Mark Lewis, account planning director at DDB San Francisco, informed us that with the 4As planning conference being canceled this year “due to low enrollment,” he has organized an “un-conference” in its place called Planning-ness.
“Un-conference” sounds like yet another abstract, hip and ultimately nonsensical term the ad industry seems to push out more often. But Lewis nonetheless explains the goal of the event: “Our vision is to move planners (but in fact anyone from creatives to brand managers) from talking to doing. Our theme of ‘get excited and make things’ will come to life through workshops, where participants are taught a skill–from how to design a good game to how to design a strong product to game design to how to organize a grassroots political campaign–then set a task to help them put these skills [into] practice.”
The details of Planning-ness are still a bit hazy, but from what we can tell, the event takes place on October 16th and 17th in San Fran with speakers including an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and an award-winning game designer. There will also of course be sessions galore, which you can read about here.