Sessions & Speakers

Making What's Radical Mainstream

Educating clients and colleagues to not only expect radical creativity but to embrace it is an ongoing pursuit at Loblaw. That’s why internal partners attend Cannes and spend each and every day in creative seminars and innovation sessions. This compelling keynote explains how to make radical thinking mainstream, how it works for leading brands, and how to encourage it on your team. We’ll hear why Loblaw Agency always offers at least one disruptive option, breaking the brief with breakthrough ideas that challenge convention and stimulate consumers. And how their clients have grown to accept radical creativity as the norm.

Jim Wortley, Executive Creative Director, Loblaws

Jim is a multidisciplinary creative director with an eye for strategy, innovation, and brand building. Having spent his career straddling external agencies in Europe and North America (Ogilvy, TBWA, Saatchi & Saatchi, and JWT to name a few) as well as in-house teams for Mackenzie Investments and IG, Jim currently leads Loblaw Agency—the internal agency for Loblaws in Canada. Though his skillset is broad, his expertise centers on interactive design, storytelling, brand identity, in-store signage, digital and experiential content creation, AI, and print/OOH. Jim’s wish is to combine his experience in all areas to deliver the most stand-out creative for his clients and consumers.

Amplifying Human Ingenuity with AI

If AI produces middle-of-the-road outputs that are broadly pleasing to the majority, can it also be useful to develop work that shocks, outrages, and excites? How might teams use AI to push creativity to new places? And what role might AI play in acts of creative progress that at first might be shocking or unpopular? In this Lightning Talk, we’ll hear how AI can be a net-enabler of radical acts of creativity— generating more fertile environments by giving teams access to a richer set of creative tools and by integrating AI into workflows to catalyze innovative thinking.

Paul Barnes-Hoggett, Co-Founder & CTO, Daylight

Paul builds technology that makes the world more equitable. A serial entrepreneur, his work focuses on innovation in the finance world to drive change. He launched the first trans-affirming checking account in the United States and put tens of millions of dollars into the pockets of hourly workers by expanding access to benefits. Previously, Paul was with the Technology + Experience Innovation team at Adobe where he reimagined what’s possible for clients like Nike, Verizon, and the World Economic Forum. Today, he is exploring AI’s potential as a force multiplier for good, bridging innovation and inclusion in product development.

The Art of Daydreaming

When was the last time you daydreamed at work? Audacious goals and aggressive timelines often mean we’re pressed to pay attention. Stay focused. Concentrate on the task at hand. Though some of the best ideas spring from minds that wander. How do we build and bolster corporate cultures where creativity rules? Where ideas conceived in the in-between spaces transcend the ordinary? We do it by embracing productive daydreaming. We empower our teams to be bold while also being intentional. We encourage minds to wander with purpose. And from there, we let the sparks fly.

Emily Koehler, Creative Director, Fortune Brands Innovations

Since joining Fortune Brands, the parent company for Moen and 19 other brands, Emily has played a pivotal role in building the company’s internal creative team, Creative X, from the ground up. Known for her passionate, future-forward leadership and team-first ethos, Emily fosters a curious, questioning approach to cross-disciplinary design and compelling brand content across Fortune Brands’ three core segments: water, outdoors and security. Previously, Emily was an art director with Findaway, the audiobook distributor acquired by Spotify in 2021.

Using Research to Drive Creativity

When you think of creativity and data, what comes to mind? Oil and water? For a lot of people, that’s true. Designers want to brainstorm without boundaries, and data is perceived as a restriction to that. Meanwhile, clients and account folks love connecting the dots—believing that meaningful insights lead to masterful ideas. This session reconciles all of that. Learn how to ask questions to fuel the creative process. See examples of creativity driven by consumer insights. And hear how research can drive ROI. At the end of the day, your creative teams and researchers just might be friends!

Katharine Kelly, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Inquisitive Insights

Katharine has been asking questions professionally for over 20 years. Her curiosity and storytelling skills have been put to use as a brand strategist, retail innovation leader, and strategic communicator for iconic brands including Target, Whole Foods, Dell, and King Arthur Baking Company. In 2021, Katharine co-founded Inquisitive Insights, a research-driven brand consultancy that partners with clients to explore customer preferences, attitudes, motivations, and buying behavior through consumer research.

