Are you passionate about your work? Are you bursting with ideas about how practices can flourish? Perhaps you could be the Creative Director for Guerrilla Tactics 2022, which takes place this November. Applications are now open: learn more about the role and how to apply.
Guerrilla Tactics is the RIBA’s annual creative business conference for small and medium sized practices. It provides a wealth of inspiring presentations to reinvigorate practices’ work, giving them a host of fresh ideas.
Each year adopts a different theme, proposed by the Creative Director. Last year’s Guerrilla Tactics, Stop, Collaborate and Listen, focused on collaboration and heard from architects, clients, engineers and even user experience designers who suggested ways that practices can hit new heights when working together. The conference left attendees in no doubt as to the opportunities to collaborate: whether with other architects, consultants, or creatives from completely different sectors.
“We decided to apply for the Creative Director role because we felt passionately that the theme we were proposing was of huge importance,” states Rob Fiehn, Founder of Robert Fiehn Architectural Communications.
Fiehn was one of the three Creative Directors in 2021, alongside Mellis Haward and Kyle Buchanan, Directors of the practice Archio. They picked a theme that they all genuinely cared about.
“Collaboration is a topic we had been discussing together for a while, so the application came together pretty quickly,” explains Kyle Buchanan. “To narrow down a big topic, we tried to look at how collaboration could help the areas that most affect small practices. What might the benefits and opportunities be within each area?”
Fiehn found that the application process itself helped generate ideas.
“At first, the submission seemed daunting but it was actually a really good way to focus our thoughts. It did help that we were working as a trio too.”
There has been a fascinating range of conference themes in recent years. In 2019, it was Understanding the Developer Mindset, proposed by Creative Directors Gus Zogolovitch, Director of Unboxed Homes, and Amanda Baillieu, Founder of Archiboo. The pair wanted to enable architects to understand potential clients, reveal the “pain points” in development, and give them tips on becoming architect-developers.
“We knew architects are very interested in development but that the information about it is often quite dry – the legal side, finance and so on,” explains Baillieu.
“So we thought we would mix that up with talks from architect developers and inspiring practical tips. We wanted attendees to learn something they could use next time they pitched for work: give people the inside track on what it's like to be the developer.”
Baillieu and Zogolovitch approached the programming by putting themselves in their audience’s shoes: what do architects most want to know about development; and who could best answer their questions?
“One of the most successful sessions was on how to pitch,” Baillieu points out. “It was highly interactive, with exercises for the audience. We didn't want the conference to just talk at the audience, we wanted them to join in and engage, which they enjoyed.”
Creative Directors are given plenty of support by the RIBA to put the conference programme together. The Guerrilla Tactics Steering Group acts as a sounding board for ideas and provides suggestions for further topics and speakers.
“We started out with strong opinions about who to approach. The Steering Group were incredibly helpful at guiding us towards some additional options to make the conference a better experience,” Rob Fiehn explains. “We never felt alone in the process and I’m very grateful for the time and advice provided.”
“The most fascinating thing about the conference is how much you learn throughout,” he enthuses. ”We could approach people we admired from across the industry - and outside it.”
All of the Creative Directors from previous years speak enthusiastically about how much they have learned from the overall experience, as well as from the speakers’ presentations and from conversations with delegates.
For Tomas Millar, being the Creative Director of Guerrilla Tactics 2020: Reinventing Practice pushed him out of his comfort zone. He explains just how valuable the exercise of evaluating and articulating his personal passions in architecture was for him.
“It gave me a new focus on the issues I have on a daily basis as an architect, and on what I would like to be spending more time on,” he reveals. “It also reminded me that I’m part of a broader architectural and small practice community, and that you work better together rather than in isolation."
“Looking back it is something I will always remember as a hugely rewarding experience. Not only has it helped with my own personal growth but I hope it has helped those who attended along their own personal journey in architecture.”
The deadline for applications is 4 March 2022 and the application form can be downloaded now.
Thanks to Rob Fiehn, Director, Robert Fiehn Architectural Communications; Mellis Haward and Kyle Buchanan, Directors, Archio; Gus Zogolovitch, Director, Unboxed Homes; Amanda Baillieu, Founder, Archiboo; and Tomas Millar, Director, Millar+Howard Workshop.
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