innovative meetings Katie Kervin 99 Percent Perspiration
The 99U Conference goes deeper than inspiration, providing attendees with pragmatic ways to implement the creative ideas they already have.
T
he header of the conference portion of the website
99u.com is emblazoned with a familiar
saying: “1% inspiration, and 99% per- spiration.” Clichés aside, the saying is exactly in line with 99U’s philosophy and actions. A brand dedicated to deliv- ering “insights on making ideas happen,” 99U is a part of Behance, an online platform on which creatives — including architects, marketers, and fashion, web, and graphic designers — can showcase their portfolios. An important channel to deliver those insights is 99U’s annual conference in New York City, held on May 2–3 this year. While many conferences and pre- sentations provide attendees with inspirational speeches, “What’s unique about 99U,” said Jocelyn Glei, 99U’s editor in chief, “is that it really focuses not on inspirational idea generation, but really on idea execution.” To that end, Glei and one other colleague work hard to curate speakers who have achieved “remarkable” accomplish- ments — whether it’s starting a busi- ness or creating a work of art — and help them structure their presenta- tions on the pragmatic takeaways they can provide attendees about what they’ve learned while putting their ideas into action.
ACCOMPLISHED SPEAKERS The speaker lineup at the 2013 con- ference read like a who’s who of the creative world — entrepreneurs, designers, authors, and photographers
— including Joe Gebbia, co-founder of the apartment-rental website Airbnb; Kaaren Hansen, vice president of design innovation at financial-software
PCMA.ORG BREAKOUT
Making Ideas Happen
In 2009, Behance founder Scott Belsky wrote a book called Mak- ing Ideas Happen, and while it preceded the launch of
99u.com and the conference, “our mission very much springs from some of the ideas in that book,” said Jocelyn Glei, 99U’s editor in chief. In May 2013, 99U released its own book, Manage Your Day to Day, which is the first in a series of three it will publish. Glei found in organizing the conference that
development company Intuit (one of the “World’s Most Innovative Compa- nies,” according to Forbes); and Leah Busque, founder and CEO of TaskRab- bit, a job-outsourcing app. Past speak- ers have included Jack Dorsey, creator and co-founder of Twitter, and John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design. Speakers are generally sourced on
an invite-only basis, Glei said, although there is a place on the website for speaker nominations. “We are con- stantly thinking of a running list of people who we think are really amazing and who have accomplished incredible things,” she said. “It’s not just about hearing about your experience — it’s hearing about your experience and understanding what you learned that I can apply to my experience.”
‘IT WAS EVEN BETTER’
Conference organizers ramped up attendance this year, from 400 attend- ees in 2012 to 1,000. Somewhat coun- ter-intuitively, the 99U team decided to increase the number of attendees after finding a great venue, rather than
ON THE WEB
For more information about 99U, visit
99u.com.
Innovative Meetings is sponsored by the Irving Convention & Visitors Bureau,
irvingtexas.com.
AUGUST 2013 PCMA CONVENE 37
“we created this amazing brain trust of researchers and creatives who had really incredible insights to share.” She also noticed that for many people, and especially creatives, day-to-day workflow patterns were morphing into a series of reactive actions like responding to emails or texts.
“As creatives, we all really need time,” Glei said. “You need time to really wrap your head around the project. You might need a good two to three hours sitting with a project to get into the flow and get moving on it.” Manage Your Day to Day is structured as a series of short essays from con- tributors who are very successful at what they do professionally. “It’s creating a daily routine, find- ing focus, disconnecting, and sharpening your creative mind — keeping your ideas fresh.”
ILLUSTRATION BY BECI ORPIN / THE JACKY WINTER GROUP. PHOTOGRAPH BY
MAKME.COM
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