Creative Entrepreneurship Academy 2020: Business Opportunities in Digital Culture

Online conference on Sept 22.-23

The CCI have been hit hard by the corona virus around the globe. However, after the first shock many of us have been using this crisis as a time for innovation and found some new ways to reach the audience and developed digital tools.

The Corona virus crisis has put CCIs under the pressure. All of a sudden theaters were closed, festivals didn´t happen, bands couldn´t have their performances, museums and art galleries couldn´t invite guests. How can you survive in a world like this?
The key word is adaptation and finding new ways to making money with your activities.
We invited Creative industres well-known expert from London, David Parrish OBE to explain what are the possible business models of culture to make money in digital environments and we will give you some good examples from Georgia and Estonia as well.
In fact, it was a happy coincidence that 2020 had been declared the year of digital culture in Estonia. Martin Aadamsoo, the leader of the theme year, talks about what the year contained and what culture has already won from it. Good examples will continue here.

September 22

NB! Georgian time! (GMT+4)

12.00-12.05 Lets start: Moderator Toomas Roolaid

12.05-12.15 Welcome. Eva Leemet, Gela Andrew Suli

12.15-13.00 Keynote: David Parrish – Creative Business models  in online environment

13.00- 13.15 Anzelika Reik  and Ketevan Buachidze
 to speak about her designers and how they are adapting to digital culture

13.15- 13.25 Pause, exercise

13.25-13.35  Mari Martin (Tallinn Dolls) 

13.35-13.45 Elene Toidze (Creative Georgia)

13.45-14-00  Discussion

September 23

NB!Georgian time! (GMT+4)

12.00-12.05 Moderator Toomas Roolaid opens the meeting

12.05- 12.45 Year of Digiculture – Martin Aadamsoo

12.45-12.55 David Tsiskaridze, Expert of Harmonization Digital Market (HDM) of EaP Civil Society Forum on Georgian digitalisation strategies

12.55- 13.20 Gigi Shukakidze, founder of Tbilisi Architecture Biennial (funded by Creative Europe) and organiser of start-up conference (similar to what Latitude 59) . Otar Nemsadze, a co-founder of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. 

13.20- 13.35 Ex: Digitalisation priority in Creative Europe, Kristiina Urb, 

13.35-14.00 Tiina Lokk, Head of A-class film festival PÖFF, Jaan Leppik, development manager.  Digital Filmfestival Pöff and Elisa Stage

About speakers

David Parrish 

CCI guru from London

David Parrish ( photo credit: Ukrainian Pravda.Culture)

Like many creative people, David used to think that business was a ‘dirty word’ and was likely to corrupt his good intentions to change the world for the better through his community projects and creative endeavours. However, through his direct experience of setting up and managing community and creative enterprises, he learnt that we can use business techniques for our own purposes. David inspires and helps creative people to adapt business methods to help them become more successful in a way that fits with their values and objectives. In other words, by combining our creative talent with smart business thinking, David says that we don’t have to be controlled by conventional business logic – we can be more in control of our own enterprises to achieve success in our own terms.

Martin Aadamsoo

Digital leader from Estonia

In recent years, Martin has worked in the world of film and startup from clerk to entrepreneur. He led efforts to establish the only international film school in Northern Europe, BFM, in Estonia and to build a new building on it. At the end of the zeros, he founded the Estonian Digital Center with like-minded people and launched the digital creative media incubator DIGIX for start-ups.
This year, Martin is leading the Estonian Year of Digital Culture project.

Mari Martin

CEO and founder of FashLab

Mari is a fashion designer and serial entrepreneur.
She has started and managed several companies in the field of fashion including fashion label Tallinn Dolls (the biggest designer brand in Estonia)
After 15 years of experience in classic manufacturing, e-commerce and fashion tech She is certain, that the industry needs to be rebuilt.
Now she fights for her industry.
Mari has been nominated as a best young entrepreneur of the year 2018 in Estonia. She is the winner of Creative Business Cup Estonia in 2017, alumni of British Fashion Council YCE11. Second runner up for business competition Ajujaht (ideas to change the world), alumni of SEB innovation program etc.

Kristiina Urb
Creative Europe Culture Estonia desk coordinator

Creative Europe sub-program Culture supports Europe’s artists and cultural practitioners and one of its priorities is also digitalization. Kristiina Urb is a Creative Europe Culture Estonia desk coordinator who consults potential applicants about the program.

Mikk Granström,

the Black Nights Film Festival CEO & Head of Just Film, joined PÖFF in 2007 as the festival manager of youth sub-festival Just Film. His main tasks are compiling the festival programme, leading the team, preparing and observing the festival budget. Since 2013, Mikk Granström is also a member of the board of directors of PÖFF 

Gigi Shukakidze

Gigi is the co-founder of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial.
Gigi completed his studies at the Georgian Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning. He lives and works in Tbilisi, where in 2013 opened his own architectural practice Wunderwerk, with a broad range of projects and an experimental-analytic direction. Since 2016 he is an invited independent expert for the Mies Award Prize.

Otar Nemsadze

Otar is a co-founder of the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. Oto holds an M.Arch degree from the Georgian Technical University and an M.Sc. in Urban Management and Development from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He is currently undertaking his PhD at Tbilisi State University, focusing on zoning regulations and land-based conflicts.

Elene Toidze

is an experienced policy professional with a demonstrated history of working in public policy. For the last five years, she has been actively involved in the development and implementation of strategic frameworks in the cultural and creative industries, firstly within the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Protection of Georgia – where she worked on the first ever Culture Strategy of Georgia, and now as a member of the Creative Georgia team. For kick-starting and developing creative industries endeavor in Georgia, she has initiated and managed different capacity building and research projects, actively contributing to developing organizational strategies, international and local partnerships, etc. While analyzing specific best practices in creative business development, she is working to shape models and schemes for fostering creative entrepreneurship in Georgia – introducing training modules, incubation programs, consulting services, etc. Through her strong research and analytical skills, international experience and by cooperating with local stakeholders, Elene works on establishing research mechanisms for the creative industries, tailoring policy measures to actual needs of the sector within the country. Elene Toidze owns an MA degree in Policy Analysis from Tbilisi State University. For her MA thesis, she conducted research on the reformation policy of the Georgian public sector and its compliance with New Public Management principles.

David Tsiskaridze

Expert of Harmonization Digital Market (HDM) of EaP Civil Society Forum

Mr. David Tsiskaridze(PhD in Energy and El engineering) is a chairman of International Business and Economic Development Center(IBEDC), one of the emerging BSO in Georgia, with ten years managing experience, responsible for overall management, decision making, strategic planning and coordination of the development projects. IBEDC is beneficiary of various International projects. David has reach consultancy working experience as an expert in the framework of International projects including EU International and Regional programs (EU Commission, ENPI and Black Sea CBC program) with 10 years of diversified experience. David is an expert in Harmonization of Digital Market (HDM) of EaP Civil Society Forum. Recently he elected as a coordinator of working group 2 (Economic Integration and convergence with EU policy) of Georgian National Platform of EaP CSF.