Last week, 800 attendees gathered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for two days of inspiration, community building and talks from some of the world’s best known companies—from Spanx, JetBlue, Birchbox, Away, FitBit, Edible Arrangements, Stacy's Pita Chips, Drybar, Allbirds to Instagram—and the movements they built.
One of the questions I get asked frequently after telling someone about the work we do at cred is, “When is your busy season?” That’s usually my cue to laugh because, well, when isn’t our busy season?!
While we do work year-round to build speaking platforms and plan events for clients, there are times of the year when we’re more likely to be engaged in trends that are directly related to the seasonality of the events industry overall.
We track thousands of conferences across multiple industries, including social impact , fintech, health, and many others. Now that we’ve hit our 4-year milestone as a company, we’ve been able to look back and identify trends year over year to determine which months are the busiest for events and how we can forecast the processes to get speakers on stage.
A classic scene from The Sandlot echoes across generations: Ham and Phillips on a baseball field, dueling it out in a war of words. A string of insults bubble up into one final blow, the comeback to end it all: “You play ball like a girl.”
If only Ham or Phillips could be so lucky.
Last week, we had the pleasure of attending the GUILD’s annual women’s summit Serendipity. Held at the General’s Residence at Fort Mason in San Francisco, the one-day conference gathered women across diverse backgrounds and experiences to share their inspiring stories on entrepreneurship, leadership, investing, and emerging industries.
With an agenda packed with workshops, experiences, 1:1 mentorship, and engaged talks, Serendipity offered attendees the opportunity to curate their own schedules and address individual needs for personal and professional growth. The energy of the venue radiated an inviting atmosphere, bringing together an exciting mix of backgrounds and a feeling of mutual support among the attendees. If you weren’t in a conference room attending a session, there was ample opportunity to network and engage with fellow attendees and women professionals.
Serendipity kicked off the morning with workshops tackling challenges felt by many emerging professionals today—from effective techniques to reduce stress to networking for introverts. The agenda continued with panels and talks from inspiring women across industries including tech, food, health, and investing.
Sara Holtz, host of podcast Advice to My Younger Me, led an intimate workshop about the power in pushing back, and how saying “no” is a critical work and life still. She shared specific advice on how to confidently and effectively say “no,” and questions we can ask ourselves to make sure our decisions mirror our values and prioritize our wellbeing.
“What are you giving up by saying ‘yes’?” — Sara Holtz
Lunch was sponsored by catering company Chewse, whose founder and CEO Tracy Lawrence spoke on panel discussing “The Future of Food.” Tracy spoke alongside Copia Founder and CEO Komal Ahmad and BiteUnite Founder Patta Arkaresvimun, with Parsnip Founder and CEO Sally Rogers as moderator. The panelists shared their perspectives on using food to connect to communities, addressing touchpoints from catering to cooking to food waste management.
The day continued with engaging talks from speakers such as Hint Founder and CEO Kara Goldin, who chatted through her journey on fighting for consumer rights around clean water, and Spero Ventures Partner Ha Nguyen, who discussed how to think like an investor, and the dos and don’ts when raising capital.
The day celebrated, educated, and inspired us in the power of women, and left us with the drive to harness our own strength to become better leaders of tomorrow—proving that perhaps, in baseball and in life, it isn’t so bad to play ball like a girl.
If the future is a future without cars, parking garages will make pretty cool event venues (or office spaces, like cred client @PeriscopeData’s HQ).
This past week, Segment held their annual user conference Synapse—a two-day conference with more than 30 sessions focused on how to harness your customer data effectively and use that data to grow—at SVN West (a converted parking garage).
This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of sitting in on the KNOW Identity Forum San Francisco, a series of one-day intimate discussions hosted by One World Identity. Throughout the evening, digital Identity specialists shared their thoughts on the past, present, and future of identity in business.
