The One Club Expands Creative Week Into Monthlong Streaming Event

The nonprofit has expanded the annual summit and awards ceremony, which normally occurs in New York in May, into a monthlong streaming event running May 4-29. Living on the One Club’s website and social channels, the event will offer daily content sessions from more than 60 creatives in a variety of video formats.

“In light of how the pandemic has hurt the industry, we’ve doubled down on upholding our nonprofit mission to support the creative community,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, the One Club. “This year more than ever, it’s critical that we provide the platform to inspire the creative community and give recognition to those who have done the best work in the world.”

The launch of Creative Month comes just as the One Club has appointed Bob Isherwood head of professional development programming. Isherwood, former worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, worked with Swanepoel and the organization’s board of directors to develop programming aligned with One Club’s four pillars: education, gender equality, inclusion and diversity and professional development.

Programming will range from 5- to 8-minute prerecorded talks to longer live panels and Instagram takeovers. Sessions announced so far include “Pivot: Reinvention and How to Pivot Your Business” by Kerstin Emhoff, co-founder and EP of Prettybird; “Live Events Will Return. But Will Fans?” by Omid Farhang, CCO, Momentum Worldwide; “How to Build a Cultural Movement” by CultureCon founder Imani Ellis and “Unapologetic: How BET Became Queer AF,” a live discussion by Ryan Sides, director of social media, ViacomCBS, Marcus Henderson, post-production operations manager, ViacomCBS and Empress Varnado, founder, Empress Agency.

Other participating creatives include Alex Bodman, global ECD, Spotify; Chaka Sobhani, CCO, Leo Burnett London; Tiffany Rolfe, US CCO, R/GA and Matt Eastwood, global CCO, McCann.

Additionally, the One Club has taken an inventive approach to announce the winners of its ADC 99th Annual Awards during Creative Month. From May 18-22, the organization will announce winners across 20 disciplines through live chats on Instagram Stories. Swanepoel said winners will be interviewed by awards jury members, where they will discuss their creative processes and inspirations.

The One Club’s decision to expand Creative Week has naturally made the event, normally exclusive to New York, globally accessible. After sessions are released live, they will be archived on the organization’s website.

The Creative Month announcement comes after the One Club released a virtual platform in early April where students can have their portfolios critiqued by top creative directors and marketing execs, as an alternative to the nonprofit’s annual Young Ones Student Portfolio Review.

Swanepoel said the organization is also developing an online format for the One Show, its annual advertising and design awards event, to debut mid-June. The One Show switched from in-person to online judging for the event in early March.