Twice a year, we hold a flagship event—a day and a half of workshops, keynotes, and networking for e-commerce content professionals. It’s a bit ironic that the theme of FLOW: North America was Standing Out From The Crowd. There’s no place where you can feel more a part of the crowd and the overwhelming sense of community than at FLOW.
The irony continues because if we are all sitting in the same room learning the same thing, aren’t we all going to end up doing the same thing? Again, the beauty of FLOW reveals itself because of the people who attend. Everyone in our creative industry will find their unique way to implement what they learned at FLOW.
And did we ever learn! Day one of FLOW is all about workshops, well, and one opening speech from Thomas Ladefoged. He set the scene for the coming day and a half, firing up the crowd to be curious and use the time at FLOW to explore how to manage this new chapter of digitalization. I can’t speak to all the workshops as I can only be in so many places at once. Unfortunately, I had to miss Post-Production from my colleagues at Pixelz and Creative Operations Unlocked from Clair Carter-Gin and Thomas Stilling. There were also workshops on leadership from Julie Linz (a FLOW staple), video from Frankie Cavalcanti, and career growth from Emily Morris. And Creative Force brought their Creative Jam to New York. While I didn’t get to sit in any of these workshops, I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from those who did attend.
I spent the day in Track 1, starting with Capture One’s workshop. I joked that soon I might be ready for a new career; it felt like I earned a full education in Capture One (thanks, David Grover!). After I almost got us all locked in the workshop room, next up was Pixelz. Kevin Boutwell deep-dived into Pixelz in the cinema and managed to outshine the bags of candy everyone received. And we wrapped with Profoto’s workshop, led by photographer Ava Pivot. It was easily the most visually beautiful workshop, and I could’ve listened to Ava describe her working process for another hour.
And then, on to day two, we went! As a team, we had talked about this being the most female-powered line-up ever, but on the day, seeing woman after woman walk up on stage for keynote sessions was a new level of powerful. Perrie Schad was sure to drive home the point when she said she doesn’t just bring a seat to the table, “I bring the table”. I don’t know if it’s just my memory,, but I’m certain there was a raucous round of clapping. The moments of levity and personality are always my favorite part of every keynote. It humanizes the person up on stage, so thank you to our speakers for giving it their all and bringing themselves to the stage.
Throughout the day, we really ran the spectrum of content, from loads of talk about AI, in particular AI models, to UGC.
What I think is so important is understanding what it was like to be in that room for 2 days. FLOW has been going strong for five years, and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it for four. This year, there was a noticeable shift in the AI conversation. The cautious tones of the past, filled with caveats like “this won’t replace your job or human creativity,” seemed to fade away. The focus is on moving forward with rapid-fire sessions at FLOW that showed actual use cases of generative AI. Bimi Ibok and Jakob Østerby focused on AI models, while Johan Santos showed how AI can help in different ways throughout planning and everyday tasks.
I wasn’t able to attend the ‘Let’s Talk AI’ breakout session (it was packed to the rafters, I heard), but I talked to a few about it, and they all said that the conversation turned into how we ensure we are the decision-makers shaping how AI is used. It sounds like the breakout session fanned the flames, and I look forward to seeing what comes out of that session.
All that AI talk was sandwiched between talks from Carrie Crow at the start and Erin Corbett coming towards the end of the day. They both touched upon the power of storytelling, authenticity, and emotional connection. Erin definitely made me feel things like old. I’m just a millennial here who didn’t realize that Pinterest was popular, let alone that about half of Pinterest’s monthly users are Gen Z. Besides feeling old, Carrie reminded me of the importance of telling stories that mean something to me. That by being specific you can speak to people universally.
Doreen Pierre’s keynote on UGC was a personal highlight, as Doreen broke down how Kirrin Finch utilizes UGC across marketing channels. I’ve been on my own deep dive into UGC lately, particularly exploring how studio professionals can play a role. During happy hour, I ended up interviewing a few attendees about this…
On a personal note, there’s nothing I love more than being part of this community. I learned about your favorite fish, your love of Brooklyn, and the stories behind your tattoos. Don’t worry; I also had plenty of conversations about the industry, too. But that’s what FLOW is to me: people who are just as invested in the work as they are in the people around them.
If you’re wondering who I am, I’m Pamela. At FLOW, you’ll find me at the check-in desk, hosting the pub quiz, or tucked away in the back, taking notes. Speaking of notes, I’ll leave you with a few of my favorites straight from my notebook. No context, just the words that stuck with me:
- “Creativity will prevail.” - Erin
- “Become a resource, not a request.” - Perrie
- “If you don’t love Rihanna, you can go.” - Doreen
- “How do we get there? Keeping the customer at the center.” - Bimi
- “Learn to love the totality of the process” - Carrie
Until next time!