Balancing work and wellness sometimes feels impossible, especially when there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. About 23-40% of workers feel stressed, frustrated, or anxious at least a few times a week. Prioritizing wellness and maintaining a healthy work/life balance can decrease those negative feelings and enhance your emotional and physical health.
Incorporating wellness at work can boost happiness, productivity, creativity and your overall health. Here are our top five tips to incorporate wellness into your workday.
After four WeWork locations and much anticipation, we are excited to introduce you to our new credHQ! Nestled at 49 Geary in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District, our office joins the company of a diverse group of prestigious art galleries, tech, and design professionals all in one building.
Over the course of eight months, our team put a lot of thought, energy, and time into finding and curating a space that reflects who we are and the values of our organization. From our kitchen to our conference rooms, we had the opportunity to build and design the space to fit our needs from the ground up. Huge thanks to Braun + Adams and Peacock Construction for making it possible.
Our open floor plan makes room for much collaboration across teams—from our speaker management and event management teams, to our team of four-legged mascots Gunnar, Lucy, and Chloe!
Devoted to all things events, we named our conference rooms after something close to our hearts: the many stages our clients speak on! You can find us having meetings on the Mainstage, Breakout Stage, or Green Room.
Our new office marks an exciting chapter in cred’s growth. We look forward to welcoming clients and candidates to a space that mirrors how far we’ve come and the journey ahead.
Last year, cred was one of 73,716 attendees at SXSW! Along with experiencing all things in music and film at the festival, we got a chance to see our clients Mighetor, Foundation Capital, 500 Startups, Ripple, and Voicea, take the stage to discuss topics ranging from the future of work to AI to blockchain.
How’d they do it? On top of having great content, each session went through a round of public voting on SXSW’s PanelPicker—which opens today! Attendees are given a chance to voice the types of panels, presentations, and workshops they’d like to see during next year’s event. For 2020, cred submitted 16 sessions covering topics such as the future of work and cannabis. Learn more about each of these sessions below.
Make sure to vote for your favorites before the PanelPicker closes on Friday, August 23!
cred Client: Ceros
Closing the Gap Between IRL and URL Experiences
Featuring: Getty Images, GumGum, and Boston Content
cred Client: Ripple & Xpring
Blockchain Next Gen: The Rise of the Ecosystem
Featuring: Raised in Space and Coil
cred Client: AnyRoad
Data x Experiences: Brewing Up Brand Loyalty
Featuring: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
cred Client: Chewse
The Roots of Connection: Growing a Love Company
Featuring: SnackNation
cred Client: Memzy
Forgettable, That’s What You Are (Until Now)
cred Client: Mighteor
Gender Equity in Fundraising: the Candor Clause
Featuring: Sheets & Giggles and Matchstick Ventures
cred Clients: Hawke Media & Lemonlight
Blazing Trails: Marketing in the Cannabis Space
Featuring: High Times and Arcadian Fund
cred Client: Ada Health
Creating a World Without Health Inequalities
cred Client: LiveIntent
The Minority Report Podcast
Featuring: Posture Media
cred Client: LiveIntent
How DTC Brands Can Survive the Cookie Apocalypse
Featuring: Wayfair and Rue La La
cred Client: Virta Health
Reversing Diabetes with Continuous Remote Care
cred Clients: Sisense & meditation.live
Why Robots Can’t Replace HR
Featuring: Ike
cred Clients: Voicea & meditation.live
Work Smarter Not Harder: Finding Focus at Work
Featuring: Don Vaughn, PhD
cred Client: Strava
Virtual Races, Real Results: The Future of Running
Featuring: New York Road Runners
cred Client: Sisense
Behind the Scenes of a Major Tech Merger
cred Client: Zume
Packing Away the Plastic: Earth-Saving Solutions
Featuring: Method and The Ocean Foundation
cred Client: Flexport
Using the Global Supply Chain as a Force for Good
Featuring: Cotopaxi and Bombas
