Unexpected Connections 2018
Unexpected Connections 2018
Long Beach, CA— On Wednesday, November 7, 2018 from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Imprint Culture Lab and MAEKAN will hold its first joint conference, Unexpected Connections, which will host distinguished leaders from the creative world.
Imprint Culture Lab is a Long Beach based incubator that was founded to investigate global creative culture and foster cross-pollination between business and creative entities. Every year, through a series of talks and workshops, Imprint Culture Lab has built a wide nexus of thinkers, doers, and makers poised to initiate cultural vectors.
MAEKAN is an audio-visual platform that focus is on creative culture. Their content focuses on fashion, art, design, tech, music, food and beyond.
This special occasion brings together some of the most creative leaders across many disciplines to discuss global creative culture for the one day conference. Each speaker will be paired with an unlikely partner for a 45 minute panel discussion. Speakers this year include:
- Julia Huang, CEO of Intertrend Communications/Imprint Venture Lab
- Eugene Kan, Co-Founder of MAEKAN
- John C. Jay, President of Global Creative at Fast Retailing/Uniqlo
- David Choe, Artist
- Kenya Hara, Art Director of Muji & President of Nippon Design Center
- Jeff Staple, Founder of Staple Design
- Jennifer Ferro, President of KCRW
- Jason Mayden, CEO of Super Heroic
- Karen Okonkwo, Co-Founder of TONL
- Jun Cha, Tattoo Artist
- Lindsay Jang, Co-Founder of Yardbird & Missbish
- Madeleine Brand, Broadcast Journalist for KCRW
- Helen Zia, Journalist/Activist
- Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder of AirBnB
- Niklas Lilja, Race Car Driver*
- Christian Von Koenigsegg, Founder & CEO of Koenigsegg Automotive*
- Shepard Fairey, Artist/Activist*
- John Maeda, Global Head, Computational Design and Inclusion at Automattic**
* Awaiting confirmation
** Special cameo appearance
“More than a decade ago, Imprint Culture Lab had an idea of putting luminaries around the world in one room to share their experiences. This simple idea sparked conversations among pioneers, deities, gurus and mavericks spanning industries, which then led to amazing friendships, collaborations and business ventures,” said Julia Huang, CEO of Intertrend Communications and Imprint Venture Lab.
“Together with our partner MAEKAN this eleventh year, we are excited to bring back several alumni along with other industry game changers. This will not be a cookie-cutter talking heads event. Unexpected Conversation is all but guaranteed.”
Tickets can be purchased at https://unexpectedconnectionsevent.com/tickets/.
General admission early bird tickets are $75 and special event tickets are $100 which will include a limited edition James Jean print . The event will be held at Long Beach Convention Centers Beverly O’Neill Theatre (300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802).
Media Contact: Tokotah Ashcraft
602-327-1928
[email protected]
Thank you to our sponsors: Intertrend Communications (presenting partner), CVB, Killspencer, Media Sponsors: KCRW.