Innovation Philadelphia to Host Creative Economy Conference May 22nd at the Pennsylvania Convention Center

Investment fund awards to be granted at seminar; part of organization's mission to help establish Philadelphia as a hub for creative enterprises, services and talent

PHILADELPHIA, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Innovation Philadelphia (http://www.innovationphiladelphia.com/), a non-profit economic development organization that is working to establish the Greater Philadelphia Region as a national leader and world-class destination for Creative Economy industries, will host Creative Movement: Creative Economy in Action: Business Development in Motion. The conference is part of Innovation Philadelphia's mission to support economic growth in the Philadelphia Region by growing for-profit creative industries.

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"This is another step forward in demonstrating the incredible value creative industry businesses bring to the Philadelphia region," said Kelly Lee, Executive Vice President of Innovation Philadelphia. "Our hope is to build on the momentum of our recent study which found the for-profit, creative economy is one of the most viable sectors in the region, with a $60 billion annual economic impact. The conference will identify ways in which we can be proactive to help businesses in these industries flourish."

Philadelphia business professionals, economic development, civic and education leaders will learn how peers from Boston, New York City, Pittsburgh and San Diego are leading economic and job growth in for-profit, creative industry businesses and changing the landscape of business development. The conference and panel discussion will focus on best practice models from Philadelphia and these regions.

Creative industry sectors identified by Innovation Philadelphia and the focus of the conference include: architecture, engineering and planning; communications and marketing; digital media and programming; fashion design; graphic and visual arts and multimedia design; information technology; interior and industrial design; music, film and video production; photography; product and merchandising design; and software development.

The half-day seminar will take place May 22, 2008 from 7:30 AM - Noon at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 109. The cost is $65. Creative Movement: Creative Economy in Action: Business Development in Motion will feature:

• Keynote Speaker Rolf Smith (http://www.thinking-expedition.com/index.html) will discuss his work with Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, DuPont, General Motors and Ford. The author of The Seven Levels of Change, Diffferent Thinking for Diffferent Results (http://www.thinking-expedition.com/book2.html), Smith has helped individuals and companies design and lead problem-solving expeditions to explore new concepts, approaches and technologies to generate big ideas that impact their bottom line - and to re-think their whole approach to creativity.

Panel discussion speakers include:

• Carole Walton, Create Boston (http://www.createboston.com/) Manager, an economic development initiative of the Boston Redevelopment Authority designed to help businesses rooted in creativity achieve their potential for success through real estate, financial, workforce development and business advocacy assistance;
• Jonathan Bowles, Director, Centre for an Urban Future (http://www.nycfuture.org/, a New York City-based think tank that recently reported on New York City's creative economic contribution in its report, "Creative NY," and has also focused on growing the number of self-employed freelancers in creative professions;
• Margaret Myers, Associate Director, STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (http://www.cmu.edu/studio/), a research center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh that supports projects that bring together the arts, science, technology, and the humanities, to impact their local and regional economies; and
• Andrew Poat, Vice President of Policy, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (http://www.sandiegobusiness.org/), an organization that works to attract and retain creative industry technology companies in the San Diego region.

Also at the conference, Innovation Philadelphia will award the first two investments from its Creative Economy Investment Fund (CEIF). CEIF provides pre-seed and early-stage investments to for-profit creative economy businesses based in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

CEIF supports the findings of Innovation Philadelphia's recent study, "Creative Footprint: The Economic Impact of the Philadelphia Region's For Profit, Creative Economy," which found the creative economy is primed for further growth and is a smart priority for economic investment. The current total economic impact of the creative economy is $60 billion, which includes 766,000 jobs and total earnings of $32.5 billion.

For more information, visit http://www.innovationphiladelphia.com.

About Innovation Philadelphia

Innovation Philadelphia is committed to supporting technology-driven economic growth in the Philadelphia region through growing the region's for-profit creative industries, attracting and retaining young professionals vital to economic growth, and fostering entrepreneurism and new ideas. For more information about Innovation Philadelphia and its initiatives, please visit www.innovationphiladelphia.com.