What's Happening?
Create & Cultivate, known for its events for women in business, has evolved its annual conference into a large-scale festival. This year's event in Los Angeles, dubbed 'The World’s Largest Festival for Women in Business,' adopts a campus-style format
across multiple venues, stages, gardens, compounds, and lounges. The shift aims to create a more immersive experience, blending education with entertainment, networking, mentorship, wellness, and brand activations. Jaclyn Johnson, Founder, and Marina Middleton, CEO of Create & Cultivate, explained that the vision was to reflect how ambitious women live and work today, where business, creativity, culture, and community are interconnected. The festival features a diverse lineup of speakers, including Emma Grede, Alix Earle, Cardi B, Lori Harvey, Jen Atkin, and Halle Berry. A new addition this year is the 'Creator Compound,' a dedicated space for creators to learn about building sustainable businesses, strengthening audience relationships, and understanding ownership and monetization.
Why It's Important?
This transformation signifies a broader trend in experiential marketing and community building, moving beyond traditional conference formats to offer more dynamic and engaging experiences. For the U.S. business landscape, particularly for women entrepreneurs and creators, this approach provides enhanced opportunities for networking, skill development, and brand discovery in a less formal setting. The emphasis on a 'Creator Compound' highlights the growing recognition of creators as founders, media companies, and cultural decision-makers, underscoring the increasing professionalization and economic impact of the creator economy. By fostering an environment where established executives, emerging founders, and creators can interact, Create & Cultivate aims to facilitate valuable connections and knowledge exchange, potentially leading to new collaborations and business ventures. This model could influence how other industry events are structured, prioritizing holistic experiences that cater to the multifaceted lives of modern professionals.
What's Next?
The success of Create & Cultivate's festival model could set a precedent for future business and professional development events, encouraging a shift towards more experiential and community-focused formats. The organization plans to continue evolving with its community, leveraging technology and AI for personalized programming and networking, such as their data-driven, AI-powered matchmaking program, CONNECT. This suggests a future where events are not isolated occurrences but integral parts of year-round community engagement. The focus on providing tangible value, fostering genuine connections, and adapting to the changing needs of its audience will be crucial for Create & Cultivate to maintain its relevance and impact. Future events are likely to further integrate elements that allow for deeper participation and personalized experiences, moving beyond simply delivering information to creating access, belonging, discovery, and relationships.
Beyond the Headlines
The evolution of Create & Cultivate into a festival-like experience reflects a deeper cultural shift in how professionals, especially women, seek to engage with their careers and communities. It challenges the traditional, often rigid, structures of business events by integrating elements of lifestyle, wellness, and entertainment, acknowledging that professional growth is intertwined with personal well-being and cultural relevance. This approach also underscores the increasing importance of authenticity and shared experience in building trust and loyalty within a community. By creating spaces like the 'Creator Compound,' the event recognizes the burgeoning creator economy not just as a marketing channel but as a significant economic force deserving of its own ecosystem for growth and development. This model could inspire other sectors to rethink how they foster professional communities, moving towards more inclusive, dynamic, and human-centered approaches that resonate with a diverse and evolving workforce.
