Welcome back, to our second Now & Next update in two weeks.
This is our new column where we explore what’s on NOW and what’s coming up NEXT. Who would have thought!
Why? Because we’re not building a regular publication here.
We’re building online events for creative people. And while we’ll typically share our best insights here weekly, we’ll also be throwing some more news, updates, and what’s coming up into the mix.
The point is; we’re looking for people to participate with us.
With that in mind, we’d love to get to know our readers more. Why not hit reply and share something you’ve been reading, watching or listening to lately that you can’t stop thinking about? We promise to read every reply.
What’s happening NOW
AusArt Day is wrapped!
A huge thank you to everyone that participated in AusArt Day. From engaging with us on socials, the message of support and of course the the contributions on our First 100 campaign page, all go a long way in shaping the future of Futureative
Being brand new, we set our expectations at zero, and to see the first donation roll through within the first 90 mins of our 12-hour campaign, filled the team with optimism and quite frankly, belief. That this will work.
We wanted to build a campaign that wasn’t about raising funds, but getting a show of hands. And every little bit of support, even that which our campaign page didn’t capture, really lifted us for the day. We got so much momentum behind the scenes and are going to carry this into the weeks and months ahead. So, to everyone that liked, shared, messaged, donated, contributed all of the above etc. etc.
Thank You 🙏
P.S. We can technically keep our donations open for another couple of days before we send over the report to Creative Australia. If you wanted to by the team a coffee, there is still time to chip in ↗
Our First 100 campaign continues
We used AusArt Day as a kickoff day, not a fundraising day. Behind the scenes we’ve begun our outreach. To get 100 contributions, we know we’ll need to have 1000 conversations.
But that’s honestly one of the most exciting parts of creative projects; that it takes real human connection to bring them to life.
Over the next month especially we’ll keep this message going and we can still use your help in:
Spreading the word — connecting with us on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok or even mention us to a creative friend goes such a long way.
or
Raising your hand — if you or anyone you know might be interested in speaking or sponsoring, we’d love to kickstart next week with more conversations. Here’s the speaking brief and the sponsor brief.
And lastly, in a few months time I am going to receive emails from people saying:
“Steve, I had no idea your events were going to be like THIS. Woah, I should have pledged a Founding membership when you had them open.”
I know this, because that’s what happened last time I hosted virtual conferences and put up a crazy cheap early bird pass that 10 people bought..
But this here, this one is different. I’ve never hosted 3 conferences a year and offered a Season Pass (including All-Access Pass upgrades all year round). For $99 AUD. If you’re reading this, let me just say that what we give you for this price is going to melt your mind.
Anyway, you’ve got until Nov 30th at 11:59pm to take us up on the offer, before it goes away forever. And it will go away forever.
Manage Your Subscription Anytime
This one is purely admin. We’ve moved all of our columns into separate sections so you can now choose exactly which ones you want. A small update, that will mean as we publish more variety, you can just get exactly what you want and nothing more.
We will continue to only email once a week, but if you prefer, y’know, a little more update and a little less deep dive, or a little more roundup but a little less news, you can always choose exactly what you want and don’t want.
What’s Happening NEXT
Front Row is where we’re building our publication and community primarily; but Futureative was created for the purpose of hosting online conferences for creative people building careers.
And you’ve likely heard us talk about them a bit, but not much. It’s time we introduce you to what we’re launching in 2027.
Introducing: Our Three Conferences for Creatives
The idea is that every creative needs their breakthrough creative project - that book, that album, that film, that show (or whatever you make) that just needs a little bit of fresh creativity or game-changing strategy, to bring it to where it needs to be. And you shouldn’t have to figure it all out alone.
Each conferences is moulded after a specific pain point of a creative, so choose which one you would benefit from the most, or attend all three.
We want to create one big conversation that occurs 3x times per year.
Always-on communities are hard to keep up with. Physical conferences are expensive and you walk away needing a week to recoup.
At our events, we want to inspire people to find that insight, that next mentor, a collaborator, a single idea or a whole week of habits and tactics; we want to help you find the thing you need to help you get your next breakthrough in your creative career.
Online (in Australian Eastern Daylight Time, because it’s about time something was finally built in and for this corner of the world)
Free to attend (for anyone that wants to explore the main program)
Packed with speakers across multiple creative disciplines (because learning from each other, cross discipline is already critical to every creative career)
Built for working creatives our content will be accessible to the beginner, but designed for working creatives who want to take a big leap.
