Author: Portfolio Creative

Next big thing? Started in Australia, but serving international clients and locations, Creative Caravan helps on-the-move creative people find places to stay. Specifically focused on people in creative fields, like designers, directors, photographers and stylists, the idea is to help people find places to stay and potentially connect people in similar industries. Searching the board is free–you only pay if you find a place you like. Clever, and maybe a “next big thing”! From Springwise.

Check out < /marked up>, a weekend-long event hosted by The Fuse Factory.

< /marked up> is for artists, musicians, designers, K-16 students, educators, and others who:

• Want to create interactive art, information visualization, and/or personal software tools
• Want to combine art, design, interaction, engineering, robotics, and computer science
• Want exposure to visually-oriented learning tools
• Want a more expressive way of teaching programming and computer arts
• Want to learn how to program their own software, but don’t know where to start

Event breakdown:

July 17th 7pm – 10pm @ Sandbox Columbus: Reception and experimental showcase featuring the work of video artist Daniel Martinico and interactive media artist Ira Greenberg

July 18th 10am – 5pm @ Sandbox Columbus: Hands-on workshops

July 18th 8pm – 10pm @ Wild Goose Creative: Evolution Control Committee Wheel of Mashup performance

July 19th 1pm – 5pm @ Corkboard: Interactive Game Hack-a-Thon

Between designing a new brand identity for The Metropolitan Opera and her current gig as Creative Director of The Museum of Modern Art, Julia Hoffmann taught us how to Simpsonize ourselves – and brought us to the brink of Whopper freakout. She also helped Jon Stewart tutor us in civics with America (The Book).

Frankfurt-born Julia has worked with Pentagram on brand identity projects for clients including The Criterion Collection, and was art and interactive design director at Colorado-based Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where she created interactive experiences for Burger King and Volkswagen. In her spare time, she illustrates for The New York Times and teach at the School of Visual Arts.

Join us July 16th at CSCA welcomes Julia to Ohio State’s Knowlton Hall for an evening of insight and interaction. 

We had the amazing experience of being honored as finalists for the Visionary Award, and being featured in a fantastic event at the Westin Southern on Thursday. To have National Association of Women Business Owners Columbus members and board consider us as Visionaries is truly humbling. The list of previous award winners is a who’s who of business owners in the Central Ohio area, and we’d love to be included on it.

Unfortunately this was not our year, but we’ll be back! The award went to Shaune Skinner of ACS Group, and was very well-deserved. She’s a strong and experienced businesswoman who has created change both in her industry and her community. We’re thrilled to know her, and truly respect everything she has done both personally and professionally.

Since it’s like the Academy Awards, in that you don’t expect to win but have to be prepared in case you do, we’ll share the thoughts we had about the experience here..

We were very honored to be considered Women of Vision. Which got me thinking about what being a Visionary really means. According to the dictionary, a Visionary is “a person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; a dreamer.” That sounds pretty flighty, but let’s dig a little deeper.

There certainly IS some truth here. Visionaries DO have audacious ideas and schemes, we ARE dreamers. We’re the people that say “what if” and “why not” about every crazy idea that comes our way.  We’re always coming up with ideas about how something could be better, faster, smarter, easier or cheaper. And just because an idea may seem impractical at first, that doesn’t stop us from pursuing it…just to see where it might end up.

But there’s more to it than that. Being a Visionary is not just dreaming and coming up with ideas. It’s figuring out which ideas might really work, and pursuing them.

Everyone has the opportunity to be a Visionary, whether you’re a business owner, an employee, a volunteer, or a student. Everywhere you go there are spaces for something new, or opportunities to make something better. When you have one of those ideas, think about it. Dream a little. Speculate. Ask “what if.”
When you find the right opportunity for you, and decide to take action…that’s when you’ll find your own inner Vision.

Because a Visionary may dream, speculate and scheme…but TRUE Visionaries take action and make a difference.

–Kristen.

___________________

NAWBO has been such a wonderful help to us in achieving our goals. We joined NAWBO the very first year we opened our business. As a matter of fact, we were recruited immediately to work on the communications committee. Initially, we thought it would be a great place to network and find people that could use our services.

But what we did get is something so much more valuable. We got to know fellow women business owners. Women that understand every facet of what we go through in a day. Women that understand the life balance, the demands, the problems of being a female business owner. We have developed relationships that will last a life time. With every problem we had starting our business, there was another member that has already gone through it and they were very willing to share how they got through it. And now we can do the same with other women trying to start a business.

For us, NAWBO has been a sisterhood of experience, a resource for a great education and an opportunity for us to own more then our business, but an opportunity to own our future.

— Catherine

We are very excited to let you know that we have a new team member joining us this month!

