About two months ago I photographed
, a gathering focused to fuel creatives in an environment where they can be inspired and learn from the leaders of creative industries. The speakers and artists range from the fashion director of Kanye West, to Google Creative Lab genius with a mix of beat boxing, Nashville bands, temporary tattoos and all the sparkling water you can drink.
graciously gave me several new mini-bottles to use with my machine at home and I use them every day, for those of you who know my sparkling water obsession.
Between shooting and running around I scribbled notes from some of my favorite speakers. There's something so electric about hearing from people that come from different creative fields but all their stories seem to have a similar thread of inspiration.
You know what else I loved about Story, I'm big on hospitality and this conference does not lack in creativity, sponsorship and swag. From the artistic venues all over Chicago, to the cute mini notebooks to write your thoughts in; I really appreciate the small details put into each person's experience, that means so much to me.
There were so many great speakers. Here are a few of my favorites and a little line of inspiration I gathered from their sessions:
:
Vocal Performance Artist, AKA “beat boxer extraordinaire”
Believe in your strangeness, and others will too.
:
Creative director at Google Creative Labs
Do your brilliant ideas, even if they don’t serve an immediate function
because eventually they will..
.
:
Founder of charity water
It’s not just about water, it’s about restoring dignity.
:
Global Director of Creative Outreach for Nike
Problems bring innovation. Anyone can sell products, but you have to believe in the person's story you're telling.
:
Creative Director, Cirque du Soleil Media
Everything is meaningful, but not everything has to be explained.
:
Italian Vogue Photographer & Winner of Canon’s Project Imagination
There’s no excuse for not doing your art,
if you have to eat taco bell and create at 5AM before your desk job, do it.
If you'd like to go to Story next year, you can sign up
.
If your creative dreams need help and you can't wait for Story, check out what founder,
is up to here:
.