Accidental Creative

AC Posts:

Thu Jun 25, 2009

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Creative Freelancer Conference
Because of the lonely nature of the work, one of the more difficult things for freelancers is keeping your creative juices flowing. I’m excited to be speaking at HOW’s Creative Freelancer Conference in August in San Diego. Here’s the scoop and a special code (HEY! It uses my initials!) to get you a discount on [...] read more »
Wed Jun 24, 2009

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Context, Creativity and Crazy Dancing Guy
What can we learn from "crazy dancing guy" about creating? I certainly don't want to be guilty of reading too much into a YouTube clip, but I'm always inspired by people who throw themselves into what they do. Even when it's a little "out there." read more »
Fri Jun 5, 2009

13 Comments

My Coldplay Brand Experience
So today is my birthday. About a week ago my wife told me that my parents had agreed to take our kids overnight last night so that we could “go out to dinner and a drink.” I was looking forward to a nice “mellow” evening of conversation and maybe some acoustic music at a local [...] read more »
Sat May 30, 2009

10 Comments

The Year-Long Conference?
OK…so I’m tired of discussion about the economy and I think there’s something that we at AC can do to help. It’s just an idea, but I’d love to know your thoughts. I’ve heard several people at companies talk about how travel budgets have been slashed and there’s no more money for training, conferences, etc. I [...] read more »
Wed May 27, 2009

5 Comments

TED Rules of Engagement
If we want to create anything meaningful in this world, we have to understand the “rules of engagement” and set some boundaries around what we’re willing to do and what we will say “no” to. To have a strategy (or a creative direction) means understanding where those lines are and being willing to live within [...] read more »
Thu May 21, 2009

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Dayton Jaunt
I want to thank Jessica, Matt and all of my new friends from SAA and the Dayton Creative Syndicate for a fantastic time on Tuesday. I spent the afternoon speaking to the students at SAA and describing the dynamics of create-on-demand and important disciplines for sustained growth in our lives and art. I was blown [...] read more »
Tue May 19, 2009

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Making Time To Make
We’ve had a running poll on our home page for a month or so now asking which element of creative rhythm (time, energy, stimulus, focus, relationships) is the most challenging. Not surprisingly, the top two responses were focus and time. This is consistent with what I often hear from artists who want to create something [...] read more »
Fri May 8, 2009

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Leadership And Mindset
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to produce at a high level no matter where you put them? It doesn’t matter if they have the skills or not - they’ll learn them. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never been in that role - they’ll figure it out. It’s the 80/20 rule of hiring [...] read more »
Wed May 6, 2009

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Step Back From The Baggage Claim
I first met Jason Barger about a year ago when I got an e-mail asking if we could meet. I love meeting new and interesting people, but knowing that Jason isn’t from my city I thought it might take a while to connect. (Obviously I didn’t yet know that Jason is someone who “makes it [...] read more »
Tue May 5, 2009

1 Comment

This Week In AC World
It’s been a week or so since I’ve been on the blog. Sorry for my absence, and as my punishment I’ve docked myself 5 “prolific” points. But I plan to make up for it this week. Here’s what’s going on in AC World: We’ve just announced our first AC LIVE online event on May 31st at 8pm. I [...] read more »
Fri Apr 24, 2009

4 Comments

7 Ways To Fail On The Web
Actually, I probably should call this “7 Lessons From Failures On The Web” …but you know… it’s just not as catchy, is it? I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while, because I know that there are a lot of AC’ers who are involved in direct or ancillary ways in web development/design and web-based [...] read more »
Mon Apr 20, 2009

4 Comments

This Week In Inspiration
So it’s been a pretty good week for stimulus thus far. Here are a few things that have seriously inspired me: 1. The American Masters featuring Philip Glass. Man…oh…man. I challenge you to watch that episode and not be fundamentally changed in how you see your craft. (I passed up a chance to see Philip in [...] read more »
Sun Apr 19, 2009

7 Comments

My Totally Sweet Track Jacket
Once my wife and I were traveling north and we saw some outlet malls along the highway. We stopped and spent a few hours going from store to store looking for “deals”, which were quite honestly pretty difficult to find. (It seemed like this outlet mall was more like an “outlet” for our money.) We [...] read more »
Sat Apr 4, 2009

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Echo Chambers
I’ve been thinking lately about how easy it is for us to set up “echo-chambers” in our lives and especially in our organizations. An echo chamber is a confined system that amplifies any input by reflecting and reinforcing it. We hear what we want to hear, we look at every project with revisionist eyes and [...] read more »
Tue Mar 31, 2009

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On Being Humble(d)
One of the things that stands opposed to good creative leadership is the unwillingness to be humble. When was the last time you admitted a mistake? When was the last time you took the fall for a team decision? When was the last time you submitted to someone else’s intuition? When was the last time you asked for advice? [...] read more »