SEGD: 2021 Business Summit Series

The SEGD Management + Leadership event, to be held virtually on Wednesday, March 24, and Thursday, March 25, will focus on how our business models and approach to leadership have evolved since the pandemic. Our speakers will bring their unique experience and perspective to share honest conversations about how we are adapting to virtual life and what impact this new way of working will have on all of us as we look to the future. Speakers will share the new strategies and tools that they have developed for leading with empathy while building new revenue streams and relationships for collaboration.

Developed for design business executives, studio principals, emerging professionals, and self-employed creatives, this one-and-a-half-day event offers sessions and dialogue aimed at helping designers and business people build a toolkit that includes financial strategy, best practice, wellness, social equity, emotional intelligence, management, and marketing.

M+L 2021 will feature successful design leaders and clients, finance experts, visionary creative change-makers who focus on the current business trends, cultural shifts, employment realities, and technological advances that will help you lead with resiliency and new strategies.

Sessions include:

Actionable Business Tools for the Changing Environment: How can we lead inclusively and with intentionality? How can we be honest with ourselves, our clients, and our teams even when the truth is challenging? What are the key measures of our fiscal success and how can we achieve our financial goals while maintaining a work/life balance?

Design Practices That Build Equity and Inclusivity: How can design support social responsibility and build equity? What does a commitment to public work and community look like?

Being Creative While in Lockdown:  How are individuals responding to the impact of the pandemic on jobs and lifestyle? What tools can we utilize to keep it real and keep it fun? When do we need to ask for advice and support and where can we find it?

Successful Client Collaboration in a Virtual World: How has the client perspective evolved with the pandemic? What do clients need from designers right now? How can designers pivot to successfully support the new normal of Zoom meetings and Google docs?

Speakers Include:

Emily Cohen, a “brutally honest” business consultant, author and speaker

Ebony Smith, Executive Coach and the Founder of Ebenum Equation

Mackey McNeill, CPA, PFS. An expert leader/author in the financial services field

Wendy Evans Joseph, founder of Studio Joseph design studio

AJ Goehle, CEO of Luci Creative – full-service experience design agency

Jenni Ogden, COO of 4D Fun and President of Eye Q Productions, LLC

Kathy Fredrickson, Arts management, content strategy for cultural organizations

Abby Bysshe, VP of Experiences and Business Development at The Franklin Institute

Flavia Sparacino, CEO at BEAM virtual networking and Sensing Places Interactive