Get three extra hours of nitty-gritty information on everything from Flash™ to creativity in a HOW Conference workshop—this is hard-core information you'll be able to use before you even get home! The workshops require an additional fee ($175 for full-Conference attendees and $325 a la carte). Sign up for the combo offer to get two pre-Conference workshops plus full-Conference registration at a deep discount.

Morning Workshops
A Splash of Flash
Caffeine for the Creative Team: Turning Brainstorming into Brainsqualling
Change the Way You Think About Type
Design Process Improvement Workshop
 

Afternoon Workshops
Chaos to Clarity: Creating Your One-Page Business Plan
Making Money Count and Value Real: Charge-Back Systems with a Twist
Photographing People, Places and Things Workshop
The Russell Brown Show: Photoshop Tips & Techniques

A Splash of Flash
Sunday, June 6
9:00 am - NOON
If you’ve put off learning Flash, or just aren’t sure how to incorporate it into your own design style, this workshop is for you—you’ll learn how to use Flash as a powerful tool for delivering your message in a variety of engaging methods.

Flash expert Chris Converse will show you the ins and outs of the program, with specific techniques for moving your Photoshop and Illustrator files into Flash and animating them. You’ll:

• see what the Adobe Media Encoder does and how you can quickly incorporate video into your Flash files
• get an introduction to ActionScript 3.0
• explore examples of what seasoned Flash designers are doing with small amounts of code
• learn which files are associated with Flash (and how they relate to a web page)
• find out how to incorporate and control video in Flash

Caffeine for the Creative Team: Turning Brainstorming into Brainsqualling
Sunday, June 6
9:00 am - NOON
How do the most creative teams in the country get the inspiration to pump out great idea after great idea? How do they fuse a group of individuals into a free-flowing concept machine? Find out as Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield explore the best practices and brainstorming processes used by top creative firms. You’ll learn why traditional brainstorming is ineffective, and why Stefan and Wendy advocate “brainsqualling” instead. You’ll put these new theories into practice with plenty of team-centric activities designed to help your group improve the quality and quantity of its ideas.

Change the Way You Think About Type
Sunday, June 6
9:00 am - NOON
Typography is one of the most important aspects of visual communication—it affects how and what you read, and even how you think about what you read. But many graphic designers have difficulty using type effectively.

In this workshop, type expert Shelley Gruendler will not only help you brush up on the basics, she’ll provide historical perspective on type, discuss recent technological advances and provide cool tricks of the trade to help you keep your work fresh. You’ll walk away with a renewed respect for typography, and a new way to approach your next project.

Design Process Improvement Workshop
Sunday, June 6
9:00 am - NOON
There are many ways for a project to go wrong, and it’s easy to start pointing fingers at your teammates. But the underlying problem is usually a poor process. Fortunately, that’s something marketing and branding veteran Dave Holston can help you remedy.

Using his six-step design process, your team will find ways to work more efficiently and effectively. You’ll learn to meld your own business operations with the needs of your clients—which in turn will help you increase customer satisfaction, identify and correct areas of frustration, and address problems with staff and structure in constructive ways.

Chaos to Clarity: Creating Your One-Page Business Plan
Sunday, June 6
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or lead a creative team, a smart business plan is a highly effective tool for every creative professional. A clear, concise plan serves as a road map, helping you stay focused, check milestones, reach goals and evaluate success.

In this workshop, life/business coach RaShelle Roberts will teach you how to construct a focused, one-page business plan. This new plan will provide clarity of purpose, allow you to define the objectives that guide your career/business, help you translate your vision into actionable marketing efforts and more. You’ll even learn how to build milestones into your plan so you’ll have a practical method for measuring and evaluating success.

Making Money Count and Value Real: Charge-Back Systems with a Twist
Sunday, June 6
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Businesses everywhere are looking for ways to maximize profit and cut expenses. That means it’s more important than ever that your in-house creative team adds to the company’s bottom line. One way to prove your team’s value in dollars and cents is to institute a charge-back system.

Jeni Herberger will show you how to set up a painless system (in which no money changes hands) that will help you establish your team’s value. She’ll walk you through the entire process, and explain what you can expect in terms of quantifying and qualifying your value.

Photographing People, Places and Things Workshop
Sunday, June 6
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Step up your photography skills and learn how to make the most of whatever photography equipment you own with instruction from Photo Idea Index author Jim Krause. You’ll use your digital camera to take part in a series of hands-on exercises designed to be both instructive and fun. Jim will share tips, photos and from-the-field anecdotes to help you achieve the kind of communicative and visually appealing photos you need for design and advertising projects. You’ll gain:

• increased confidence in your ability to record effective and attractive photos
• a much-broadened definition of what counts as a photo opportunity
• new tricks and tactics for your picture-taking tool belt

The Russell Brown Show: Photoshop Tips & Techniques
Sunday, June 6
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Discover the latest Adobe Photoshop™ tips and techniques, delivered by Photoshop master Russell Brown. He’ll share a wide range of information, from classic tutorials to explorations of special features. You’ll learn new ways to work with Adobe Camera RAW, how to master real-world masking techniques, and get tips for using Photoshop’s new features to enhance your creativity. Perfect for Photoshop users of all skill levels.