Update Coming
Lots of new info to share – we’ll have an update soon. Happy Fourth!
Add comment July 2, 2009
Defining & Supporting the Creative Industries Cluster in Oregon
After many months and hundreds of volunteer hours reaching out and listening to the community, OCI recently published a draft document for public comment that defines the Creative Industries economic cluster in Oregon and proposes several objectives and initiatives for sustaining and growing Oregon’s creative economy.
The document, based on input from the for-profit, non-profit, public and education sectors of the creative economy ecosystem, has already been downloaded over 170 200 250 times since it was released and we have been receiving valuable feedback.
The document uses the same general structure as the Oregon Business Plan’s “Policy Playbook: Initiative and Cluster Guide” so that when it reaches final draft it can easily plug into the next version of the Playbook in time for the 8th annual Leadership Summit in December 2009. This is just one example of the value that OCI can provide as the cluster’s trade association.
We encourage you to download and review the draft document and provide your feedback. To download, visit http://www.box.net/shared/of9mtjl7it
2 comments March 4, 2009
OCI’s 2nd Association Leadership Roundtable Attracts 20 Groups
The 2nd association leadership roundtable discussion conducted by Oregon Creative Industries (OCI) brought together leaders from 2o different creative economy-related groups to discuss ways that OCI can help their organizations and constituents to thrive.
Some were also represented at our first roundtable discussion in December that attracted 16 associations, but many new groups participated this time around. Overall, 27 organizations have participated in these discussions.
The groups represented in-person or via Web conference at the January 27th meeting were:
- Advertising Federation of Central Oregon
- American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
- American Institute of Graphic Artists
- American Marketing Association
- American Society of Media Photographers
- Artists for the Arts
- DevGroup NW
- Industrial Design Society of America
- Innovation Theatre Works
- Internet Strategy Forum
- Legion of Tech
- Museum of Contemporary Craft
- Oregon Media Production Association
- Oregon Music Educators Association
- Oregon Writers Colony
- Portland Advertising Federation
- Portland Art Dealers Association
- Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland
- Self-Employed Creative Professionals
- Social Media Club of Portland
After two association roundtable discussions, two Cre8Camp townhall discussions and dozens of one-on-one meetings with creative economy leaders in the private, public and educational sectors, certain key themes are starting to emerge that will be the basis for OCI’s initiatives and programs moving forward.
More detail to follow.
2 comments January 31, 2009
A New Movement is Captured and Gains Momentum
Oregon Creative Industries (OCI) is not just a new organization, it’s a movement. The Oregonian article about OCI that was published on the front page of the December 14th Sunday Business section puts it this way:
There’s reason to believe this is a movement with potential…Portland’s soon-to-be mayor, Sam Adams, says the creative economy is a priority. A growing chorus of public- and private-sector groups rally around the idea.
The response to the article has been tremendous, with many people from a variety of disciplines and locations throughout the state reaching out to us asking how they can help. Here are some examples of people we heard from:
- Katie Merritt, founder of BendFilm, and her husband, architect and Bend City Councilor Peter Gramlich, who have agreed to be regional liaisons for us.
- Jerry Ketel of ad agency Leopold Ketel and filmmaker Kenneth Luba.
- Entrepreneur Steve Keck on the Oregon Coast, photographer Brian Shortt in the Columbia Gorge, industrial designer Jack Gilbert in Wilsonville and creative director Jason Halstead in Eugene.
- Jeff Hawthorne of the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Anna Johnson of the Ross Island Pottery Studio.
Every conversation we have had with creative economy leaders confirms that this is the right idea at the right time. We continue to gather input and ideas from the community in order to help us focus on areas that will have the greatest impact.
The article has helped us take OCI to the next level, building momentum in a way that we could not have done without it (who says print is dead?). For example, a Facebook Group for OCI that was created just before the article was published grew to over 250 members in just two weeks.
Now our challenge is to harness the positive energy and passion that is apparent in this movement and apply it toward developing new initiatives and programs that are being defined via our various community town halls, leadership round tables and one-on-one discussions, leading to overall growth for the creative industries sector.
Let us know if and how you would like to help out. You can also connect with us in a variety of ways (email list, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).
by Steve Gehlen
1 comment January 7, 2009
Inaugural Leadership Roundtable Discussion a Success
Leaders from 16 different creative economy-related associations/guilds/unions in Oregon attended the inaugural leadership round-table discussion hosted by Oregon Creative Industries. Our objective for the meeting was to gather feedback from various groups about how OCI could best add value to and benefit their group and the Oregon creative economy overall.
In addition to the attendees in the room, there were also several remote attendees participating via Web and phone.
Attendees at the OCI Leadership Round-table Discussion
There was a lot of feedback, input and questions from participants. We will have more meeting notes later. For now, here is a list of who attended:
- ACM – SIGGRAPH (computer graphics)
- AIGA (graphic designers)
- American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
- American Society of Media Photographers
- International Animated Film Society
- Internet Strategy Forum
- Legion of Tech
- Musicians Union Local 99
- Oregon Media Production Association
- Oregon Writers Colony
- Portland Area Theatre Alliance
- Screen Actors Guild
- Search Engine Marketers PDX
- Self-Employed Creative Professionals
- Software Association of Oregon
- Southern Oregon Film and Television
Thanks to everyone who participated. We will have more leadership roundtable discussions in Q1 of 2009, including one for educational institution leadership.
