Semi-permanent 06

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Semi-permanent 06 - Feedback

What a weekend! Six amazing speakers, 1,200 attendees and a very happy but tired Church crew. It was our biggest event ever, twice the size of our first two and the start of many more to come. This forum is a chance for you to send in your feedback so we can keep improving. If you'd prefer to email us you can do so at:
repent@thechurch.co.nz
Thank you for your contribution, this forum will be up for about two weeks.

I beg to differ there was ONE AMAZING speaker TAIKA. One average speaker who would have been much better if he wasn't hung over TOKYO PLASTIC. And the rest were as dry as stale toast! Their work may be amazing and interesting but they delivered it so badly.

If a band can't perform they get boo'd off the stage. They have to practise if they suck on stage then we might as well listen to their CD.
If a designer can't communicate with an audience and sell their ideas and inspire (isn't that the point) THEY SHOULDN'T GET ON STAGE!!! I'll just look at their work instead of travelling 12 hrs and taking a day off to hear them. Taika was worth it tho. Tokyo plastic was pretty interesting and prepared. The others shouldv'e stayed home.

On the positive note the event was well organised, the staff were friendly and helpful, the goodie bag was a bonus.

I have to agree with didi. While the event was very well organised, and it was nice not to see the staff running around like headless chickens this year, the majority of speakers were uninspirational and unprepared. I think I would have enjoyed viewing some of those slide shows more in a book and I actually fell asleep duing one presentation despite the red-bull desperately trying to keep me awake.

Positives, Taika, Goodies bag, great event organisation. Negatives,Boring and un organised presenations. There also seemed to be many more give-aways last year (not the only reason to come, but defniltey adds to the overall event).

I'm thankful that I had a number of other things to do in Auckland, because as didi mentioned, it wasn't really worth me making the 6hour trip there and back for this years semi-perm. I'm a big fan of semi-permanent and much respect goes to the Church and everyone else involved in organising this event. Unfortunately, it just didn't have the smoke or fire of last years. Heres hoping next-yearsevent picks-up where last years started and this years fell off.

I agree. I thought it was well organised but some of the speakers ie. Huffer were not very good. As much respect as I have for Huffer, I think they are pretty lucky with where they are today with connections in the industry etc.. And they could have brought thier designer along to maybe talk about the deisgn approach as it is a design conference, not a business conference.

Abkae maybe could of showed more work, rather than try to critique a personal project, that really had no relevance to me.

And as much respect as I have for the organisers, i didnt really enjoy sitting through 20 minutes of the Design Ambassador presentation. Especially how it wasnt part of the program, and I dont really care much for competitoins like that

He he, how did I know people on this site would whinge and moan (cringes), although I will too. Oh well. I do agree with some points but hey, there is no way you can compare a meek graphic designer used to only the company of their cats, to a stand up comedian. I’m not saying that the comedian wasn’t great (I very nearly wet myself) or that some of the speakers weren’t unbelievably boring, it’s just a slightly unfair comparison to make.

It was a great decision to bring in a creative from outside the design field to cap it all off. Quite brave too I guess. Designers get too introverted and up their own asses at these sorts of events, Taika was a great incentive to crawl out and get some fresh air.

The other presentations were a bit like a giant ‘show and tell’. I would like to hear more opinions and theories. We have all seen their work in the magazines.

Anyhoo, I had great fun. This was my first Semi-Permanent so I have nothing to compare it to. Inspiring content (even if it was poorly delivered), good organization (kudos the church!), free shit, and drinking my weight in free booze on two consecutive evenings. Sounds like a good time to me.

A possible suggestion for next year would be to reduce the number of speakers to ease the ‘sleepiness’ and replace some of the time with some sort of interactive activity (not dissimilar to the charity art pieces, but on a bigger scale), which would get the attendees interacting with one another in some sort of bizarre way. Talking in small or large groups? Some kind of interactive instant competition (instead of who has the best throwing arm)? I want to meet more designers (when I’m sober).
We are fun people.

Well it was my first SP too so i'll bring my point of view on this event...
Like most people said, great organisation, nothing to say here.
I agree that a few speakers could have made a bit more of an effort to engage with the audience. No matter how great your work is, it is boring to sit through a slideshow that i could watch on the net or in a book. And your work is not even that great and you spend your hour rambling about how cool you are, well...
The "casual talk sitting on sofa" might have been a good idea for a talk show on tv, but not for a conference.

