There’s a huge amount of value in being the only person in the room that does what you do.
We could spend all our time attending design, branding, web, UX, and marketing events, conferences, seminars, and workshops around the country. There’s a lot of good ones (and a lot of not-so-good ones).
And while there’s value in surrounding yourself with people and organizations with similar interests in focuses, it’s even more important to break outside of the bubble you know and are comfortable with, in favor of a captive audience that doesn’t do what you do, but needs what you do.
Speaking to charter schools about the value of branding or attending the Craft Brewers Conference puts us in a position to be the only – or at least one of the few – experts on branding and design. And thus, lends itself to new business opportunities that wouldn’t be possible amongst our peers.
Surround yourself with like minds, sure, but spend more time enlightening unlike minds. You’ll likely learn a lot from them, and they’ll almost certainly learn a lot from you.