When I joined AT&T’s digital creative team in the fall of 2016, my job title included a couple of words that even four years ago you didn’t hear very much. Those words were “Creative Operations.”
Change has happened quickly. Creative Ops, as a management concept, is popping up on online jobs postings and LinkedIn. This is definitely a trend — more and more creative organizations are devoting strategic leadership resources to getting the work done smarter and better.
Companies like ConceptShare are using the term to stand out from the competition.
And conferences are starting to join the party.
It’s only been a couple of years since the Henry Stewart digital asset management conference added a day-long Creative Ops track to its New York marquee (and they’re doing it again). And now, Insight Exchange — known for business improvement and marketing events — is hosting a two-day Creative Operations Exchange in San Francisco.
I am excited to be part of this event. I’ll be joining an executive roundtable with fellow industry veterans to discuss the state of the Creative Operations role and its emerging importance within creative organizations.
My co-panelists are:
- Eric Fulmer (panel moderator), a veteran of improving business practices who is now dedicated to great software — Capture Integration — that cuts the friction out of managing digital photoshoots on an industrial scale. His demo blew me away when I saw it.
- Claire Carter-Ginn, a consultant who offers a spirited melding of content and commerce for brands and retailers, including delivering the goods for monster photo shoots in the fashion industry. I know her from her time at Michael Kors.
- Vladimir Simovich, who made his name in Creative Ops at the home-furnishings company Restoration Hardware, among other experiences.
We will be talking about the role of Creative Ops, including:
- Defining the role – what does a Creative Ops leader do, anyway?
- Creative Operations metrics justify the role
- Building out your creative ops team, and how to scale appropriately
- In this highly data-driven role to track productivity, how do you measure quality?
Two of these panelists I will be meeting for the first time. But I love LinkedIn for showing me the connections we have in common. Those of us who are passionate about this topic may be dispersed geographically, and embedded in all manner of enterprises, but we are a small and growing army.
Since the folks at Insight Exchange said it best, I want to include their synopsis of the event:
The emerging role responsible for Creative Operations has become an indispensable part of leading organizations’ marketing and creative teams. Yet, charged with such varied and disparate duties makes defining the role and problem-solving its challenges an ongoing difficulty. Voila! – The Creative Operations Exchange – designed as a unique forum to promote trouble-shooting solutions to common pain points, process discovery, collaboration, and inspiration – offers peer-to-peer networking opportunities amongst pioneering practitioners.
Hope to see you there!