Creative Operations Exchange

Chair’s Opening Remarks

John Barnhardt, Director of Creative Services
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

Workflow Zen: Mastering the Tension Between Operational and Creative Process, Thinking, and Teams

Typical roles in your business such as sales, marketing, and design favor types of thinking that converge to create tension in your business. By better understanding your teams and skills, we can align our workflows towards better collaboration. This session will focus on how to align teams and workflows towards success at the convergence of Operational and Creative mindsets.

Casey James, Head of Creative Operations
JONES KNOWLES RITCHIE

Break

Keynote Address: 3 Emergent Themes from 90 In-House Leaders and What They Mean for the Future of Creative Operations

Want to know where to spend your time in 2020 to make the biggest impact? Based on insights from over 90 design and operations leaders from high profile brands in NY, SF, LA, Chicago and Seattle, Susie & Corey will share 3 emergent themes that can help Creative Operations leaders maximize their efforts. Gain insights that will spark conversation throughout the event on how leaders can work together to solve their toughest challenges and build skills that further their craft.

Susie Hall, President, Community & Customer Engagement
AQUENT

Corey O'Brien, Vice President
AQUENT STUDIOS

Break

Executive Roundtable: Inside Scoop—The Creative Agency from Your Stakeholders’ Perspectives

Listen in to this enlightening conversation that offers a rare chance to hear candidly from senior leaders in the C-suite and on the executive leadership team about how you and your department can better serve (and better get what you want and need) from those that understand the needs and expectations of your own internal stakeholders. Also find out how the rise of creative operations as a discipline (and project management by extension) has allowed their brands to grow and excel, considering the before and after states and the financial impacts of creative operations to the bottom line. Plus, hear from them about how best to get their buy-in for any of the important initiatives you’re trying to drive within your departments.

This discussion will be moderated by a senior creative ops leader and will cover the pertinent questions you have for your own executive leaders. Bring your ideas and burning questions for this interactive conversation.

Elizabeth Brownsen, Vice President of Delivery
ZEHNER

Chris Jacobs, Creative Director & Co-Founder
STRANGE ANIMAL

Brian Unflat, Creative Director
CMD AGENCY

Break

Interactive Networking Breakout Session

“Pull up a chair,” turn on your mic and camera, and engage with fellow creative ops professionals from around the country. Discuss shared challenges, and exchange contact information to build your network. We will be utilizing breakout rooms in Zoom to split everyone up into different groups, and rotating every 15 minutes to a new room with new people to meet.

Happy Hour

Grab your favorite beverage and join your peers for a virtual Happy Hour hosted by our wonderful sponsors. Choose a “table” to start, then later switch to other “tables” to meet new people.

End of Day One

Featured Session: How to Say “NO” to and Refine Processes with Key Stakeholders

Due to sickness, this session will not happen live. We are hoping to record with Navi after she is well and distribute this session on demand.

Discover how to build strong relationships with stakeholders and help them understand your value to them. And how, once you’ve built those relationships, you’re able to talk about process changes and then become able to say ‘NO’ when needed without raising red flags.

Navi Kahlon, Principal Program Manager/Creative Operations-INBOUND
HUBSPOT

Virtual Conference Room Opens

Welcome Back and Opening Remarks

Kate Sullivan, Senior Creative Operations Director
PANDORA/SXM

Panel Discussion: Change Agents—Successful Strategies for Change Management as You Drive Continuous Process Improvement

• • Effective principles in action—stories from the field of both successful and failed change initiatives along with an honest assessment of what led to each outcome.
• • Find out what leads most corporate change directives to fail, with real-life anecdotes of failed initiatives along with lessons learned, and how best to position yours for success.
• • Leading teams through big changes and coming through them with morale (and your team) intact.

Kate Sullivan, Senior Creative Operations Director
PANDORA/SXM
TBA

Panelists:
Wendy Parker-Hepp, Creative Operations Manager
PEARSON

Carrie Crow, Associate Director, Studio Operations
HELLOFRESH

Break

Panel Discussion: Successful Strategies for Managing Remote Personnel and Teams

• • Keys for managing your team through shifts in work sites
• • Strategies to successfully keep people engaged in remote work
• • What technologies are you using, and how are you dealing with creative technology challenges?
• • How are you handling different types of creative teams differently?

Moderator:
Wayne Barringer, Chief Advisor
WBC IN-HOUSE ADVISORS

Panelists:
Jodi Baker, Senior Manager, Creative Operations
PANDORA

Josh Walters, Head of Accounts and Project Management
BOEING

Heidi Cerenzia, Vice President of Demand Generation
WRIKE

Break

Workshop Part I: Perspectives and Lessons Learned on Chargeback Model Challenges

Listen in as senior creative operations experts discuss pros and cons of chargeback models and share firsthand experiences in chargeback models, reasons for model selection—or why they avoid chargeback methods—and key issues they wish they would’ve known.

Moderator:
Catherine McIntyre-Velky, Principal
MCVELKY LLC CONSULTING

Panelists:
May Aboubakr, Senior Director, Brand Development Operations
CHOBANI

Dickson Bueno, Principal
DICKSON BUENO CONSULTING

Meghan Ayala, Former Director, Creative Services, Client Solutions
LONELY PLANET

Break

Workshop Part II: Implementing a Chargeback Model—Best Practices & Lessons Learned from In House and External Agencies

• • Why choose to do it: behavior change, cost recovery, demand management, and more
• • Where to apply it: rush jobs, more than two rounds of revisions, specialized services outside of core work (ex. developer, calligrapher), etc. OR an all-in approach that is fully chargeback!
• • How it was implemented: policy developed, getting leadership buy-in, training staff, communicating to clients.
• • Overall results: reduction in excessive revisions and rush requests, some cost recovery, and increased capacity to allow the team to focus on high exposure projects that better serve the brand. Navigating the challenges like higher administrative burden and managing client frustration/anger
• • Find out how to apply this at your organization. You’ll have the chance to work through provided checklists to assess the best fit for your team

Mishri Someshwar, Senior Project Manager
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Dan Dove, Project Manager
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Closing Remarks

End of Conference