3 comments December 16, 2008
Stronger Together
The diagram below represents the vision that OCI co-founders have for what it will take for Portland and Oregon to reach the full potential of our creative economy and its role in the global marketplace.
In the diagram, “Structured Networks” are industry associations, guilds, etc. “Unstructured Networks” are groups of people who have come together informally around shared disciplines, such as technical user groups, graphic designer email lists and marketing-related Facebook groups. In the context below, “Technical” refers primarily to software (writing good code is an art form), including Web apps, games, etc.
As a next step, we will be hosting a series of roundtable discussions (starting next week) with leaders representing all four of the quadrants below.
Add comment December 12, 2008
OCI to Host Association Leadership Roundtable
Next up for Oregon Creative Industries: hosting roundtable discussions with the leadership of various creative economy-related associations, guilds, etc. We have invited leaders from over 25 associations (either Oregon-based or Oregon chapters) to the first meeting this month. We’ve already had 1-on-1 discussions with many of them, but this will be the first group gathering. We’ll host a second roundtable in January for those who can’t make the first one.
This is a logical continuation of the approach that started at the inaugural Cre8Camp in July, which is to involve groups and community members across the multiple disciplines involved in the overall creative economy and then listen to input and feedback to in order to understand how OCI can add value and best serve the professionals, companies and associations that make up Oregon’s creative economy.
The roundtable leadership discussions will be available via live Web and phone conference in order to facilitate 2-way participation from those around the state who can’t attend the Portland-based meetings in-person.
4 comments December 6, 2008
OCI Legal Structure Discussion
This week we met with attorney Don Krahmer and two of his colleagues at Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt. Don is a master at helping to create and foster economic development-related initiatives in Oregon, and fortunately for me is also a long-time and valued friend. He is very community-minded and a valuable asset for our state.
I wanted to talk to Don about the best legal structure for the public-private partnership that we plan to create with Oregon Creative Industries. It was a great discussion, with lots of questions thrown at us and some input on how we might proceed.
The meeting helped to confirm what I had been thinking: that OCI should be structured as a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt entity. I have already formed two previous tax-exempt organizations–the Internet Strategy Forum is a 501(c)(6) and Keeping the Beat is a 501(c)(3)–so I’m getting comfortable with the process.
We plan to start on the paperwork after the first of the year and in the meantime have launched the domain name “oregoncreative.org” for the entity.
SG
1 comment December 4, 2008
OCI Feedback from Cre8Camp
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Oregon Creative Industries town hall style discussion Saturday at Cre8Camp Portland. Definitely some very insightful questions and comments. Some of the highlights/topics of the discussion were:
Will OCI include Vancouver, Wa based Creative Industries who do a significant portion of their business in Oregon? This topic is still open as part of our strategy development.
What is the end purpose of OCI as we mature and refine our mission statement? Our group thought business development, new collaborative partners and clients should be included.
Can branding help Oregon Creative Industries?
Consensus was yes.
What can OCI do for business? Most thought a networking directory to help create collaborative alliances with merchants, travel associations and other sectors would be extremely helpful. Other suggestions were helping define our professionalism as an industry and growing creative industry jobs in Oregon.
Other items of discussion under this question were the freelancers union and other complimentary associations OCI could reach out to.
The question of how we unite the groups was brought up. Some suggestions were to funnel people to events and their area of interest association, having the Creative associations participate in more joint events and making sure OCI’s website is linked and networked with all associations.
Other comments and suggestions included making sure OCI supports the individuals and perhaps learn or borrow some tips from other organizational models such as Convention visitor’s bureaus.
Overall we had a very positive and well-received response to the vision of Oregon Creative Industries is trying to accomplish. Thank you again to all those that contributed to our discussion yesterday and to everyone who has kept our momentum moving forward thus far. I will follow up with everyone who wrote their names down for me this week.
We have much to look forward to.
TL
5 comments November 17, 2008
Oregon Creative Industries to host a town hall discussion at Cre8Camp Portland
The co-founders of Oregon Creative Industries (OCI) will be on-hand Nov. 15th to lead a town hall-type discussion and feedback forum about the OCI concept during one of the sessions at Cre8Camp Portland. The goal is to continue gathering stakeholder feedback during OCI’s formative stage.
Since OCI grew in part out of a session at the first Cre8Camp Portland in July, this is a great opportunity to continue the dialog within the creative industries community. Please consider attending the event so your voice can be heard during this developmental process.
The cost to attend Cre8Camp Portland is only $10 (lunch included) and there will be several other discussion sessions on topics relevant to creative industries professionals. For more information and to register, visit http://www.cre8camp.org/Cre8CampPortland.
This is envisioned as the first of a several town hall-type discussions about the concepts behind Oregon Creative Industries as a way to move the organizational development to the next stage.
2 comments October 31, 2008