We will have plenty of extra stuff too, including premium All-Access Passes with a whole bunch of goodies that we create, that our speakers are providing; not just fluff that will sit on your hard drive, but actual things you can use to move your career forward.
This is why the aforementioned “Founding Membership” is going to be so sought after.
But what are these conferences on you say? We’re glad you asked…
The Creativity Summit: February 2027
Make more of your best creative work more often.
The Creativity Summit is for those that are planning to make next year their most creative year, yet. It’s time we learnt how to nurture our craft, habits, rituals and workflows, to build skills for the future and make our best work possible. If you are interested in being the most skilled creative in your area of expertise, this is the event for you.
Creativity is boundless, it flourishes when put in a community. You don’t have to figure it all out alone. Your art is yours. It’s precious and necessary in this world because no one else can make it. And it deserves to grow.
Finally, a creative conference, not focused on marketing, but focused on making the best work possible.
The Launch Summit: May 2027
Your creative project deserves its breakthrough moment
The Launch Summit is for those that know they’ll be launching a creative project in 2027; because making something great, and bringing it into the world are very different games. You’ve been quietly working on your next thing for months, or maybe even years. It’s been your best habit, your greatest pastime and you’ve realised that ultimately there comes a time when the art cannot be for you anymore, it must be for the world.
For many, this part is the hardest; it’s where we face our greatest resistence, have to navigate the commercialisation & commoditisation of art just thinking about this is probably enough to make you find any excuse to not launch it.
You’re project is great. It’s made. You’re ready.
But it needs a plan of action, you need to work out what will work for you so you and your art and your marketing can co-exist.
The Trend Summit: September 2027
Build your creative career so it’s fit for the future.
The Trend Summit is for those that care about what’s next. The trends, changes, opportunities and skills that are relevant in today’s world.
The arts and cultural industry is changing at rapid speed. It’s accelerating, and it won’t slow down? Where do you, your skills, your creativity fit in? This event talks big picture about where creativity is going, so those that want to be ahead of the curve, can be.
This event is for you if you like to be part of the conversation on what’s next, not a bystander as everyone else figures it out without you.
Make no mistake; this event won’t be for every creative. It won’t be an easy week. It won’t be fluffy conversation. It will feature those at the top of the industry, talking about what’s next. The opportunities and the challenges. It’ll be a week for serious discussion, contemplation, and making plans so that your career can navigate the next decade of change.
Your art will always belong. You belong. And you deserve to change and shift in a way that’s true to you; but we can’t shy away from real conversations on what’s around the corner.
We give you the tools to understand what’s changing across the creative industries so that you can be across the skills and opportunities of tomorrow’s world.
That’s it, that’s the spiel, that’s what we’re producing for 2027. It’s going to be A LOT of work, but you and your art is worth it.
And besides, this is a creative outlet for us and even just getting this far has been so rewarding. One last note, these are a work in progress, but the team is currently reflecting on our core values, so I wanted to share a few things at the heart of our conferences that we will keep top of mind as we grow them.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading and until next week, keeping being creative.
Our conferences will spotlight Australian creatives and provide opportunities to bring the world to us.
We will be welcoming attendees from everywhere and featuring international speakers; but we won’t lose sight of our Australian creative community that we want to grow. We’re built by, for and with Australian creatives first, for the Australian industry to feel globally connected.
We will have minimum quotas of Australian speakers and commit to a diverse lineup of expertise, experience & background.
We believe in an inclusive arts community that represents the people that work in the arts and consume the arts. We will be doing everything in our power to ensure that we provide a stage that showcases all of us.
Creative community at the heart of all of our decisions and making sure we put human made work, first.
We want to build a recurring conversation, three times a year, that puts human creativity at the centre of every conversation. A place where you make real friendships that can continue outside of our conferences.
Thanks for reading Front Row
If you’d like to back what we’re building, subscribe free or pledge a membership to help us produce our online conferences for creatives.
You’ll get gets Front Row perks too.
You can learn more about us at futureative.com, connect with us on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, or Steve on LinkedIn.
Futureative helps independent creatives make and launch their breakthrough project.
Thanks for exploring the future of creativity with us.