Take the example of Tokio Plastic, which was in my opinion the best prepared and most useful presentation of the day. Awesome work, and more importantly humble and interesting point of view on the industry...

I also loved Abake for completely different reason, just because they brougt whackyness and a fresh point of view on the whole theme. Good to see some people who don't take themselves too seriously and try to make something out of design for design's sake.

All in all, if you were expecting to pick up some useful tips for your day to day design job, you probably were out of luck, but i enjoyed it for the interesting insight on other people's ethics and philosophies...

Similar experience here... great organisation, the new venue way waaaay better and initially the event felt a lot slicker. Good to see some extra stuff happening like the poster exhibit and the goody bag was the best yet (how great was this years book!)

Last year I walked away from the event feeling really inspired to explore more personal work (been trapped in the corporate design bubble for a while) and generally in awe of guys like Vince Frost who's work I have loved for a some time.

This year... not so much. I enjoyed Tokyo Plastics industry insight, I thought this brought something a bit different to the mix, it is great to hear about peoples experiences delving into new areas of business.

I also enjoyed Mickael C Place - possibly more on a personal level as I quit my job 3 months ago to start my own business and I also work from home with a cat! I was gutted they ran out of time before looking more into his working files - I always find it interesting to see how other people work within software. I think the interview format they used was good and some good questions were raised.

I agree with Hijinx comment about Huffer bringing their designer along, this would have been much more informative, as it was all i took away from their talk was that industry contacts are really important, oh and so is "love".

Abake... well what can you say, i was fairly convinced they had walked into the wrong building and started to wonder if there was a council planning meeting somewhere nearby. But if you enjoy hearing about picnics and listening to a guy explain the deep sci-fi relevence of each letter of a logo then all power to you. Having said that it was good to see an agency getting personally involved.

Taika had me in tears, i thought he was hilarious and I really think the event needs at least one speaker like this, some light relief to finish the day off. Last year a lot of people bagged Vice and said they didnt learn anything from them but I think you cant go wrong with a good injection of comedy when you have spent most of the day sitting.

I will have to agree with this panel here. The turnout was amazing, but as always we pick up the crumbs of the parent Semi-permanent Conference!

And I just realised that I could have better served my time on Saturdays if I were at home doing original designers, instead of going to an event like this and ripp off designers.

Why the fuck did they have a lame ass DJ there, and what's up paying for the Curvy book. I want free shit now!

PS:Just to let you guys know. I got my ticket for free! Haha!

Yep it is pretty obivous this years Semi-permanent was a HUGE let down.
Yes the event was well organised except for the order of the speakers. Two non designers speaking last was a bad idea.

Genevieve Gauckler was interesting but really needed to talk about some other work.

Tokyo Plastic was the highlight of the day, had lots to say and I got alot out of it.

Huffer had nothing to say and didn't even talk about what they said they were going to. And the funny stuff was boring after 5 minutes. Waste of time.

Michael C Place was the biggest let down. Should not have been an interview and they should have worked out questions and answers before hand.

Abake = a load of crap.

Taika was great as well, shame he didn't show or talk about his film work. He is one amazing creative talent.

All I really got out of this years event was an understanding of how non-designers see us designers. Content and message should be more important than the design cause if it doesnt communicate it is a waste of time. Glad I am going to Spark 06.

Correction it should be like this

Pros (goodie bag)

Cons (suck ass conference speakers, and paying for the curvy book!)

Guys please stop getting the crumbs of the Parent Semi-permanent Conference and get some inspirational speakers please!

Genevieve Gauckler! I love her work, but her lack of English was a put down for me! And having it on a Saturday? Please!

I'm sorry for the attack, but being a digital artist and having these inspirational people speak at this conference was an insult to me!

Oh I would like to point out that like the Semi-permanent in Aus; there should have been an outdoorsy type of exhibition at the square.

I don’t often play the race card, but as a Pacific Islander, I felt like a minority within the crowd, and I felt very isolated and not welcome.

This is New Zealand godamit! And we should embrace our many colors including brown. I know that Taika was representing, but to me he was not draw card for many of our pacific brothers and sisters!

Simon, listen to me and listen good. Think big, think culture and think embracement!

Contemporary artist Shigeyuki Kihara should have been one of the speakers. I know that she is a non designer, but she uses the tools of digital as well to make her art! Plus she can liven up an audience!

