The Final Planning-ness
Next week San Francisco will host the final Planning-ness as we bid adieu to an event that has become a staple in the Planning and Design community.
For those of you unaware, Planning-ness has been the “un-conference” for creative thinkers across the U.S. and Canada since 2009. Unlike other conferences, speakers don’t just talk at you, they teach you how to do things. That’s why each sessions has the words “how to” in the title, as well as a workshop component where you put what you heard into action.
As the founding sponsor, W5 will retire with Planning-ness’ under our belt. Each year the speaker line up, attendees, and social events (let’s not forget about the parties) make waves in the host city. The 2016 Planning-ness is no different. With a stellar speaker line up and trendy venue, 1446 Market Street, we are looking forward to closing out this chapter with a bang. Tickets are still available at planningness.com! Sessions announced include:
Douglas Atkin, Head of Community at Air BnB – How to Build Community;
Gareth Kay – How (and why) to Care Less about Brands;
Ana Andjelic – How to Create a Modern Luxury Brand;
Mark Barden – How to Embrace Constraints;
Gabrielle Tenaglia – How to Create an Entertainment Brand;
Heidi Hackemer – How to Build a Creative Company;
Pamela Pavliscak – How to Design for Happiness;
Blair Atkins – How to Plan for Virtual Reality; and
Caroline Webb, best-selling author of How to Have a Good
You can check out Caroline Webb as she recently joined Talks at Google in London for a conversation with Matt Brittin to discuss what it takes for us to be at our best and make the most of every day.
Additional bios for 2016 speakers can be found below.
Gareth Kay – How (and why) to Care Less about Brands
Gareth is one of the founders of Chapter. He’s a strategist by trade. Chapter is a new type of creative company, built from the ground up to better deliver the commercial creativity pioneering companies need today. Creativity that is defined by the impact it has, not the channel it is delivered in. Creativity that creates more delightful experiences between companies and people.
Prior to founding Chapter, Gareth was Chief Strategy Officer and Partner at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and the Head of Planning at Modernista! In his decade in the US, Gareth has led strategy on brands including Google, Cisco, TD Ameritrade, the NBA, General Motors, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and (RED).
Ana Andjelic – How to Create a Modern Luxury Brand
Ana is SVP, Global Strategy Director at Havas LuxHub, where she helps fashion, luxury and lifestyle companies adapt to the digital economy. An experienced strategist with a passion for new things, she earned her doctorate in Sociology at Columbia University and worked at the world’s top advertising agencies. Ana was recognized as one of Luxury Women to Watch 2016 and one the top 10 digital strategists in the world by the Guardian.
Gabrielle Tenaglia – How to Create an Entertainment Brand
Over the course of her career, Gabrielle has worked with some of the world’s most interesting brands, including: Xbox, Halo, Pandora, Hulu, Intel, Audi, Cisco, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Annie’s Homegrown. Gabrielle started her career at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners and spent time at Venables Bell and Partners before joining twofifteenmccann as head of strategy.
Heidi Hackemer – How to Build a Creative Company
Heidi started Wolf&Wilhelmine so she could work with brave clients and a collection of kickass talent to make premium, provocative strategies for future-loving businesses. To get to premium, she’s designed a shop that puts a high value on finding the right people and supporting them through education, systems built around the modern workforce and the conditions that creativity truly needs to thrive (hint, it involves naps and digital shut- downs).
In her past life Heidi had a career run at top shops like BBH, Anomaly and Droga working on projects like the global launch of Google Chrome, figuring out the future of vodka for Diageo and helping guys rule the mating game with Axe. But she’s having a lot more fun now.
Outside of work, Heidi is probably on a run or on her Harley. She created Six Items or Less, a clothing consumption experiment that was featured in the New York Times, Good Morning America as well as press all over the world. She also spent two years traveling the country for her American Dream project, an exploration into understanding what makes America tick today.
Pamela Pavliscak – How to Design for Happiness
Pamela Pavliscak (pav-lee-shock) is a design researcher and data scientist specializing in emotional intelligence, the science of happiness, and positive design. She is the founder of Change Sciences, a research think tank focused on humanizing technology for Chase, NBC Universal, Virgin, and many others. Pamela is writing Designing for Happiness (O’Reilly, 2016) and has spoken at SXSW, Google Creative Labs, Future of Web Design, and Collision.
Mark Barden – How to Embrace Constraints
Mark Barden is a partner in the highly-regarded consulting firm eatbigfish, who coined the term Challenger Brand in their influential book Eating The Big Fish. In addition to strategy consulting, Mark is an engaging speaker and outstanding facilitator, skilled at getting groups to breakthrough solutions. If you want to get the heart of the matter, Mark will get you there.
In his colorful career Mark has sold Guinness door-to-door, run with Nike, and started his own advertising agency to launch Yahoo! He’s won a Platinum Award for direct response marketing, taken a dot com public, and once warmed up a crowd for Ellen De Generes.
He is co-author of the book, A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform Your Limitations Into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business (Wiley, 2015).