supercharge your creative thinking
In today’s world, the ability to think creatively and solve real problems is one of your biggest competitive advantages. Creativity isn’t a rare talent. It’s a skill anyone can build by asking better questions, challenging assumptions, thinking differently about problems and being unapologetically curious.
In this talk, led by our Learning Partner, Matt Bolton-Alarcón of Special Sauce Training, we explore how to build creative confidence, generate better ideas and solve problems more effectively. Matt works with teams at some of the world’s leading organisations, including Google, helping them develop their creative problem-solving skills.
He was joined by the brilliant Emma Gardner, Executive Design Director at Identity, for a session that includes a practical workshop, panel discussion, Q&A and plenty of inspiration.
Helping unpack this session’s theme were our expert panel: PJ Bailey, Senior Events Manager, Events & Experiences, EMEA at Google, Kate O’Connor, Strategic Creative Director at Identity and Trini-Maria Katakwe, Spatial Designer and Cultural Strategist.
Expect practical tools, fresh thinking and plenty of creative energy.
What you'll learn from Matt and Emma's talk:
Why creativity is a skill anyone can build, not a talent reserved for a select few
Asking “What could we do?” before “What should we do?” can lead to better decisions
How to challenge rules, assumptions and familiar ways of working to unlock new ideas
Why curiosity, diverse perspectives and lived experience make creative thinking stronger
How to turn ideas into more meaningful solutions by focusing on the audience, the feeling and the outcome
How to use AI as a creative partner without outsourcing your judgement, originality or voice
Listen to Matt and Emma’s session on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or YouTube
This podcast was recorded at White Rabbit Studios in Shoreditch with a live audience.
Our sound and mix engineer is Matteo Magariello and our producer is Peter Kerwood.
About Elevate
Elevate is a pioneering free mentoring programme that has been designed with a specific goal in mind – to inspire, inform and empower people within the event industry.
Elevate operates thanks to the generosity of our global headline partners; Amplify, Seed and Wonder.
Our global partners are Cvent, Identity, First, Illusion, Inconf, Powwow, PSP and The Production Department. Our partners are ASEMBL Group, CastleBell, Curious Nation, Jimmy Garcia Catering, Event Decision, Hel’s, We Are Collider, Seen Presents, 2LK, TRO, Live Union and The Training Department. Our venue partner is White Rabbit Studios, our training partner is Special Sauce Training and our people and culture partners are TIMES x10 and Nic Neal.
Together, we’re changing lives, careers and the events industry for the better.