Thank you!

Here

Shigeyuki

http://www.bartleyneesgallery.co.nz/artists.php?ID=55&artist=Shigeyuki%20Kihara

Wow, tough crowd, but a least you guys are being constructive which is awesome.

Like everyone else I enjoyed TokyoPlastic the most, my biggest let down was Michael C Place but only because of my expectations that he'd blow me away like DixionBaxi last year or Vince Frost the year before (elder statesman designer and all that).

The changes to the format where a big risk and I thought the text message system for the most part didn't quite work, mainly because it took the speakers mind away from speaking and having to check every 2 mins to see if that's another question. Perhaps next year someone else handle the phone for questions and jump in when the time felt right or leave the phone right out of it until the end of the preso?

The grab bag was awesome again this year, but I wonder is it time for an NZ only book? And perhaps a web speaker? Oh, and people actually turning up to the event before it's suppose to start (miss templer!). Having said that it was pretty awesome to see a line of designers 3 people wide stretching across the square.

Bigs ups to Paul and the rest of the church crew for another fantastic event.

The only thing which really needs improvement was the speakers. It was a shame we didn't get Joshua Davis from the sydney conference, as he's an excellent speaker (and i missed him at spark 05).

Tokyo Plastic was awesome though. The camel thing was hillarious.

Joshua Davis would have been awesome! I am also a huge Paul Pope fan and was gutted to find out he wasnt coming over to NZ.

I think some web based speakers would be a great idea... hasnt really been done yet - maybe someone like Preloaded?

anyone have any web companies they would like to see?

Who me Pete!? wha? hehehe ..
Tokyo plastic preso was great. He's a sensible boy. Got some good tips. Was looking forward to seeing Taika (but I had to go to work!!) purely because he was something different in the mix.

I've said it before, but that's why design camp is great, not just for the cheap beers, but because they always include some random speakers, whether they're artists, typographers, boat builders, whatever! People who can talk about ideas rather than just click through a slideshow..

Genevieve's preso was pretty straight forward, but refreshing to see her ability to produce a massive body of work, all developing along a central theme... great perseverance. And then it actually came off with some cool applications... sweet.

And then I went back to work. The end.

Hi guys thanks for the feedback. I'd like to keep the conversation going, which is why I'm replying.

Given the speakers are (and should be) the biggest issue I'd just like to mention a few points, not to try and change your opinions but just so you know where we're coming from.

"Guys please stop getting the crumbs of the Parent Semi-permanent Conference and get some inspirational speakers please!" - blingy.

Hi blingy, we didn't get the crumbs, we hand picked each of our speakers (none of whom spoke in Sydney).

We have always looked for a good mix of speakers, covering a wide range of areas as inspiration comes from many angles. Unfortunately when you choose people who are extremely talented in one thing, they might not be so good in another. It's a risk we've been prepared to take to give you speakers who don't normally speak - The Wilderness last year had never spoken at any event and arguably they were one of the best. I think Semi-Permanent has been at the forefront of taking chances and bringing new blood to the 'speaking/event circuit'.

I'm personally quite proud of that.

Now to keep this forum moving forward, lets start talking about speakers who you'd like to see (a couple of people have been mentioned) and who you know are good speakers, and who haven't spoken in NZ before.
Add to that we'd like a good range of disciplines, races, and sexes.

We're processing your speaker requests from your competition entry forms and so I'll put these up later for you to review.

Another thing to ponder is something that Tane brought up which has got me thinking. He mentioned to reduce the number of speakers and get more interactive to ease the 'sleepiness'. I'd like to suggest the possibility of having MORE speakers, say 10, speaking for 30 mins each. More chance to be inspired, more energy etc etc. Or could it be 8 speakers at 40 mins?

Keep your comments coming!

Thanks

Paul

I like the sound of more speakers, maybe have 1 or 2 key speakers who talk for longer then the rest around 30 mins.

