The Two Lucy’s and LTQ were on the ground representing Ebow at this years DLC, here’s what they thought…
One:
The theme of ‘creative courage’ – the world is a scary place right now and this theme hit the nail on the head, and the speakers delivered.
Two:
Julie Oxberry’s presentation – she couldn’t make it in person but her talk was undoubtedly one of the best, even pre-recorded. We love to see adaptability and flexibility to last-minute circumstances. Household’s client base is jaw-droppingly impressive. Her passion for creativity, bravery and having great people on her team practically glowed from her. She spoke about how they aim to build fans over customers, and safe to say we left as firm fans of her.
Three:
Three of the speakers included the below image: completely unplanned. It was used to address various questions about design, technology and how the new leadership in the US will impact the rest of the world. We could say a lot about this, but we also think the image speaks for itself. *Nervous laughter*
Four:
Gerry Clarke from Loci Orthopaedics. Learning about innovation in thumb prosthetics was unexpected but fascinating. We loved how he acknowledged that he doesn’t usually do the presenting for the company and that it was out of his comfort zone. We are big fans of honesty in action. Seeing how the design is changing lives and the significant funding behind it was so uplifting.
Five:
Mike Schnaidt from Fast Company. If you want to know how to give a presentation, this man could have done it in his sleep. We’ve never seen anyone so comfortable presenting, it was so impressive. He gave an insightful and colourful presentation on his biggest learnings in work life while promoting creativity and resilience. He also wasn’t remotely braggy despite being absolutely top-class in his field and a marathon runner. We didn’t manage to get his marathon time from him though – next time!
Six:
The theme of trust was abundant in every talk. Trust your employees, trust your creative team and know when you need to step in and when you need to pull back. Invaluable advice.
Seven:
Orlagh O’Reilly Pepsi Co’s Global Design Director. We often fear failure and try to avoid it but it is essential for growth. Her iPad stopped working towards the end of her talk while talking about failure and mistakes, but it worked perfectly to demonstrate what she was talking about. We held our breath but she recovered like an absolute pro. No notes.
Eight:
The climate change talk from Professor Jennie Stevens. A talk that managed to inform and slightly terrify, but ended on a hopeful note without preaching any sense of existential dread. A hard task to accomplish, but it was brilliant.
Nine:
The Q&A format. It was great to involve the audience, especially with talks going on for the whole day. It felt collaborative and fun and we left feeling inspired about 2025.
Ten:
The venue. A conference in a cinema (The Light House Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin) is different, refreshing and just downright cool. Plus the seats were really comfortable. It’s the little things.
ELEVEN!
All of the food. We were lucky enough to get breakfast, lunch, snacks and free wine and beer at the end. Brain work takes fueling. All conferences should be like this.
We are already looking forward to next year – Thanks for having us DLC.
KISSES.