Tighten Up Your Pitch: Personal Marketing Workshop

Personal marketing and networking aren’t static. Maybe you’ve thought about your elevator pitch once or twice and polish your resume every few years, but how often do you actually practice your pitch?

Designers, creative directors, and hiring managers—grab a coworker or a friend and join us for the second installment of The Creative Group and AIGA Chicago’s new series aimed at helping you figure out the next step in your career. This marketing-experts-led workshop calls for you to come prepared with your resume, portfolio, elevator pitch, and social media. Get ready to get to work!

Tighten Up Your Pitch is a joint partnership between AIGA and The Creative Group. TCG is a staffing firm that specializes in placing creative, digital, and marketing talent on a freelance and permanent basis. With the help of an all-star panel representing both agencies and corporations, we’ll give you an overview of how to best market yourself as you take the next steps in your career.

Subject Matter Experts

Susan Bonner,
Executive Creative Director, Crowe
As Executive Creative Director at Crowe, Susan has been building and managing creative teams, infusing high energy and enthusiasm in building a positive work environment and setting a  high bar for creative standards. She has worked with brands such as McDonalds, Kraft, Jim Beam, Equifax and State Farm. Additionally, she spent sixteen years as a professor at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, where she enjoyed the creative problem solving that comes with mentoring students.She’s also been a frequent panelist on topics such as corporate branding, millennial engagement, and creating building successful creative cultures.

Sora Choi, Branch Manager, The Creative Group
Sora Choi is the Branch Manager of The Creative Group, a staffing firm specialized in placing creative, marketing and digital professionals on a freelance, contract-to-hire, and permanent basis.  She started her career in digital advertising and has held four different positions at TCG.  With both recruiting and business development experience, she’s serviced clients such as Advance Auto Parts and Wilson Sporting Goods.  From North Carolina, she graduated with a Journalism & PR degree from the UNC Chapel Hill.  Sora’s been involved in organizations such as the American Marketing Association and AIGA, and she also enjoys volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club.  Follow TCG Chicago on Instagram @tcgchicago.

Anthony Nelson,
Freelancer, The Creative Group
Anthony Clyde Nelson is an independent, multi-disciplined digital media artist with 20 years of professional experience in a variety of fields including graphic design, motion graphics, presentation design, video editing, VFX and 3D. A creative for much of his life, Anthony first studied both tradition and digital animation at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago under their BFA program. From there, he continued to expand his skillset into other disciplines both as a professional and as a hobbyist, spending time creating his own personal projects as well as professional content for clients in and around the Chicago-area. Today, he produces content for a variety of companies from McDonalds and Portillo's to the University of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools.
 
LinkedIn Handle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonycnelson
Website: www.anthonycnelson.com

Tom Quish, Sr. Group Creative Director – National Practice Lead at Rightpoint
With over 20 years in the industry, Tom has used the power of visual design to inspire, empower and to help brands stand out, even in the busiest retail or digital spaces, He’s used design to help build and extend well-known brands (Kelloggs, Caterpillar, JCPenney, AT&T, and Abercrombie & Fitch, to name a few).

As a Senior Group Creative Director and National Practice Lead, Tom continues to build out the rapidly-growing Design team, helping to evolve Rightpoint’s creative capabilities, and partners with clients to deliver innovative business solutions and impactful customer experiences. He’s also led the charge on the recent launch of Rightpoint's rebranding and site redesign.

Sebastian Russell
Creative Senior Recruiter with a demonstrated history of working in the staffing and recruiting industryspecializing in creative and marketing roles/talent.

Jeff Stanley, Art Director, TwentyTwo Creative
With 10 years of advertising and design experience I have developed and produced concepts for; Sears, Office Max, OM Workspace, Kellogg’s, MTI, and Knock Knock Productions. The projects for these clients include; general consumer and business-to-business advertising, direct marketing, catalog, collateral and corporate identity. On these projects I have lead a creative team from concept through completion. I possess strong conceptual skills and can articulate the strategy leading to design solutions. I have the initiative, the knowledge and the talent to be a notable asset to your firm.

Jessica Williams, Career Coach, General Assembly
Jessica L. Williams is currently a Career Coach at General Assembly (GA) Chicago. In this role, she supports students as they think about their next professional steps and partners with graduates so they are more prepared and confident in their job search. Prior to her role at GA, Jessica co-facilitated 1871's WiSTEM - a 12-week program for women entrepreneurs designed to provide access to capital, community and technology resources. Jessica also led infrastructure services at McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, to deliver wired and wireless internet services for large tradeshows and events. Jessica is also the founder of Tech Biz Gurl - a side hustle empowering women to use technology to pursue their passions on the side. Most recently, Jessica was recognized by Built in Chicago as one of the Top 50 Tech Influencers to follow.

Taylor Witten, Producer at Second City Works
Taylor Witten is a writer-producer specializing in live event production and custom video. She has produced corporate work for Walgreens, YMCA, Otsuka, SAP, Uber, Microsoft, Motorola, The Second City, and earlier this year won a 2018 Gold Telly Award with Adobe. Taylor has experience working on both small and large scale productions including commercial work, digital content, TV and film.
 
A Cleveland native, and currently residing in Chicago, Taylor achieved a BA in English Literature from Dartmouth College and completed postgraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland where she received a MSc in Media and Film Studies. Both personally and professionally, Taylor is committed to being a change agent who advocates for opportunities of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Agenda
6:00 PM — Mix, mingle, and grab refreshments
6:30 PM — Workshops Begin
7:30 PM — Wrap Up

Ticket Pricing
$5 Student Members
$15 AIGA Members
$25 Non-Members

Location
Please enter the building at 111 W. Washington St. and take the elevators to the 5th floor. (Tell security you're going to Flashpoint Chicago and they will direct you to the correct elevators.) On the 5th floor you can check in at the front desk. If you have any problems finding Flashpoint, you can reach the security desk at 312.506.0725 and they can direct you. Discounted parking is with IM Park at 172 W. Madison St., at the corner of Madison and Wells. Please bring your parking ticket with you and show it to the front desk when you arrive. They will give you a coupon to receive your discount when you exit the parking garage.

Code of Conduct
By registering to attend this event, you agree to abide by AIGA Chicago Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct may be found here.
https://www.aiga.org/code-of-conduct

Twitter Hashtags & Handles
@AIGAChicago
@CreativeGroup
@TribecaChicago

Special thanks to Danyelle Sage, our Programming Chair for planning this new event series, to Flashpoint Academy for hosting this event, and to The Creative Group for sponsoring this series.



When & Where
Thu, Oct 18, 2018 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CDT
Flashpoint Chicago, a Campus of Columbia College Hollywood
28 North Clark Street
#500
Chicago, IL 60602