Empowering and engaging
Create Lynchburg conference offers workshops and discussions for creatives
WORKSHOP — The conference offered multiple workshops, discussions and presentations.
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The Lynchburg Academy Center of the Arts teamed up with the city’s Office of Economic Development and the Small Business Development Center to host the first Create Lynchburg Conference Jan. 27 – 28.
The event provided workshops, panel discussions and speakers for those interested in learning more about arts and entrepreneurship, according to the official Academy of the Arts website.
Executive Director of the Academy Center of the Arts Geoffrey Kershner believes this event will produce individuals who are able to impact the community.
“The main goal is to empower our community’s creatives,” Kershner said.
“A strong creative class leads to economic development and will make our city a stronger and more vibrant place to live.”
Some of the sessions offered included “Intellectual Property,” “Beyond Facebook,” “Launching Food” and “Promotion and Branding in Music and Performance.”
In a press release, the academy said these sessions involved presentations and discussions that will help participants learn useful strategies for marketing their products.
Kershner said the idea for this event derived from some free marketing and business workshops for artists that were held at the academy.
“The workshops were (extraordinarily) popular, and we discovered there was a need we could provide support for,” Kershner said.
“This is our first year, but our desire is for it to be an annual tradition.”
Speakers for the event included artists, legal experts, entrepreneurs and other art professionals, according to the official website for the event.
The official press release for the academy said Frankie Alvarez, an actor on HBO’s “Looking,” was at the event for a screening of the film and an opportunity to engage with participants.
Kershner believes this event will only be the beginning of the impact that will be made on the Lynchburg community.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to bring our area creatives together to share in this experience,” Kershner said.
“This will lead to more exciting collaborations and will hopefully lead to more organic gatherings in the future.”
He also believes this event can lead to a more permanent impact on the economy of the community.
“The more arts and culture our community produces and the more people it reaches, the more direct and indirect jobs we will see,” Kershner said.
Kershner has high hopes for the first year of the event and looks forward to the future and how the community will grow.
“We hope that our creatives will take these tools and use them to make our community an even more exciting and engaging place to live,” Kershner said.