing or two about Design Thinking as a personal practice and how to navigate a career in design by saying yes and figuring it out later.

Speakers:
Elayna Spratley “DesignThinkMe”
Design Thinking has become a widespread practice throughout the world of design and beyond; typically it’s used to uncover problems and iterate on ideas for designing user experiences. But why not use it to identify the desires within us? A Senior UX Designer, Elayna has done this work herself, with the goal of uncovering and affirming the desires she holds as truth.

Rose Newton “Fabricating Your Truth”
Career paths are unpredictable. Traditionally, you go to college, you graduate, and you’re launched into adulthood with a new and exciting career. You’re on a path that you hope will be smooth (but it rarely is). Things that are beyond your control will cause you to pivot to paths you could not have predicted. Rose’s advice: tell some lies. Say yes and figure it out. Eventually, the lies become the truth.

Beer by Hops & Grain
Food by Via 313

The side hustle comes in many shapes. Perhaps it makes money or fills a void or is that much needed personal practice that keeps a person ideating and striving. It’s something people keep giving time and attention to, seemingly no matter what. For many creatives, there’s an unstoppable desire (nay, need!) to keep making things even when the workday is over.

But how do they do it? Why do they do it? When do they do it? Where do they find the time to do it? We’ve brought together a few of the very best Portland’s ever seen to talk us through it.

(oh, and pssst every attendee gets a free custom Scout Book)

Speakers
Aimee Brodbeck, ACD at VML
Adam Garcia, ACD at Instrument
Gabriella Narvaez, ACD at Analog Folk

Professional sports aren’t only about championships or hometown pride. It’s not enough anymore to have the best players or the newest stadium. When your team is new to town or looking to grow its fanbase, you need to generate excitement (and get butts in seats). And to do that, there needs to be a campaign to drive them there.

We’re bringing together the experts who do just that; the marketing masterminds and the content creators who help convince you to buy that ticket and get to the field (or court, or track, or…)

Speakers
Cory Dolich + Alex Kocher, Portland Timbers and Thorns
Aaron Grossman + Todd Adams, Portland Trail Blazers