Chris Cochran will be focused on client service and recruiting for both projects and direct hire positions. Chris’ background is a strong mix of creative and recruiting. Most recently, he was Talent Acquisition Manager for the experiential marketing and training division of a large incentive travel and marketing company. Previous to the position, an Executive Recruiter for a highly respected firm specializing in advertising, publishing and marketing.

After over ten years in the Los Angeles area, he decided to return to his roots in Columbus with his wife and daughter and we were lucky enough to connect with each other. And I’m sure you’ll have the opportunity to connect with him in the future as well.

Chris adds, “It’s exciting to join Portfolio because of not only the work they do, but because of the people here. That’s what elevates a good job into being a great one.”. Welcome Chris!

Great recent article about three suprising characteristics that help people succeed in their careers. Humility. Faith. Optimism. Not what you were expecting, right? Once again it’s clear how it takes more than skills, training and work experience to succeed in today’s job market. Those may be the expected, base-level requirements, but employers are looking for more in their ideal candidate.

Humility. A rare trait, and one that may not be expected at higher levels. Think you only get ahead by being cutthroat and climbing the ladder on the backs of others? That may bring you short-term gain, but not long-term success. Few people get to higher levels without supporters and mentors, and by being a supporter and mentor to others as well, they gain a support system that lasts their entire career.

Faith. Believing in what you do, and what your company does, may sound a little trite. But honestly, how can you spend the amount of time and energy that is required to succeed on something you don’t care about? If you don’t believe in your company, product, job or mission, find something you can believe in. It may not mean changing jobs, maybe it’s just gaining a better understanding of what you do and why it’s important.

Optimism. Frankly, no one wants to work with the sad-sack or constant complainer. Taking the optimistic view about yourself, your career, company and role leads to much more positive daily interactions. No one can afford to just blindly follow, we all have to take care of ourselves of course. But if you assume the best while asking the right questions, you’ll be both optimistic and realistic.

Portfolio co-owners Kristen Harris and Catherine Lang-Cline have been nominated for the prestigious NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) Visionary Award! Nominees are professional women business owners in Central Ohio who have made notable contributions to their communities, their industries and to the professional women’s objectives that improve the quality of life and business.

The winner will be announced at the 12th Annual Visionary Award Luncheon on July 9th, 2009 at 11 am at the Westin Great Southern. This celebration of the finalists’ accomplishments will be emceed by NBC4’s Colleen Marshall.  All members of the Central Ohio business community are invited to attend. Read the full press release at nawbocolumbusohio.com

Congratulations Catherine and Kristen!

An interview is your chance to make a good impression and strut your stuff, but most of us are intimidated by such things. The trick is knowing how to talk about your strengths and skills without sounding either conceited or unsure.  Let us, with help from Sharon Delay at BoldlyGO Coaching, give you some tips on how to make the most out of your interview. Follow this link for the answers to your interview questions. (The link is a .zip file, and will take a few minutes to download as it includes both a presentation and video examples)

I was reading CNN article about how a couple of artists bought a super-cheap house in Detroit and started fixing it up. They’re adding all sorts of environmentally friendly features, and now convincing their friends to do the same. And I started thinking about how artists often are leaders of change. You see it happen over and over again in neighborhoods…artists start moving into a somewhat questionable part of town for the cheap prices and interesting architecture, some years later every house is renovated and it’s the “hot” part of town. And then of course the artists can’t afford it anymore, so they move on to a new neighborhood and start all over again.

Which you might say is a bad thing because the prices go up so much that the very people who made a neighborhood desirable can no longer afford to live there. But I actually think that’s not so bad because there are many more neighborhoods who can benfit from their influence. Artists also start fashion trends, were some of the first proponents of environmental causes, flexible work arrangements and a zillion other things.

This truly is the era of the creative class, and I for one am thrilled! We need more creative thinking and outsider perspectives, people willing to take chances on new ideas. And artists will be leading the way. Again.

Portfolio is thrilled to help sponsor the Ohio Art League‘s 100th Anniversary!

Join us on June 20th for ONE NIGHT IN A HUNDRED, a colorful night of art & music, gourmet street food & refreshing libations, celebrating OAL’s 100th Anniversary and honoring 100 individuals who have contributed to the League and the Ohio arts community.

In the tradition of the One Night events, OAL will transform an unoccupied space in the Short North into a mega-cool party space. What better way to exhibit original, local art in media including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, glass and more!

Here are the details:

June 20, 2009, beginning 6pm
Smith and High Place
1246-64 North High Street, in the Short North

Preview Party – beginning 6pm., features first dibs on silent art auction, gourmet street food, passed hors d’oevres, and an open bar – $100

Main Event, beginning 8pm., features a silent art auction, music and entertainment, cash bar – $50

After Party, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., your ticket purchase includes free entry to several after parties at select venues in the city.

Tickets may be purchased by credit card, check or cash, through the Ohio Art League.