Community development both online and offline have played an important role in my marketing experience. Here you will learn not only about my abilities in community development and management, but also about the Behance Dribbble NRW Community.
There is much more that goes on behind the scenes when establishing a community both online and in real time. My skills in Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media and Engagement has proven effective in founding a thriving creative community and promoting it. In addition, my knowledge of film, television, print and commercial production have become quite useful. Example, finding creatives as speakers can be directly correlated to my background in casting actors/actresses in commercials. Utilizing my abilities that I have garnered over the years has made me an expert in the community development and management.
At our events we have usually 80 plus people in attendance from the surrounding areas in NRW and also from the Netherlands.
What is a Behance Event?
In the spring of 2012, Behance launched its first International Portfolio Review Week with events taking place all over the world. The events bring together artists, creatives and art lovers for a night of networking, connecting, sharing, and inspiring.
In December of 2012, Behance was purchased by Adobe and became part of the Adobe family.
How was the Behance Dribbble NRW Community established?
Prior to moving to Germany, I attended the first Behance International Portfolio Review Week in New York City. I found the event to be quite inspirational and when I arrived in Germany, I decided that I wanted to bring the the event to Nordrhen Westfalen. With events being successful in other cities around the world, I knew that this could be a way for creative people to connect.
In July 2013, the Behance NRW Facebook page was launched. As of March 2016, it has quickly grown to over 1400+ members from various creative backgrounds.
In August 2013, the first Behance NRW Event was hosted at the Coworking Loft in Düsseldorf (now the Gewächshaus). The event was a success and I decided to continue hosting Behance Events.
In 2015, it was decided to connect the Behance and Dribbble communities in NRW. Thus, expanding the reach of the event and creating a larger network of artists living in Germany.
Being an official side event of the Spring 2014 Beyond Tellerrand conference enabled the community grow.
Why connect Behance Events to Dribbble Meetups?
There are many platforms out there for artists to showcase their artwork. Dribbble, like Behance is one of the premier websites for creatives to exhibit their work and talents. Recently Dribbble began hosting meetups in various countries and like Behance helps inspire creativity, it was only natural that the two communities come together in Nordrhein Westfalen. Many members on Dribbble utilize Behance. Helping to connect talented people is something that our community has always promoted. This combination will help the network grow and introduce our members to other platforms where they can showcase their artwork.
What happens at a Behance Dribbble Event?
Every city that hosts Behance and Dribbble Events has different resources. However, I utilized the format of the first event that I attended, which was host by an advertising agency.
The event features 3 to 5 speakers who present their work for 20 minutes. The topics vary from event to event, which keeps things interesting for the audience. The audience is able to ask each presenter questions.
But the fun does not stop there... After the presentations there is an OPEN CASUAL FORUM! This is what makes the Behance Events unique. During this portion of the event, everyone who attends is able to share his or her work during a cross-talk or round table discussion. This has become a great way for creatives to get feedback from artists from different backgrounds, which yields new ideas. It is also a great way for artists to practice presenting his or her work. In today's world every artist has to present their work to clients and this is a great way to train. Just like actors who practice audience methods artists can utilize this to gain more confidence in presenting their artwork.
At these events there are 80 or more in attendance, so this has become a great way for creatives to network and share their work.
From time to time, we also feature interactive portions of our event. This could be in form of a video/photo booth, graphic recording, art galleries, etc. Eric Alexander event set up his "In Schwarzem Raum" Project as a SELFIE room where where the attendees could enter with their cameras or cell phones and test out the light set up. I believe having interactive activities enhance the events and make them more interesting for those who attend.
Photographer Eric Alexander's "Im Schwarzem Raum" as an interactive SELFIE Room.
What has happened since the community was founded?
In April 2014, I was asked by Adobe to participate in the Adobe Create Now / Creative Jam Conference in Berlin as a keynote speaker. The event was streamed live on Adobe.de with over 2000 viewers. At this event myself and Monika Godsmark hosted a small Behance Portfolio Review.
In May 2014, Marc Thiele from the Beyond Tellerrand asked if I would like to host a Behance NRW Event as a side event of the conference. It was an honor and I agreed to do so. Being part of a large scale conference was amazing. Sarah Rapp the head of Behance's Community Management took part in this event via live stream feed on Skype. This was the first time that a person from Behance took part in an international event via Skype!
