Lake FX Chicago Educates and Inspires

The inaugural Lake FX Chicago Summit & Expo, a free conference for artists, creative professionals, and entrepreneurs, wrapped up yesterday, April 19.  The conference opened Thursday, April 16, with a 5 p.m. performance by The Charles Health Quartet, followed by a keynote panel discussion of the “Lake Effect" at 5:30 p.m.  Local artists shared the influence Chicago has had on their art and careers.

Conference attendees had a full lineup of workshops, panel discussions, and presentations to choose from on Friday and Saturday.  General sessions focused on business and technology topics while other sessions focused on topics of interest to people involved in the culinary, fashion, film, music, and visual and performing arts fields.

On Friday, I attended “Grow Your Brand Online,” at Google.  Attendees were welcomed to the Google offices with a selection of hot and cold beverages, fresh fruit, and delicious croissants, muffins, and other pastries.  From the chairs to the paint to the Google "art," the blue, red, yellow, and green made for a fun atmosphere!  The workshop focused on how Google can be used to promote a business and website.  Topics included the following:

• How Google search works
• Search engine optimization
• Website promotion
• Search engine marketing (Google AdWords and Google AdWords Express)
• Google Search and Google Maps
• Online marketing effectiveness (Google Analytics, Trends, and Alerts)

After lunch, it was on to “Intro to Crowdfunding + Fiscal Sponsorship.”  Representatives from Indiegogo and Fractured Atlas talked about how their businesses can help you raise money for your business.  My overall impression is that crowdfunding to raise money requires preparation and organization prior to starting a crowdfunding campaign.  Following are important tips to remember when crowdfunding:

• It is important to have a specific project, goal, or use for the money that will be interesting, exciting, and meaningful to potential contributors.
• Create a video (less than 3 minutes in length) and text to pitch the project.
• Initial momentum is important!  Talk to friends, family, and others who will be early contributors to the campaign (your “host committee”).  Early contributions to a campaign encourage others to conclude that the project is important and worthy of contributions.
• Enhance your social media presence prior to beginning a campaign.  Having followers encourages potential donors to trust you and fund your project.
• Set a reasonable goal.  If two campaigns have raised the same amount of money, but one is 80 percent towards the goal and one is 20 percent towards the goal, potential funders often will contribute to the campaign that is closer to reaching their goal.  The funders will make more of a difference and help reach a goal!
• People love perks, that something extra for their donation!  Review and research other campaigns to get ideas.  People will donate just to get perks.  Add new perks throughout the campaign to encourage people to donate again.  Note:  Consider time and cost.

This conference provided access and exposure to industry experts.  In the “Sound Recording & Scoring for Film and Video Games” session, Leslie Ann Jones, who is currently Skywalker Sound’s Director of Music Recording and Scoring, shared her story and experiences.  A few projects she has worked on include films Apocalypse Now, White Men Can't Jump, and Dead Man Walking and video game scores for Star Wars:  The Old Republic, Socom 4, Pirates of the Caribbean Armada of the Damned, Star Wars:  The Force Unleashed II, Dead Space 2, Juno Jr., Infamous 2, GI Joe, and Darksiders.  She has worked with musicians Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Boz Skaggs, Kim Carnes, and more.  A highlight, for me, was hearing how she has adapted as technology has changed.  One thing she says has not changed is her dedication to a strong work ethic and high quality.  As one of the most successful in her field and one of only a few women in the field, she is an inspiration to all.

The inaugural Lake FX Chicago was definitely a success.  I would have liked to attend “Protect Your Creative Content,” “Online Risks and Rewards:  What Your Business Can and Can’t Do Online,” and many others, but I could only attend one session at a time.  Next year!