Conferences

Workshop: Hunting for Hidden Factories

March 25, 2019 by Editorial Team

In about a month Henry Stewart Events brings its annual conference to New York — co-hosting two events focused on Digital Asset Management, and Creative Operations (May 2-3, 2019).

As a Creative Operations leader trying to get the most out of your team, you need to look no further than the intersection of people and process. That’s where you’ll find the “Hidden Factories” of wasted effort.

Hidden Factories are those invisible bottlenecks and ineffective processes in your content supply chain. A flurry of work can happen with nothing to show for it. There are hundreds of ways you can find invisible waste in your department, in every process and action. But although hidden, these are right in front of your eyes, and can be seen by those who look for it.

I’ll be holding an afternoon interactive workshop looking at a few inspirational real-life examples of common Hidden Factories that affect creative operations — and how they were resolved.

This will set the stage for a lively conversation, co-led by Lauren Dohr, by participants bout the invisible frictions that drag the work down in your own workplace. As a community, we’ll share our own challenges and the solutions that worked… and some that didn’t.

You will come away with inspiration and ideas for how to identify waste areas and take action to foster a better workflow.

Bottom line: Come network and learn how to find your superpowers at the intersection of People, Process and Technology.

See you there!

Creative Operations – May 2, 2019
DAM NY – May 2-3, 2019

Conference Talks: Quick Wins in Creative Ops

October 15, 2017 by Editorial Team

It’s right around the corner — the Henry Stewart Creative Operations conference in LA. I’m coming back as a speaker, and I’ll be talking about “How to Succeed Fast”.

It’s a very personal topic for me.

I can vividly remember when I was brand new to my current role… and the pressure was on to start making a difference. I started with an initial assessment of goals I could focus on — fast ways to make my mark, while studying and understanding the bigger picture. A roadmap emerged, and I was on my way.

This is what I want to share: Quick wins for the new or seasoned Creative Operations professional. My presentation will be packed with actionable tactics to simplify processes, discover roadblocks, boost morale, or solve gnarly Creative Ops problems.

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Conference Talks: Tech Tools in Creative Ops

August 26, 2017 by Editorial Team

In just a few weeks the Creative Operations Exchange East conference comes to the Big Apple (Sept. 25-16, 2017).

I’ll be participating in a couple of ways. First, I’m on their Executive Roundtable on Day 1, talking about the state of the industry. I love the diversity on this panel — I’ll be sitting with Dickson Bueno from HH Global, and Carrie Roberts from The Body Shop, with moderator Gary Clinger from Workfront. Each of us is on the front lines, representing a wide range of experience and differing points-of-view.

Then, I’ll be sharing my point of view on digital tool selection, on Day 2. For anyone shopping for a digital tool or solution partner, it’s just overwhelming how many vendors and systems are out there offering a wide range of possible solutions. But the journey of a thousand vendors begins with a single… chart. I’ve got some fresh ideas for that first step — which I think will make for an entertaining and informative session.

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8 Top Takeaways from Creative Ops Conference

May 2, 2017 by Editorial Team

Creative Operations is on a roll.

Even just five years ago the term “Creative Ops” was barely even a thing. But now it’s popping up all over the place — via online jobs postings and LinkedIn, and conferences are beginning to take notice. Just a couple of years ago Henry Stewart added a day-long Creative Ops track to its premiere digital asset management conferences. And this year, Insight Exchange got into the action with a dedicated 2-day event of its own.

This is an exciting trend, and it’s right up my alley.

For the two decades that I’ve worked in the creative industry, one constant I’ve observed is that the enterprise is driven by the creative process. The operational side was stuck in a supporting role — just make things happen and don’t ask too many questions.

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Conference Talks: The Creative Operations Role

April 1, 2017 by Editorial Team

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.

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Conference Talks: Building a Creative Ops Ninja Team

March 31, 2016 by Author

In just a few weeks, the 2016 Henry Stewart DAM NY Conference will feature an all-new Creative Operations track. I’m thrilled to return as a speaker.

Save the Date: May 5-6, 2016

For the past two years at the conference, I’ve talked about Comedy Central’s digital content hub at — first as a case study focusing on the benefits our system offered to our creative team. Last fall, at the Los Angeles conference, I dove a little deeper into our strategy and development process, and the business benefits of the in-house product development of our solution to address several core creative operations needs.

What interests me most right now, and what I’ll be talking about, is a strategic approach for improving creative operations. A lot of organizations haven’t yet reached the point where creative ops are regarded as a distinct and essential business role requiring leadership and focused attention.

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