Because of the success of the events, Adobe asked me if I would like to host a Create Now Conference in Düsseldorf or Köln? Naturally I suggested Düsseldorf. I began working closely with Katja Dollinger from Adobe on the promotion of the event as well as the agenda. Also, I came up with the idea to include the Pecha Kucha community. The event took place on July 1st, 2014 at Düsseldorf's Capitol Theater and there were over 825 creatives in attendance. The event also featured Frank Dopheide and Alexander Heinrichs, as well as several other creatives.
At the Adobe Creaete Now Conference in Düsseldorf, our community also hosted a second photo / video booth as well as an art gallery featuring artists from NRW!
View the video by following this link:
In September 2014, I was approached by Wacom and asked if I would like to curate the Wacom Gallery on Behance. as well as write articles that featured artists on the Behance website. This allowed me to connect with international artists that utilize the Behance network.
In November 2014, I was asked to be a keynote speaker at the Behance Event taking place in Pescara, Italy. It was a two day event hosted by the Pepe Collective and the city of Pescara. There I spoke briefly about my work and experience. I also gave portfolio tips and advice. This was a two day event with over 300 people in attendance each day. It was also run in conjunction with the Festival Delle Letterature.
At our February 2015 Event, there was media coverage by Fernsehen Düsseldorf. This was a great honor and has helped to show the community that our event is here to help artists develop and grow.
View the video by following this link:
In July 2016, I worked with Adobe to plan a second conference for Düsseldorf. On July 2nd we hosted the Adobe Creative Meet Up & Networking Conference at the Capitol Theater. This time we added additional layers to the confernece, including: the Adobe Creative Jam, Behance Portfolio Review Area, Virtual Reality Zone featuring Samsung's 4D VR Chairs, hologram technology provided by blueBox, Adobe Make It Area, photographer Eric Alexander's Der Schwarze Raum, art gallery featuring 20 artists from NRW, and illuminated gallery produced by Wallstyle / CCS Digital.
Adobe has stated that our Creative Jam was the highest profile Creative Jam in the competitions history. Seven teams competed, including: BBDO, DDB, Havas Worldwide and Ubisoft. The competition was judged by Jens Kellersmann from Wacom and Thomas Junk from Demodern / Art Directors Club Germany.
View photos from the conference via the following link:
http://adobe.ly/29tL6Ah
More info on how the conference was planned can be found here.
More info on how the conference was planned can be found here.
In 2017, the community was expanded under the Düsseldorf York City mantle to host the first edition of Portfolios & Pints at Wacom's European Headquarters!
There was additional media coverage at the May 2014 EVELGA.de!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHy8_jBGEDk&feature=player_embedded
Adobe Evangelists Michael Chaize, Jason Levine and Rufus Deuchler posing at the Behance NRW photo / video booth at the Adobe Create Now Event at the Capitol Theater.
Who has Behance Dribbble NRW featured?
As of July 2016, Behance Dribbble NRW has hosted over 15 events and has featured over 40 speakers:
* Frame6 (Game / Character Design) - Sebastian Kreutz, Jessica Krager
* SHiFT Conference Organizer - Pedro Custodio
* Morphoria Design Collective / Betty & Betty - Andreas Ruhe, Alexandros Michalakopoulos
* Graphic Designer - Vera Henco
* Parasol Island - Philip Hansen, Nils Hartmann
* Adobe - Sven Doelle
* Beyond Tellerrand Conference Organizer - Marc Thiele
* Photographer - Thomas Herbrich
* Wacom - Guido Moeller
* Illustrator / Fashion Designer / Graffiti Artist - Milena Kioursidou
* Architect - Stefan Frischauf
* Artist - Tatjana Glomm
* Vision Unltd Creative Worz - Stephanie Helau, Illya Tselyutin
* Behance (Head of Community Management from NY) - Sarah Rapp
* Photographer / Advertising / Graffiti Artist - Dennis Stobe
* Photographer - Christian Köster
* Illustrator - Ankat Hermanns
* Deutsche Markenarbeit - Andre Paetzel
* Costume Designer - Florence Heyer
* Adobe Evangelists - Jason Levine, Michael Chaize, Rufus Deuchler
* Illustrator - Natalya Poshukhova
* Deutsche Markenarbeit (former CEO of Grey Worldwide) - Frank Dopheide
* Photographer - Alexander Heinrichs
* Blogger / Artist - Frauke Gimpel
* Pecha Kucha Düsseldorf Organizer - Axel Kopp
* Designer - Thomas Quack
* Designer - Benny Nast
* Illustrator - Chen-Long Chung
* Photographer - Eric Alexander
* Illustrator - Björn Steinmeltzer
* Illustrator / Painter - Monika Godsmark
* Illustrator - Sarah Von Der Heide
* Photographer - Frank Dursthof
* Art Director - Giuseppe Migliaccio
* MRM/McCann Advertising Agency - Johannes Veith, Yiannis Lapatas
* Paper Cutting Artist - Kia Sue
* KLANGFIGUREN Digital Artists - Till Beutling, Daniel Dormann
* Art Diretor - Christoph Gey
* Artist - Lea Ziers
* Ubisoft 2D Artist - Magdalena Proszowska
* Sunstainica.org - Vasco Bontje
* Photographer - Thomas Herbrich
* Digital Artist / High-End Retoucher - Dom Quichotte
* Ubisoft Art Director - Edgar Bittencourt
* Photography / Design Team - Manuel Mittelpunkt, Matthias Grund
* Commercial Retoucher - Jan Wischermann
* Illustrator - Martin Schlierkamp
* Senior DDB Creative - Jeannette Bohné
The goal is to showcase creatives who are not only inspirational but also motivational. Also it has become very important to have a mixture of creatives speak at each event. Learning from artists who come from various backgrounds is a great way for audience to be inspired or even come up with ideas on ways to collaborate with artists from different fields of study.
