The days of working in silos and emphasizing competition over collaboration are far behind us. Sharing knowledge, learning from the experiences of others, and discussing challenges with peers leads to positive results. Or, at the very least, it minimizes waste from trying to find solutions to problems already solved.
And let’s face it, since we all prescribe to the church of “do what you love”, not only is our career fulfillment on the line, but our overall happiness.
In the startup community we know that it’s not only about doing what you love, but sharing what you do. Meetups such as Lean Coffee Toronto bring together entrepreneurs twice (twice!) a week to explore ideas, share knowledge, and most importantly – discuss challenges. Solutions are not only found during the meetups, but through various relationships built with peers going through the same thing you are.
The startup community is constantly talking about hosting more events and conferences for knowledge share, but what I’ve noticed is a lack of consistent events for interactive designers in the city.
Interactive design is evolving so rapidly, especially as new platforms are being adopted by a broader audience. Designing for mobile and tablet users, understanding how content is consumed, and what’s intuitive for the end user are all things we’re actively thinking about when we build applications.
At Jet Cooper, we’re always looking for ways to collaborate with the design community. It’s one of the reasons why we started a team-wide Dribbble account. So, we were quite excited when Dribbble started local meetups (or “hudddles”) to bring together the community in real life.
Dribbble (yes, three Bs), is a community that allows designers to share what they’re working on and get feedback from their peers. Regardless of how one uses it, the Dribbble community helps designers of all kinds collaborate with one another.
We hosted this month’s Toronto hudddle at our office last Wednesday. Thrilled to have so many designers (not just Dribbblers) come out, our appetite for more design events in the city was definitely validated. A few individuals even walked out with new invites to the oh-so-exclusive community.
Thanks to everyone who came out on Wednesday and those who sent their love and regrets via Dribbble/Twitter/Facebook/email. We’re looking forward to next month’s hudddle, and even more design events in the city.