CEA: It's a good time for new things to happen

"Creativity loves crises. Many have problems, while some are doing much better than before," said David Parrish , an expert in the creative industries, at the Business Opportunities in Digital Culture conference. New ways and business models need to be found on how to deal with the crisis.

He gave an example from his own life: "The cancellation of training affected my income and even my lifestyle. Then I thought I'd do something different. I did some free training for the initiative. It showed that I was still valuable, then I began to be invited to speak at webinars. So I had to start reorienting myself.

The creative industries cannot escape this chaos in any way untouched either, it is a crisis of both health and the economy.

"After the war, did we restore the houses the same way they were before?" asked Parrish.  The same applies to the creative industry, maybe we can find something completely new. It's a challenge for all of us. It depends on whether we have a completely open and creative attitude or whether we start complaining that we can't do it the old way anymore. It has been said that when a theater is in trouble, it is not because of the pandemic, but because of the unwillingness to change.

A lot of things are free online, but that won't save us from an economic downturn. Until now, very many cultural organizations worked on state grants. Now entrepreneurship has begun to come to glory, but this is not the answer to everything, does not solve everything

So how to recover?

A new type of creativity must be found e-creativity.

For example: fashion designers make masks, new products are found, theaters transfer their performances to cinemas around the world. Crowdfunding is interesting – they not only sell tickets, but also sell, for example, DVDs, access to live performances, etc. Some clients would like to see more than just a performance – e.g. what is happening behind the scenes or how the show was prepared. Provide engagement, extra experiences, one-on-one interaction, answering questions

There are many kinds of creativity, not just artistic. We can be creative not only artistically but also be creative in business terms, find new opportunities, Parrish said. He has also created a toolbox to find new opportunities.

Parrish advised not to be a perfectionist when testing new options, but to come up with the first viable product (minimum viable product) – people understand that we are in a new situation and we also learn for ourselves. The basis of innovation is permission to try. In addition, he emphasized the need for cooperation - even competitors benefit from this.

E- allows you to reach many more people and is not limited to just one country.

Exactly the same was emphasized by Anzelika Rijeck of Design Georgia . "We realized that competitors can also be more successful by working together – we brought the designers together under Design Gerorgia and helped them to the etsy platform. There are already the first sales made!

Mari Martin, the creator of the fashion brand Tallinn Dolls, also spoke about the rise of online business and the benefits of cooperation.

The platform, which offers pre-ordering fashion for design brands via the Internet, is doing better than before during the crisis, the solution was already ready. "The innovative model was well received by customers.  In this way, we avoid overproduction, and the new fashion reaches the customer much faster than large companies. We sell models even before there is no product yet," Mari explained.

Elene Toidze from Creative Georgia also stressed the importance of cooperation. "In Georgia, it is understood that the creative industries play a huge role in ensuring the well-being of people and the sustainability of the economy," he said.  Elene took the opportunity to gather ideas from participants on how their organization could better support creative entrepreneurs.

The project was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from development cooperation funds and Creative Europe. 

The conference can be viewed on Creative Estonia's Facebook page