Join us for a round table with Al Thomas, Dan Rubin, Dan Cohen, and Urban Koi as we discuss our creative health and what it means to be a creative as the world figures its way out of a global pandemic.

THE ROUND TABLE EXPLORES

How do we revive ourselves to be able to breathe new life into our creativity? Exploring whether there are ways to proactively sense a burnout might be coming, and what we can do about that. Can we examine our environments - and how can we create within the rubric of what we can control or what we cannot control within our environment? 

Whether you are a seasoned creative or maybe this is new for you. Or maybe you don’t identify as a creative by profession, the knowledge here applies across sectors and speaks to the creativity we all have within ourselves - no matter how large or small our creativity plays out into who we are in everyday life.

MEET THE COLLECTIVE

AL THOMAS. An educational leader with a passion for creativity and the opportunities it can provide for students. Al has more than twenty years in the field of education as a teacher, principal, district-level director, and consultant. His passion is to develop and curate unique and innovative solutions that improve learning for all, and he believes that if we are to prepare students for future success, we must equip them with creative problem-solving skills that harness their talents and abilities. He is continually a sought after leader and presents with Adobe for Education, Google for Education, among other leading educational and  technology conferences across the country.

DAN RUBIN. A designer, photographer, and creative director based in the United States and United Kingdom. Dan is an IPA Jury and WPO Academy member, co-curator of the portrait photography exhibition 100 | 50 | 1, and host of the Apple Event series Meet The iPhone Photographer. Dan speaks at conferences worldwide including The Photography Show, South by Southwest, UX London, and WPPI, and consults on topics including product design, user experience, photography, brand communication, art direction, and more for startups and established brands around the world. One of Instagram's earliest beta-testers and a speaker at the world's first mobile photography conference, Dan travels the globe on photographic commissions for select clientele including American Express, The Guardian, Land Rover, The Macallan, Nissan, RedBull, Travel + Leisure, and more.

URBAN KOI. A creative director, photographer, scientist, aircraft pilot, and scuba diver. Guided by the mysteries of the universe, Koi can be found exploring with a camera in hand — documenting her adventures on Earth and beyond. When she is not traveling, she is studying as a future Doctor of Medicine. Born by curiosity and wistfulness, her visual stories interlace the enigmatic realms of health, travel, and space. As a Student of the Universe with her unique artistic lens rooted in the philosophy of life-long learning and discovery, Koi has established an international clientele with world-renowned brands. Koi is also a Co-leader on the 100cameras Board of Creatives and was selected as an independent photographer for NASA. Her clients include Apple, Chanel, Google, Montblanc, Prada, Nespresso and more.

DAN COHEN. A creative producer and program manager with over 15 years of experience working with a diverse range of creative teams across consumer products. Throughout his career, Dan has managed external agencies and in-house creative teams to execute both marketing campaigns and brand work for hardware, software and service products. His focus is on systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and process iteration, as you’ll see - Dan is detail oriented, but always looks to understand the big picture. As Creative Producer at Apple, he helped produce what is now known as Apple’s iconic packaging among other elevated design initiatives within the company As the first Senior Producer, he helped build out the in-house creative team to service the entire company. As Founder of Collective Good, Dan built an organization that connects designers and artists with non-profits to produce events and projects that raise money and awareness around social causes. Currently, Dan is Lead Program Manager at Facebook where for the last 6 years has led many extensive product and experience design and management projects.