The B-Side:

Many designers and other creative professionals fantasize about owning their own business, but the process of starting and running a profitable creative business can seem confusing or intimidating. Our B-Side programming is designed to demystify the business side of creativity with a local industry experts on creating a business entity; handling finances, accounting, and taxes; writing estimates, contracts, and creative briefs; project management; client relationships; and self-promotion/marketing.

Managing Client Relationships : You Want it When?!

April 20th // 6:00–8:00 p.m. // HQ Raleigh
Keynote Speaker: Clay Schossow, Director of Client Relations and Business Development at New Media Campaigns

In our second B-Side session, Managing Client Relationships, we will study the art and science of building positive relationships with our clients. Many creative professionals can't resist the temptation to trade horror stories about their "clients from hell," but if we're truly honest, we have to admit there's some truth to designer Adrian Shaughnessy's claim that "there are no bad clients, only clients turned into bad clients by bad designers." As Shaughnessy explained in How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, "if we want ethical clients, we have to be ethical designers; if we want visionary clients, we have to be visionary designers; and if we want good clients, we have to be ultra-good designers."

Our speaker, Clay Schossow, will use his years of experience in client relationship-building to address critical topics such as: how to distinguish a good client from a bad one (especially, what red flags to watch out for), starting the relationship on a positive footing, keeping lines of communication open (before, during & after a project), pitching your work effectively, upselling other services or working on retainer, and most important: knowing when to fire a client.

Future classes (These classes are included with the package deal pricing)

• The Money Game: Finances, Accounting & Taxes
  May 18 // 6:00–8:00 p.m. // HQ Raleigh
  Keynote Speaker: Jessica Jones, CPA

• Taking Care of Business: Procedures, Paperwork & Project Management
  June 15th // 6:00–8:00 p.m. // HQ Raleigh
  Keynote Speaker: Karl Sakas, Business Consultant & Coach for Digital Marketing Agencies

• Self-Promotion: Marketing your Business & Finding New Clients/Customers
  July 20th // 6:00–8:00 p.m. // HQ Raleigh
  Keynote Speaker: AJ McDonald

• Panel Discussion: What We Learned the Hard Way
  August // 6:00-8:00p.m //HQ Raleigh
  Owners of several local design agencies to share their experiences launching and operating a creative company.

FAQs

What should I bring to the event?

We will provide complimentary hot tea and coffee along with water. In order to be environmentally conscious we ask attendees bring a resueable mug for coffee/tea or waterbottle for water.

Since you plan to attend several classes (wink...wink), we reccommend attendees bring a notebook to take notes.

What is your refund policy?

If you cancel:

Cancellations received within 3 days of the event may be eligible to receive a full refund less Eventbrite service fee.
Cancellations received 48 hours before the event will not be eligible for a refund.
Cancellations will be accepted via e-mail, and must be received by cancellation deadline.
Refund requests must include the name of the attendee and/or transaction number.
All refund requests must be made by the attendee or credit card holder.
Refunds will be credited back to the original credit card used for payment.

If we cancel:

AIGA Raleigh reserves the right to cancel an event due to low enrollment, inclement weather or other circumstances which would make the event non-viable. If AIGA Raleigh cancels an event, registrants will be offered a full refund minus the service fee. Should circumstances arise that result in the postponement of an event, registrants will have the option to either receive a full refund or transfer registration to the same event at the new, future date. If an event is canceled or postpone AIGA Raleigh will send an email via the email address used to register and be post to their Facebook Page.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

No, we will have a list of attendees.

Where do I park and is it free?

Depending on where you park you will have to pay for parking. You can park on the street, but depending on the time you may have to use metered parking spaces.
There are several nearby parking decks:

• Wake County Parking Deck (1044 feet SE)
• Municipal Building Deck* (0.22 miles NE)
• Salisbury Deck (Sheraton Hotel/Two Hannover Sq.) (0.29 miles SE)
• Cabarrus Deck* (0.30 miles SE)
  

There are several nearby parking lots:

• Dillon Lot A* (489 feet NW)
• Warehouse Parking @ S. West St & W. Martin St (496 feet NW)
• Dillon Lot B* (641 feet NW)
• 324 W Morgan Street Surface Lot (0.21 miles N)