The creative economy is changing the rules of the business world. Traditional thinking about how to succeed in the market will no longer suffice. New ideas and strategies are necessary to keep pace in today's evolving climate.

Vosica is an interdisciplinary consulting firm helping companies and their brands stay at the forefront of these market changes. We're hosting this event that looks at convergence, a strategy that helps companies stay relevant amid today's business challenges. This approach enables us to find solutions by seeing the connections and understanding the relationships between the dynamic spheres of business, culture and technology.

With our clients, the focus is on positioning their brand so their audience has an extraordinary experience with their product or service.

For this event we will explore the emerging trends within business, culture and technolgy and how to leverage them for new opportunities. We'll engage in a lively discussion with our panel members as they share with the audience how they each are navigating today's busines climate and  developing their own brand and marketing strategies.

We'll wrap up the evening with a crowdsourcing segment aka 'convergence improv'.  We want the audience to have fun, share ideas, and learn from one another

At the end of the night attendees will be in a better position to understand market trends and how they relate to their business and how to develop more effective marketing strategies.

Your moderator for the night

Nyia Hawkins

Nyia is a web media strategist and producer, focused on mixing innovation and journalism to produce thought-provoking and entertaining content for the web.  Her work has inlcuded helping Fortune 500' companies uncover their most innovative practices to producing online news videos seen around the world.  She's worked for Warner Bros. Television, E! Entertainment, Peer Insight and the Associated Press.

Panelists

David Fogel

David grew up in the DC metro area.  His past experiences include organizing international environmental festivals as well as numerous creative entertainment events across the country.  Currently he is the founder of 88, a multi-media events and creative solutions company. Last year, in conjunction with their sister organization 'X' they directly invested over $150K into the creative economy, worked with over 250 artists and produced events in 7 states across the country.

Michelle James

Michelle is a business creativity catalyst, consultant and coach who has worked with hundreds of conscious entrepreneurs and organizations to unleash and focus their soul-based creativity to achieve business goals.  Currently she is the CEO of The Center for Creative Emergence and is focused on integrating the worlds of business, service and creativity. Clients have included Microsoft, The World Bank, GEICO Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, Search for Common Ground, and the Department of Treasury among others. Michelle was recently recognized for Visionary Leadership in the Fast Company blog, Leading Change.

Rakiyt Zakari

Rakiyt is the name behind The Original David and the owner of Zakari Group LLC the company that houses the David brand. Rakiyt began her career in 2001 and her designs have been featured numerous times in WWD, Essence Magazine, Antenna, Lucky Magazine, and other publications. Interestingly enough fashion icon Andre Leon Talley of Vogue Magazine and style guru Tim Gunn of Project Runway are fans of The Original David brand. Her clothing has been worn by Gym Class Heroes, The Cool Kids, and The Roots to name a few. Rakiyt was the recipient of the 2007 Perrier Bubbling Under Award for emerging designers

Neil Takemoto

Neil is the founding director of CoolTown Beta Communities, a crowdsource-based placemaking and economic development firm codeveloping natural cultural districts with creatives. His work over the last 14 years has been committed to the development of places with significant economic, environmental and social benefit and currently has projects in Syracuse, New Orleans and Washington DC. Neil is the founder of CoolTown Studios, a ‘crowdsourcing cool places for creatives’ blog/news site that attracts 40,000 unique visitors a month. It has been featured in Architect Magazine and the ULI’s annual developers conference.