Florida Creatives - Creating a Community of Innovation

What if we create an event to help establish the identity of Florida Creatives as a place for learning and sharing in the community? Gather tons of likeminded people, like we always do, but ask certain members to share their experience. The subjects we could cover with such a diverse group are numerous, and the world is changing so rapidly, we can't expect everyone to know everything, so let's give the stage to a few of our peers and try to learn from their experience.

BarCamps and large events are great, but they only happen once a year in a given city - it would be hard to organize them too often. Happy Hours and Likemind are fun, but we try to keep the agenda out of those events. Ignite is great as a showcase of local talent, but there is no real theme to the event. The idea here is to pick one subject and pick it apart from several view points.

I always like following up a great discussion with some brainstorming, time to make plans and get things done, so my ideal would be to follow a great discussion with a "think tank" the following day - this is what the unconference format is great for - have an empty schedule and fill it with all of the things in your head after you get energized and inspired, then have a room full of people who are willing to talk about anything.

The discussion series should be followed by a BarCamp-like event to let people workshop on the discussion's topic from the previous evening. It's great to have time to "sleep on it", go and reflect, then get back together and get stuff done.

The Role of Media in a Community

A collected panel of community leaders with a successful track record will be given the stage and a chance to share their thoughts and stories using media to communicate with:

• Their community members
• Traditional media
• Other organizations
• Their volunteers and employees

New forms of media seem to appear every day, and what used to work in a print, TV and radio world may not fly in the world of social networking and YouTube. Some more established community leaders will have had to adapt, and those with newer missions will have had to make it up as they go along. We can hear from both sides in a panel like this.

Speakers for the New Media Think and Drink: Focus on Community

John Rife

Conroy Millenia Partners, LLP; Winter Park, FL
John is a native Floridian who suffers from an insatiable desire to ‘see the world’. Between his international excursions he allows his roots to grow in the rich digital soil of Central Florida. John is a commercial real estate developer and is best known for his role in the development of Millenia, Orlando. He is also a founding member of Interactive Expeditions (www.IntXinc.com) and has served as the companies CEO and Evangelist. He currently satiates his passion for learning by pursuing an MFA degree with the University of Central Florida’s Film and Digital Media program. John is an independent filmmaker, video blogger and recently returned form a trip to Haiti where he was working to combine his penchant for media mashing and digital technologies to create unique and effective solutions to bridge the Digital Divide in the underserved communities of La Colline.

Darren McDaniel

Petentials, Inc., Winter Park
Part creative-type, part strategist, part barn-raiser, and all generalist, Darren is a steadfast idealist who brings a sociological perspective to his creative endeavors, using elements of both as a Digital Storytelling Course Director at Full Sail University. In addition, Darren serves as President and Creative Director of Petentials.com—a social-networking-based Web site for pet enthusiasts with a “by animals, for animals” twist. Darren left his hometown of greater metropolitan Leesburg to pursue a film degree from Northwestern University. After 2 years freelancing in Tampa, he returned to college for a Master’s in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. Continuing as a sociologist at Vanderbilt University, Darren’s Ph.D. research combined social psychology with work and occupations. His dissertation studying striving musicians in Nashville and the consequences of freelancing in culture-production fields re-awakened his own creative callings. In 2001, he returned to central Florida to produce and direct his first feature film. A feature mockumentary set in small-town Texas, The Essence of Irwin involved over 400 contributors. Again blending the theoretical and the creative, the Irwin experience spawned his idea for a Creative Consortium center to serve Orlando’s creative community. This concept led to his involvement in the development of Orlando’s Downtown Media Arts Center and an eventual role as Programming Director.

Julie Norris, Dandelion CommuniTEA

Chris Blanc, Enzian/FL Film Festival

Lance Turner, OurLando

Gwendolyn Anello, PR & Marketing Consultant

Anello Consulting, Merritt Island, FL
Gwendolyn Anello, co-owner of Anello Consulting, provides professional consulting in the areas of communications, market development, community and public affairs, and fundraising. She is an accomplished business and technical writer. The highly effective public outreach and program development initiatives she developed for diverse organizations throughout the United States are based on her distinctive expertise in economic development, marketing and communications. She has also been instrumental in developing new markets for a high-profile space tourism company, and conducted successful public communications programs for political issue campaigns and industrial and commercial developments. Before starting her own business in 1995, Anello headed fundraising for several non-profits, and before that was the Director of Media Relations and Technical Publications for Florida Institute of Technology, where she earlier earned a BS in Technical Communications.