Hello fellow creatives!
It’s getting close to the end of the year! Here in Melbourne, spring has had its usual late blossom and it seems that all the major outlet stores have bypassed Halloween and jumped straight into Christmas.
With the coming of the sunnier months, we’ve got some updates here from Futureative. We’ve spent the last year publishing on our little corner of Substack, introducing new articles and starting new conversations with indie creatives from all over. But now, it’s time for a new phase.
Today, as our earliest, most loyal readers, we are inviting you to become part of our First 100.
We’re looking for 100 creative people and organisations to raise their hand and come and be an active participant in our 2027 program of events. More on that in just a moment…
If your mission is to help independent creatives build careers from their creativity, then it makes sense that our first series of conferences will be focused on the most important thing to a creative person.
That next project. Y’know; the one that will finally be your best work yet.
Is there anything more important to us than feeling accomplished? Fulfilled? To finally be recognised for our hard work & harder won skills?
Maybe it’s all about that moment where you finally get your breakthrough.
An interesting question to reflect on is this (and if you have a response, hit reply as we’d love to read and reply):
What does a breakthrough project look like to you?
We think that creative people, regardless of craft, seek this moment in their careers. Where they feel proud of the work and the world responds with recognition.
And in a world that is constantly pushing us to make shorter, faster, louder, more bite-sized snippets of creativity, surely those substantial projects that we all work on are only going to get more important?
We believe that more than ever the world needs your book, your album, your film, your show, your whatever you’re dreaming of making next.
A project that builds your profile, your confidence, your belief, your skills and becomes part of your body of work.
That’s we’re doubling down right now on our mission, to help independent creatives make and launch their breakthrough project, and we aim to do that through creating a community of like-minded artists here on Substack…
….but also at our online conferences for creatives.
Coming 2027, we’ll be hosting three conferences a year, each built around a different part of making and launching your project.
Exploring craft, process & habits that allow us to make our best work.
Exploring the journey of bringing your finished projects into the world.
Exploring the future opportunities & skills creatives need for the future.
Which brings us to Futureative’s First 100
Will you be one of our First 100?
Our First 100 campaign is simply an idea; that if over the next few months, if we can find 100 people who are willing to show us they want this, we’ll be able to turn this into something real.
Right now, Futureative is an idea. But by the end of 2027, with your help, it can become a home for independent creatives to learn, share and connect. In ways that aren’t really happening right now.
So over the next 60 days in particular we need you help, in any way that you can help.
Will you help us by telling a creative person what we’re building?
Will you consider donating as part of our first donation drive?
Will you pledge a subscription to Front Row, and get yourself free or discounted tickets to our 2027 events?
Will you apply to speak at one of our conferences? Or share this with someone who should speak?
Will you sponsor our event or share this with a business owner or company who might?
Our First 100 campaign isn’t one single ask; it’s a choose your own adventure invitation to become one of our first 100 active contributors to the Futureative community.
Oh and we’ve had a full re-brand ready for this new chapter that we’ve built in-house, we hope you like it!
Learn more about us on our shiny new website:
Our check out our First 100 campaign page
We are about to embark on a big but very grassroots callout to creatives we know, trust and believe in. And hopefully can share a belief in us, too.
Throughout 2027 we’ll be hosting our online conferences as a way to help showcase independent creatives, learn from each other, provide opportunities for collaboration and ultimately build a community of multidisciplinary creatives from all over.
Great creative work has never been about one skillset, it’s always been about multiple people and skills combining. Creative people coming together.
The best places to do this currently are major international conferences run by behemoth brands and overrun by the pursuit of profit.
But you and I know that creativity starts and ends with the people that create; so that’s why we’re on a mission to build something more grassroots, and also more local.
Our conferences will be global and we’re excited to welcome in people from everywhere, it’s part of the reason why they will (at least for now) be 100% online.
But we are based in Australia and we think it’s time that Australia has an event that’s made for it. In AUD, in our timezone, minimum quotas of Australian speakers and when we are able to make in-person happen, putting Australian audiences at the heart of our expansion.
We’re proud participants in Creative Australia’s AusArt Day
For those unfamiliar, AusArt day is a new (it’s in its second year) nationwide, sector-wide fundraising initiative designed to mobilise artists and arts organisations to raise funds for their work and creative ambitions on a single, powerful day - Thursday 22 October.
It’s organised by Creative Australia and we’re thrilled to be participating this year; using it as a launching ground for our callout to the industry.
At the very least we hope to get the word out about this day. We’ve got enough Prime Days and AfterPay Days and spend-ourselves-silly-on-stuff-we-don’t-need days.
AusArt Day is something the we hope to keep participating in, whether we get a donation, or enough word spreads so other arts orgs and creative people get donations, it’s all a win.
It’s the smallest part of our First 100 campaign as we’re only accepting donations as of today through until Thursday 22nd of October.
But it’s been a great push to get everything ready to launch into the world.
So without further ado…
Here are the 4 ways you can become one of our First 100 contributors
1. Help fund our first major event
With our debut conference set for February 2027, we’re looking to raise $2,000.
From right now until 9pm AEDT Thursday we’ll be collecting donations to help us produce this first conference. Every dollar raised will go directly towards paying our Australian based team of creatives to put the hours in to bring the conference to life.
2. Take your place in our Front Row
If you’ve already subscribed (as a free member or by submitting a pledge), then thank you so much! Currently, all our content on Front Row is free and we aim to keep most of it that way. But if you like the true Front Row seats…
...between now and November 30th at 11:59pm we will be taking our last round of Substack pledges before we turn on Substack payments and increase the membership rate forever-more.
Buying a membership will get you extra content and discounts and/or premium passes to our summits. If you’re curious, go have an explore.
3. Becoming a speaker
Do you have a creative skill, insight, hard-won lesson or perspective to teach?
Pitch us your idea! We’re looking for creative people who have a track record in the creative industry to present on a topic they’re currently obsessing over.
No matter what you’ve had success in, be it an event, a podcast, film, an album or book, we want you to share what worked so that other creatives can have their breakthrough too.
4. Becoming a sponsor
Do you or anyone you know run a business that loves to be a champion for creative people?
We’re looking for businesses to partner with (cash or in-kind, all ideas are welcome!) not unlike any conference on the planet, sponsorship is going to be a key part of growing our ambitions.
We have early sponsorship packages available now to help us get our 2027 conference programme off the ground.
What’s coming up from here on out, you ask?
Over the next month, we’re going to be taking a break from our regularly scheduled programme and introducing our entire 2027 programme of events & content to help independent creatives make and launch their breakthrough project.
Oh, and I guess this is the official introduction to our new series Now & Next.
Your go-to for Futureative news, updates and reactions. You’ll find our quick take on trends and changes coming to the creative industries, and what they could mean for your creative career.
Thank you for reading!
If you’d like to donate, speak or sponsor, we appreciate it so much, if not, then we’re happy you’ve chosen to be part of Front Row community.
Make sure to check out our First 100 page → or our shiny new website →
Ready for more?
Read our latest post: Finishing The Artist’s Way
If you’re enjoying this article, you might like to explore The Practise, A series where real creative programs and practices are road-tested and evaluated on if they actually work or not
Thanks for reading Front Row
If you’d like to back what we’re building, going paid helps us produce our online conferences for creative and gets you 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.