Jodi McGee, Founder and Chief Insights Officer, Inquisitive Insights

Jodi is a lifelong learner with a passion for asking questions. Today, she channels her curiosity into helping brands understand what their stakeholders and customers think—as co-founder of Inquisitive Insights. Throughout her career, Jodi has used insights from qualitative research to build strategic plans, shape marketing and communications efforts, and guide senior leaders at growth companies.  With specialties in retail and hospitality, Inquisitive Insights helps brand leaders make better decisions.

PANEL: The Future of Image Creation with GenAI

This panel discussion offers a behind-the-scenes look at Deloitte’s QR Code Gallery, featuring images from famed AI artist and photographer, John Huet. Not only is this innovative art experience an example of the evolution of photography, it’s the ideal backdrop to explore new ways of working—agency, artist, and machine. Listen in as our three panelists candidly unpack the thinking and processes that brought the idea to life along with the myriad obstacles they surmounted along the way.

Mark Chamberlain, Group Creative Director, Deloitte Services LP

Prior to leading the experience design team at Deloitte, Mark joined the in-house ranks as an ECD at Boston University. Before that, he spent two decades with external advertising agencies including Saatchi Los Angeles, Mullen, and Digitas where he created integrated campaigns, social activations, and branded content for global brands like Toyota, Samsung, General Motors, Timberland Pro, Orbitz and Dunkin’. Mark’s work has been recognized at Cannes, One Show, Clios, Webbys, and London International Awards.

John Huet, GenAI Artist & Photographer, ELEMENT

John is a visionary photographer and AI artist known for blending human artistry with cutting-edge technology. With over 35 years of experience, he has captured the passion and intensity of athletes, creating iconic images for the Olympic Games and other major events. His work, including the acclaimed “Soul of the Game,” has been exhibited in prestigious galleries. With a unique vision that seamlessly integrates art and technology, John’s collaborations with AI bring futuristic themes to life, creating innovative, multi-platform campaigns.

Jillian Wanner, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

With over 15 years of financial services and public sector technology and data experience, Jillian’s expertise lies in delivering AI, innovation, product and analytics programs, data science, data delivery, and data modernization projects for government, public sector, and commercial clients. In addition to helping her clients solve their technology challenges, Jillian is passionate about mentoring women and under-represented minorities on the keys to successfully climbing the corporate ladder.

Micah Whitson, Associate Creative Director, Deloitte Services LP

Micah’s first commercial design was for Athens, Alabama's 1995 homecoming dance. Since then, he's been tapped as an art director, creative director, and chief creative officer, founded a letterpress print company, co-founded a brewery, and redesigned the Mississippi flag. His work has been awarded by The One Show, D&AD, Cannes, MITX, Communication Arts, Print, How and Graphis. Suffering from recent adult-onset athleticism, Micah podiumed in sprint and Olympic triathlons, finished a half Ironman, and is chasing a BQ. All of the races have better shirts than the homecoming dance.

Harnessing Workflow to Unleash Creativity

Does your creative team have time to be creative? Or are meetings, chats, and emails holding them back? Communication overload is often a function of poor workflow. It’s hard to get projects off the ground, to see who has capacity, and to know how best to prioritize. The good news is that the team at JLL tamed these issues, for an environment that encourages creativity and enables measurable results for medium-to-large teams. Designing a simple system of intake, tiering, resourcing, and review will not only save your team time, it will clear the headspace for them to be able to double down on creativity.

Joel Caracci, Associate Director of Creative Operations, JLL

Joel launched his creative operations career in an unconventional way, with a degree in jazz composition and performance. Writing hundreds of pieces for ensembles ranging from trios to orchestras helped him understand how to form frameworks that strike a balance between process efficiency and creative freedom. With 15 years of experience in companies like JLL, RR Donnelley, Life Fitness, and Wolters Kluwer, his mission is to make creatives’ work lives a little easier and a little more fun. In his free time, you’ll hear Joel plinking away at the piano and enjoying the many cultural and culinary gems of his home in Chicago.

Check back for additional session & speaker details soon. To register for our event, click here.