The Open Casual Forum has proven not only to be very popular, but a way for artists to get feedback from other creatives with different artistic backgrounds.
Where to find Behance NRW?
Behance NRW utilizes Facebook first and foremost as a way to connect with its members. We understand that Facebook is not for everyone but it is our prime source for information. In our Facebook Group you will find photos from our events in our albums, as well as the Behance NRW Alumni Photo Album!
Our Facebook Group:
Our Facebook Page:
Behance Team Page (something new):
As stated we do understand that Facebook is not for everyone, thus we also utilize other forms of social media to spread the world such as LinkedIn and Xing. However, Facebook has become our primary source for up-to-date information. Plus we also encourage artists to share links to their portfolios on our Facebook Group.
Events have become an effective tool where creatives can learn to present their artwork.
What if you are not on Behance or Dribbble?
We understand that not every creative utilizes Behance and we completely understand. It is up to every person to decide what is the best way for him or her to showcase their work online. So we do not discriminate against those using other platforms. But we do encourage creatives to promote their work even if they do not use Behance. Also the community is open to all artists, creatives, and art lovers. We welcome anyone who is passionate about the arts to our events.
Björn Steinmetzler participating as a graphic recoder / sketch noter at one of our events. Encouraging artists to try out new art forms is one of goals. Having various artists participate as graphic recorders helps promote the idea of experimenting with new art forms!
How does Behance Dribbble NRW support the arts?
Behance NRW is very supportive of the arts in Germany. On Facebook Page and in our Group we try to share information about events and festicals taking place in NRW that we feel would be inspirational to our community.
I also have hosted two tours of Düsseldorf's Photo Weekend and a tour of the Kunstakademie's Rundgang. By hosting tours we bring together 20 to 30 people who can share the experience of viewing art together and then talk about what we have seen afterwards.
Monika Godsmark sharing with Adobe Evangelist Jason Levine at our November 2014 event.
How to become a sponsor or a speaker?
We are interested in finding new sponsors for our events. As the community grows, this will help us offer up new ways to inspire the artistic community in NRW. Since we are non-profit and do not charge for our normal events we ask people to donate when they attend. Thus, sponsorship is key for our growth.
We are also open to art supply companies in sending us products for our community to demo. This is a great way for you to get your product in the hands of real artists and get feedback. Companies who have taken part in our events include: Wacom, Adobe, Tombow, Dribbble , Advanced Photoshop Magazine, Beyond Tellerrand, and Digital Photographer Magazine. Introducing artists to new tools and resources encourages artists to discover other ways to create art. Thus, we gladly welcome companies to support our events in this way.
Interested in volunteering and helping out.... we love to have help in the organization of event !
We select the most creative and talented people living in or near NRW to speak at our events. If interested in being considered to be speaker then send us an email!
We also have featured Graphic Recorders and Sketch Noters at our Events. If you are interested in being one of our Graphic Recorders then send us a message!
Email.... kshinabery212@gmail.com
REMEMBER NETWORKING IS IMPORTANT FOR EVERY ARTIST... YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN OR WHERE YOUR TALENT WILL BE DISCOVERED!
A selections of the items that were given out during our October 2015 Event.
Pentel provided their Aqua Brush as an entry gift to our October 2015 Event.