Blogs

Jodie & Diana attended the Circles Conference, and it was awesome

September 26, 2014

It was a long journey to a short two days, but both Jodie (Design Goddess) and Diana (Social Diva, Wordsmith, Pro Nit-picker) attest that it was well worth it! Here’s a recap of the inspiring conference for Creatives from the perspective of our two favorite female team members.

Circles backgroundD: From the fancy swag to the amazing speakers to partying with the other Creative-types, I couldn’t have spent those two days in any better way.

J: Yeah. It was a super fun way to spend my 29th birthday!

D: We even had you wearing a sombrero….

J: Much needed ending to a horribly long day of delayed flights and shuttle confusion.

D: Ugh, yeah. But we were refreshed for the conference! They kicked things off with this amazing video and even gave us free food. It’s the little things. :)

J: I was super-excited about the Einstein Bagels! But seriously, I was also really excited about some of the items in our swag bag – the main booklet was totally awesome freaks*. It not only included bios about the speakers and a schedule of the conference, but also left room to sketch and take notes.

D: Oh yeah! While it’s a bit scary, even I was inspired to doodle and draw. Whoa!Inspiration - Di Circles Doodles

J: Hey! Is that flower from the pattern on the carpet?

D: So what if it is…

J: Pretty impressive to be inspired by carpet. Lol. But it was a beautiful theatre.

D: Sure was! My favorite takeaway was that while we all feel crazy busy sometimes (well, it feels like ALL the time…), shifting perspective truly helps. I now see it as being “Wildly productive & Livin’ the DREAM!” Thank you, Kathleen Shannon! Jodie, what was your favorite part?

J: I liked how speaker Jay Argaet from Hillsong found inspiration in unexpected places, like children’s chalk art and street cleaners. And don’t even get me started on the amazing No Other Name video. Related to that, they had this cool idea to plaster “No Other Name” all over Times Square. Most people would say “Great idea, but not gonna happen.” Well, it happened. Yes, that could have been achieved through Photoshop, but it wouldn’t have been as effective.

no-other-name-NY

We learned a lot about inspiration , creativity and even delved into how clients think, feel and act. (Much of the latter even depends on us as designers and dreamers.) But it’s really about the teamwork and creating something TOGETHER that makes a project shine.

#Circles2014 | Can’t wait for #Circles2015

*The phrase”awesome freaks” is a little-known gem coined by Jodie’s daughter, Abbie. We all love it so much and thought you would, too. You’re welcome.

Diana Hill

Project Manager / Media Specialist - Diana is our Media Specialist by day, then a performer and music teacher by night. She brings to MPA a deep passion for creativity, and a near-insanity level of organization. Diana attended Indian Hills College and Truman State University, the latter from which she holds a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Vocal Performance. She loves her family & friends, digs historic preservation, and just appreciates life in general. Being bored is never a problem, and she hasn't quite figured out how to do something “half-way.”

Post your comment