Creativity Summit Speaker

David was invited to be a Creativity Summit speaker, to talk about “Creativity in the Studio – and in the Business Office”.

The theme of the Creativity Summit was “Increase your productivity and profits without compromising your creative flow”.

The Creativity Summit was broadcast from Australia and streamed on 22-24 May.

Creativity Summit speaker David Parrish

In the Creative Summit, David spoke about:
• the true definitions of creativity
• how creativity can save your business
• business strategies to turn your creative flow into cashflow
• practical tools to increase productivity without compromising your creativity

David Parrish Creativity Summit keynote speaker

David works world-wide as a keynote speaker, business adviser, trainer and author. He is a specialist in creative business, entrepreneurship, creativity and the creative industries.

For the Creativity Summit, David’s key points as a Creativity Summit speaker were:

1. Creativity Defined (in two ways)
There is artistic creativity (“a-Creativity”) and a broader kind of creativity (“i-Creativity”) we can call ingenuity, lateral thinking or problem-solving. So the word ‘creativity’ is not just about being artistic, but about thinking differently, in all fields of human endeavour, including in business.
David’s keynote speech at TEDx Napoli was about “a-Creativity : i-Creativity”. A video of his TEDx Talk, the text of his speech and a downloadable PDF article are online as ‘Creativity: there’s a-Creativity and i-Creativity’.

2. Creativity in the Studio – and in the Business Office
Artistically creative people working in the creative industries are amazingly creative in their studios – working on animations, architecture, music, film, design, fashion, performing arts, crafts, advertising, etc. However, when it comes to doing the business side of things, they are often much less creative, indeed unimaginative and conservative. Raising finance, negotiating deals, protecting and licensing intellectual property, leading people, marketing and even devising organisational structures – these can all be done in a creative way. We can use a-Creativity in the studio and apply i-Creativity in the business office. We can achieve greater success by being creative in the way we do business.
There are many examples of creative entrepreneurs doing business in imaginative ways in the highly-acclaimed books ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’ and ‘Chase One Rabbit: Strategic Marketing for Business Success’. There are additional creative business examples in the ‘Ideas in Action’ section of this website, featuring creative entrepreneurs from Brazil, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Vietnam and elsewhere.

3. How to Increase Profits, without Selling Out
Creative enterprises can become even more successful, creatively and commercially, by combining their creative talents with smart business thinking. This is the combination described as “T-Shirts and Suits”.
You can Create Your Own Business Formula, as set out in this article. This combines your creative talents, plus your values and objectives, with a smart business approach. It takes into account your uniqueness, your special talents: your competitive advantage. It also involves selecting the best customers – dealing only with those who value your creative offering and are prepared to pay a proper price for it.
We only have to consider “selling out” if we are dealing with the wrong type of customer. On the other hand, if we deal with the right customers, those who ‘get it’, we can be true to ourselves. David describes this Authentic Marketing in his marketing book and video.


Creativity Summit speaker David Parrish

Special Offers for Creativity Summit participants

Creativity Summit speaker David Parrish has made these special offers available for Creativity Summit participants:

1. Free Resources online
Free eBook, articles, guides and other free resources for creative entrepreneurs are online here.

2. Signed paperback books with personalised dedication
Signed copies of BOTH of David’s books, with a personalised dedication, delivered anywhere in the world.
Special offer price of 60AUD (45USD, 35GBP, 42Euros). Normal price is 77AUD.
Any ONE copy of David’s books, with a personalised dedication, delivered anywhere in the world.
Special offer price of 40AUD (30USD, 24GBP, 28Euros). Normal price is 51AUD.
To place an order, follow instructions on this page and quote discount code “CREATIVITYSUMMIT” in your order.

3. Private business advice meeting
A 90-minute private and confidential professional consultation with David, to give advice about your creative business. This can be online (Skype for example) if a personal meeting is not convenient. Special offer price: 250AUD (190USD, 145GBP, 175Euros). Contact David directly to arrange the meeting.


Creativity Summit. David Parrish


Books and other publications for Creativity Summit participants and other creative entrepreneurs

Creative businesses who want to successfully combine their creativity with commercial success are inspired and informed by these creative industries publications. David’s books, articles and other creative industries publications have been republished in many translations world-wide.

Creativity Summit speaker David Parrish is author of two creative business books and a number of articles, toolkits, training workshop materials and business guides for business owners in the creative, digital and cultural industries.

These include the highly-acclaimed books ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’ and ‘Chase One Rabbit: Strategic Marketing for Business Success’.

“David writes about creative business better than anyone I know.”
Wayne Morris. The Creative Edge. New Zealand.
read more testimonials

David’s books and other works can be licensed for re-publication in English or in translations.

Below are listed some creative business books and other publications written by David Parrish, specifically for design, media, technology and other businesses.

T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity
Paperback book, Audiobook, free PDF document and free text-only eBook (more info>>)
Also published in translations in nine countries: Belarus, Chile, China, Colombia, Lithuania, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.