To be honest I think all the speakers were good, some a little less effective than the others but overall they all had one thing in common, Creativity, and inspiration to offer... Yes, some were a little different (abake) an some could of used help in the public speaking sector (Michael C Place), but the overall message was certainly clear, which was no matter what you do, put your own spin on it, add your style...

i think that all the speakers who spoke this year are talented, and obviously some weren't the best communicators. Perhaps speakers could be given a topic related to their work to speak on instead of just talking us through their work. The interview with Michael C Place and tokyo plastic were close but not close enough. E.g huffer could of spoke on how they have maintained being a creative company and still commercially viable, they have alot to offer in the way of being a business that is creative, not have 2 ceo's talk about "design process". Can't think of any other topics really, i guess just what they have learned froom their unique experience in the design world, i think kelvin touched on an interesting point with Michael, and that was the cultral difference between designing in NZ compared to the rest of the world.
I guess a question to ask is, what is semipermanent? A trade show? A conference to make us aware of some designers we might not have heard of?
Or is it more to do with prof development, or creating creative communities, a place for diaogue between different designers? I enjoyed it 3 years ago when i was a student and was overwhelmed with peoples work and industry speak they used., now i'm working i'm not so easily convinced, and i won't be paying $120 to hear someone advertise their brand for an hour.

Hi Joel,

To answer your question we see SP as an event which should inspire, motivate and if you need educate.

So we're trying to bring you people from around the world who you may or may not know and hopefully they inspire you in your development as a [insert job here].

Admittedly we've had some speakers that have been inspirational and some not so, we're working hard on that, with people like Abake we may have pushed it out a bit too far, but you don't know until you try.

We want to bring you the people behind the work/websites, I think seeing and meeting the people is a big step towards motivating yourself (if you need that) and having the confidence to do what you do, especially if you're a student.

I'd like to hope SP inspires more than students, I certainly think you're never too old to learn and I spotted a fair few (older) CD's out there to back that up.

In terms of 'advertising their brand' that's not what we brief them to speak about, We want their stories, successes, failure etc. We want to make them real to you and give you the belief that you too can be a world-class designer if that's your goal. It's easy to admire work in a book or on a website but never you'll never get the real picture behind it - how long it took, trials and tribulations etc.

That world beating belief is the reason we have two NZ speakers. They show we are world-class and that we have thinking/attitude which can take on the world.

Another way to look at it (which is a bit negative) is, if these guys can do it, why can't I? Some people loved Huffer, some hated them, I say look a bit beyond it and now that you know who they are, ask yourself, could you do better? I say that from an inspirational way - if two people walked out thinking 'I can do better than these two guys' I think we've succeeded. Not that we intentially put up bad speakers to give you an ego boost, but I'm saying don't take everything at face value.

We'll I've rambled on a bit, sorry I've got the flu and it's the drugs talking. Keep it coming!

I would have to agree with Paul, it inspired me to get off my ass (literally) and actully take look at the work I have been producing.
To be honest it was great to have non-designers like Taka (bloody hilarious, I was also on the floor and at times in tears of laughter) talking as he really made you question "what is design" and then there were the Huffer guys, I tought they were great, although not my field, but all the same it made me want to quit my job and go and work for myself (to create my empire)!!!

I don't think you can blame any of the speaker about their speeches, it's not easy to get up on stage and talk about wht was in your head when you were creating that thing, epecially if you a) don't have english as your first language, or b) are a designer that spends all their time in front of a screen!

In all respect to everyone else's points of view, unless you are a public speaker or have the ability to publicly motivate people, you will find that alot of people especially digners, can be a bit "naff" to listen too...

Well, SP certainly inspired me, I have given myself months to look for a ne job, and get my A into G....

You could think about doing something like Webstock in wellington did called 8x5, where they have 8 speakers speak on a topic for 5 minutes each. It was good relief from the rest of the hour long presentations. They also had a panel at the end that took questions from the audience.

I would like to see Mike Young and Mike Cina there next year.
Overall it was good, but the speakers were not as engaging as previous years, bar Tokyo Plastic.

Tried to post a lengthy comment last week, but dangnabit the form failed me.
Oh well, I'll post a wish list for next year.
Folkert Gorter and/or Jason Kristofer.
Or how bout forget the young trendys and go for some real old dude, Milton Glaser? How much could you learn in an hour with that guy.
How bout a pipe wielding heavy hitter like Michael Bierut or Paula Scher or Jessica Helfland?
I second the 8x5, do that for all local speakers. but with a generous amount of time for discussion at the end - like half an hour.

Actually, some really oldschool design veterans would be a really nice addition I think. Someone focused on typography would also be cool.

Hi guys, thanks for your feedback it seems that this forum has run out of steam. That said I'm keen to start another one before next year's event to run you through our thoughts. Your ideas have been greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Paul and The Church crew.

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Semi-permanent 06 - Feedback

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