The New Face of Creative St. Pete
St. Petersburg, FL, June 7, 2007 – St. Pete finally has its own creative forum: the St. Pete Creative Network. Collaborating with USF St Pete, The Poynter Institute and other local organizations, the newly formed group will create a space where St. Pete creative professionals can talk, share and be inspired.
Active for just two weeks, the network is already 26 members strong and quickly growing. Members like David Scott are eager to meet colleagues and bring more fun into the business of creativity.
President of design firm Cosmic International, Scott sees the network as a vehicle for putting fun back into the design business. “Many graphic design professional get so wrapped up in running a business that they forget why they got into the field in the first place,” he says. “I see fun, play and self-expression as missing from the creative community. If we could add those back it would make a difference in our professional lives and for the people we impact on a daily basis.”
Started as a MeetUp.com group, the network can be found online atwww.graphicdesign.meetup.com/491. By mid-June it will move to its permanent home atwww.StPeteCreative.com. Its first meeting will be held on Thursday, June 14, 7pm, at Café Bohemia on Central Avenue. Anyone interested in the group is encouraged to attend.
Ginger Reichl, President of Pinstripe Marketing and former President of Ad2 Tampa Bay, is excited about the network. “Personally, I enjoy meeting creative people. Professionally, it’s important that we have access to the best talent so we can continue to provide our clients with great work. Through groups like the St. Pete Creative Network we meet new suppliers and potential employees and have a forum to bounce around ideas.”
Reichl sees a real need for the network. When asked what’s missing from the St. Pete creative community she answers, “A voice. St. Petersburg is a great city for the arts, but most of the attention is on fine arts. I believe we can leverage that reputation to benefit the commercial art industry. Organizations like CreativeTampaBay have made tremendous progress with creating buzz around the ‘creative class’ concept, and I think the St. Pete Creative Network will be a good platform for grassroots action and to create our voice.”
Joani Spadaro, President of the American Institute of Graphics Arts (AIGA) in Tampa Bay and Director of the Graphic Design Program at USF St. Petersburg sees the network as a lively connector between professionals, students and the business community. “I want to see the St. Pete Creative Network open a dialogue with other professional organizations such as AIGA Tampa Bay, The Art Center and USF St. Pete to construct an environment of ideas and events that will spotlight the vibrant St. Petersburg creative community.”
Expanding on this view, group founder Justin Elza, also creative director for local marketing firm J Allan Studios, says, “St. Pete has really come into its own over the past few years as both a creative center and exciting community. We felt it was time to establish a distinct creative space for St Pete, one that was more than just an extension of the Tampa scene. We want to foster communication, provide educational opportunities, interact with the community and have fun in the process. My long-term vision for the network is to help put St Pete on the map as the creative capital of Florida.”
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CONTACT INFORMATION:
Justin Elza, Creative Director – jelza@jallanstudios.com
Mandy Minor, Publicity Manager – mminor@jallanstudios.com
J Allan Studios
(727) 822-2526
http://www.jallanstudios.com/