Chase One Rabbit: Strategic Marketing for Business Success
63 tips, techniques and tales for creative entrepreneurs (more info>>)
Designed as an eBook for phones, tablets, and laptops. Also available in paperback and as an Audiobook.
Published in English in the UK. Also published in Spanish and French.

Designing Your Creative Business (DYCB™)
A Toolkit for Creative Entrepreneurs.
A practical strategic planning guide for businesses at all stages of development. Used in David’s business development strategy workshops world-wide. This has been translated into Spanish for use in workshops in Spain.

Create Your Own Business Formula
This article was first published as a chapter entitled ‘Making a Business Plan’ in the book ‘Read This First: Growth and Development of Creative SMEs’.
Available for free download in several languages, including English, Spanish, Romanian, German, Portuguese, French, Ukrainian, Indonesian, Azerbaijani, Thai and Belarusian (so far!).

Creative, Cultural and Digital Industries Guide
Written for Business Link in the UK.
Available for free download in PDF format.
This Guide can be adapted for publication in other countries in partnership with creative industries support agencies, using local case studies. Ideal as a publicity tool for business support agencies.

Ideas in Action Articles
Several articles featuring creative entrepreneurs world-wide who combine their creative passion with smart business thinking. Examples of creative entrepreneurship in Vietnam, Jamaica, Colombia, Hong Kong, Holland, South Africa and the UK.

Blog posts
See the full list of posts on David’s blog.


Creativity Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Creativity in Business

David is an experienced international Creativity Consultant specialising in Creativity and Business. His creativity consultancy projects and creativity workshops draw on his own experience as an entrepreneur, his academic research and his work as a creative business consultant with enterprises world-wide.

He is an international keynote speaker on the subject of “How to Profit from Creativity in Business” and delivers in-house training workshops on ‘Creativity for Innovation and Profit’.

Creative Business Solutions

Creativity Summit speaker David Parrish helps businesses find creative solutions to marketing and business growth by combining creativity and business. He brings international experience of creativity to help clients find innovative, imaginative and ingenious solutions by using both ‘a-Creativity’ and ‘i-Creativity’, as explained in this video from TEDx Napoli.

There is artistic creativity (“a-Creativity”) and a more general kind of creativity (“i-Creativity”) that could also be called Ingenuity, Innovation, Lateral Thinking, ‘Thinking Outside the Box’, or simply Problem-Solving. Read David’s article on ‘a-Creativity’ and ‘i-Creativity’, based on his TEDx talk at TEDx Napoli.

This is Serious Creativity for Business Success; that’s why David was the keynote speaker on Creativity and Business at a Samsung event in Portugal. He was invited to open the Business Wisdom Summit in Ukraine as keynote speaker on Creativity in Business. David was the keynote speaker on creativity at TEDx Napoli. He was invited to Saudi Arabia to deliver a Leading Creative Cultures workshop for the Madinah Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

David delivers and facilitates in-house Creativity Workshops to generate ideas within companies and teach creativity techniques to participants. For example he worked with the Abudawood Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to run an in-house training workshop for business leaders on creativity techniques to bring about profitable change. He has also worked with Independent Container Lines (ICL Ltd) to help this shipping company generate new profitable ideas.

“The Creativity Workshop was insightful. I enjoyed the various techniques how to encourage creative ‘out of the box’ thinking. I will definitely use Pre-Mortem and B2F daily. David was interesting, clear and concise. He listened to us and was expert in his field.. As a result of the workshop I have noted several action points and will definitely employ some of the methods learned.”
– Christine Berry. Independent Container Lines (ICL Ltd)

David was the opening keynote speaker at the Business Wisdom Summit in Ukraine. He spoke on the subject of  “How to Profit from Creativity in Business” to an audience of business owners, chief executives and senior managers of businesses in all sectors of the economy in Ukraine, including international corporations, media companies, technology firms and university business schools.

Samsung Portugal chose David as their international guest speaker on ‘Creativity in Business’ at Samsung’s conference in Lisbon to celebrate the company’s 30 years in Portugal.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, David made a presentation on the subject of ‘a-Creativity and i-Creativity for Business Success’.

As well as a Creativity Summit speaker, David is a registered TED speaker, he was keynote speaker on ‘Creativity and Crisis’ at the TEDx Napoli conference in Italy.

David knows that creativity can be used both in the studio and in the office, in other words, we can use a-Creativity in devising creative products or services, and we can use i-Creativity in our business systems – in marketing, in raising finance, in change management, in commercialising intellectual property, leading people, customer relations, partnerships, organisational structures, market research, project management and in other areas of business growth. David is an expert in creative business models. His creativity consulting and workshops are relevant to all aspects of business in a wide range of business sectors.

He has helped hundreds of businesses in more than 60 countries world-wide in his capacity as a consultant, trainer and speaker.

David helps businesses to use creative business models in the creative industries and other business sectors worldwide. As a Creativity Consultant, David helps clients become even more successful through his work as a management consultant, trainer, speaker and writer.

Creativity Speaker David Parrish at Creativity Summit