On March 4th, members of The League of Kickass Business People had an opportunity to attend our second gathering this year and 7th overall- “When Design Meets Commerce: Why Buying Good Looking Stuff Sells and What is the Future of Design”.
It was held at the very unique and decidedly pink Umbra concept store on 165 John Street, at heart of Toronto.
With some sober second thought, it really was our best Kickass event to date. The following amazing and well-qualified speakers were part of an interactive panel discussion led by our presdient Sean Moffitt on what the future of design holds:
Don Watt, Chairman & CEO, DW + Partners
Paul Rowan, VP Design and Co-founder, Umbra
Susan Roth, OCAD Head of Faculty of Design
Mathew Lincez/Richard Allen Thomas II, ideacouture, Creative Leads
Bev Tudhope, CEO, Interbrand Canada
We were very happy to welcome people from all walks of business in this session.
Bev Tudhope gave insight and affirmation to the need for senior CEO level leadership on design. Marketing icon Don Watt offered prescient advice on ensuring Canadians champion their own. Paul Rowan provided hard won experience on the need for Canadians to flourish beyond their own borders and build design as a company tenet effectively and affordably. Susan Roth, a recent arrival from the US, was able to give a relevant perspective on Canada’s and in particular Toronto’s role and reputation in the design world. The new faces of Mathew Lincez and Richard Allen Thomas II were a surprise that didn’t disappoint offering up insights of design and the emerging media. I had a hard time getting through the long line up of people with follow-up questions.
We’d like to sincerely thank Umbra for their support, amazing design wares, staff involvement and serving up their ultra-sleek store environment to soothe our eyes and senses.
The video from the event was captured by our masterful videographer Melissa Feeney and will become content for our soon to be launched supporting external LOK blog (think TED Talks North). Some select pictures are below. Meet you on May 14th for our next follow up event - Trend City - An Exchange of Ideas, Style and What’s Next.
(Photos by Karin Abramova, Agent Wildfire)
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