Summing up The Sum conference

3 min readNov 10, 2014

The Bold Italic had their first ever conference this past week, and it was phenomenal. If a person was looking for industry specific advice, tools, and presentations, he may have come away disappointed. This ended up being great news for most, as The Sum challenged all to rethink public spaces, process, inspiration and our workspaces. Here’s a few things that I picked up from the wonderful event:

Getting a project up and running

Community support is everything, without it your project will fail.
Always go through a checklist when starting a project: Is it doable? Is it worth doing? Who believes in it? Who can help? Is it sustainable? Scalable? Are you willing to be brazen enough to ask for help?

Making things happen

We have tons of reasons to not do something, tons of reasons to stop ourselves.
You never get to see people when they sucked. You never see Michael Jordan missing free throws, nor do you see Lady Gaga singing off-key the first time.
Be a beginner always and don’t squat on your domain knowledge
How you live your day is how you live your life
If you see everyday as potential to have fun then that’s what it will be
Get past fear
You have to live with uncertainty without being paralyzed by indecision
Always document your projects well
“When I die, what am I going to regret not trying?”

Shifting your world view

Our perception of reality is inherently somewhere between fact and fiction
What is a human to a mob? A mob to a king? A king to a god? A god to a non believer?
People’s belief imbues value
Our generation is not a group of joiners. We want to find our own special things, and we are a bit cynical. Unfortunately we find meaning by becoming part of something larger than ourselves.
“Space flights are merely an escape, a fleeing away from oneself, because it is easier to go to Mars or to the moon than it is to penetrate one’s own being.” — Carl Jung
The world becomes more rewarding when you let yourself look beyond yourself

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Creating Experiences

Because we have too much stuff there is an increasing value on having experiences.
People forget how to play and bring delight to others
Let yourself off the hook a bit, and have some fun
It’s important to set the stage for creativity and playfulness, it frees people up to discover together
When someone says something, don’t immediately be oppositional. Say ‘Yes and…’ Help them continue their story.
Make your partner look good

Leadership

Being a creative leader is about gardening, not architecture. You don’t build up a studio, you tend to it, and let it grow in it’s own way
Be the leader you wish you had

Work Culture

“I want to work in a place that is blisteringly fun”
Start to shift the environment to a culture of play with work
Set up creative briefs at lunch, short, silly and fun. Bring cold cuts, cheese, and bread and people will show up to create.
Studio offsites are key for creativity: Learn something, make something, have fun.
Things to ask yourself: Are you being fun? If not give it a try. Are you supporting creative disruptions? Are you designing flow and fun into your workflow?
Use the word “play” a lot
Helping people work off their gut instinct rather than a specific skill set allows them to learn and adapt
Make your workplace a place where it’s okay to be vulnerable because there is no ego
Allow chaos, and ugliness -> that means that creative activity is happening

Changing the world

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery
When you’re making a project, be mindful of how people are using it (even if it fails)
Get “The most lazy, cynical version of you” to participate and you win
Help make the places we live have more opportunities to be unique
You have to look at what your doing as a business. It has to be sustainable for you to be able to keep doing it