Is there a moment in the past year where Hip Hop Art opened your mind and shifted the way you look at the world or clarified your perspective? For CONVENE "Hip Hop Art and Thriving in the World" we had DJ Mel Boogie of VIBE 105.5FM, digital artist and illustrator Tooncrew, one of Canada’s foremost Hip Hop lyricists Eternia and Chedo (host and founder of The Come Up Show) in conversation about how Hip Hop and the art inspired by the culture plays a role in making sense of life and inspiring their crafts and careers.

CONVENE: Podcast

CONVENE - Hip Hop Art and Thriving in the World

Talk about branding is everywhere: whether it is about running a business or how you represent yourself in the world. At the heart of the brands that last and have impact is the idea of aspiration. This conversation on how to align your brand with your aspiration (and the pitfalls to watch out for along the journey) featured Talya Macedo of Somewhere Else, Gloria Chik of Rogue Stories and founder of The Flight Pack, and photographer Kadeem Ellis. This conversation took place inside of Free Space in partnership with The Creator Class.

CONVENE - When Your Brand is Your Aspiration

CONVENE ‘What's Your Work Worth’ dealt with questions we all face around the value of our work. Whether you are running a team, creating a product or providing your talent, the question of the worth of your work is one of the most difficult we face. How much do you charge for what you offer, what you do and what you make? How do you know when unpaid/underpaid work is actually an opportunity or when it is just being taking advantage of?   To answer these questions and more, this conversation featured Rollie Pemberton aka Cadence Weapon and producer and manager Iva Golubovic, along with Rahul Madan and Eric Richards of WIL Studios. This conversation took place at Free Space in Toronto in partnership with The Creator Class.

CONVENE - What's Yourk Work Worth

CONVENE "Breaking Down Music Management" had the subtitle, “From Therapists to A+Rs”, which sums up the experience of so many who work in music management. It is a role that a lot of people describe kind of falling into, but requires an important skill-set. Our goal here was to demystify what it takes to build a career as a music manager. This conversation featured Ricardo Chung of Ransom Management Group, Ayisha Jamal who is an entrepreneur and managed Zaki Ibrahim, Laurie Lee Boutet of Wednesday Management and Ricki Bekzadeh from The Remix Project whose management roles include PVRX and DVSN. This conversation took place as a part of the Manifesto Summit in Toronto at Free Space.

CONVENE - Breaking Down Music Management

CONVENE “Publishing Your First Photobook” was a one-on-one conversation with Oakland-based photographer and creative director Craig Hackey. The photobook is a form that is important to photographers (from the masters to amateurs and hobbyists), and is a form that is relevant to a wide-range creatives. Where does one even begin is the question that most people don’t ever get past. In this conversation, Craig walks us through how a period of deep disappointment led to the photography project that birthed his first photobook, COME AS YOU ARE. We took at deep dive into the process of making the book, from the image that sparked the theme to how he cut out countless images he loved to create a more focused narrative. Lastly, we got into the fact that the creative portion is only the beginning of the process, and that the strategy to share, market, sell and discuss the book is by far a larger portion of the time and energy it takes. Bottom-line: if you want to make a photobook, whether it is one copy or a thousand copies – do it. This conversation took part in partnership with Free Space and The Creator Class.

CONVENE - Publishing Your First Photobook

CONVENE “Sign on the Dotted Line” featured Jonathan Ramos of Ink Entertainment and Rap Season, Kiran Ray (actor, podcaster and entrepreneur), foundational Hip Hop Emceee Jelleestone and entertainment lawyer Divya Shoshana. This conversation covered a range of creative industries (film, music, podcasting, photography, creative direction, event production and more), offering practical tips and wisdom from experience.  Some the questions included: What do I need to cover in a contract?  How do I negotiate without risking an opportunity?  How do I introduce a contract into a collaboration?  What's the best way to protect my ideas and intellectual property? This conversation took place in partnership with Artscape Daniels Launchpad with support from Canada Council.

CONVENE - Sign on the Dotted Line

"The Deal on Deals" featured Allison Outhit of Six Shooter Records, Vivian Barclay of Warner Chappell Music, Tanisha Clarke of Not What You Expected, and was hosted by Eternia. This session was designed to cover the full spectrum of deals that exist in the music business. This conversation took place as a part of CONVENE: The B-Side of the Music Business, which was a full day of workshops, panels and performances presented by Watrvision Creative, Factor Canada, City Hall Live and Free Space on June 2nd, 2019 in Toronto.

CONVENE - Deal on Deals

"Growing in the Industry Through Labels + Management" featured Tao-Ming Lau of Blue Crane Agency, Gavin Sheppard of The Remix Project, Quiet as Kept and Public Records, Toronto music industry O.G. Ivan Evidente and was facilitated by Chris Penrose. The session was designed to bring valuable ideas on how to build a career and/or business in labels and management. This conversation took place as a part of CONVENE: B-Side of the Music Business, which was a full day of workshops, panels and performances presented by Watrvision Creative, Factor Canada, City Hall Live and Free Space on June 2nd, 2019 in Toronto.

CONVENE - Growing in the Industry Through Labels and Management

"Building a Marketing Plan" featured Dreyuh Safo of Rap Season, Mark Nabeta of trevor//peter, Carey Riley of Sony Music Canada, T-Nyce, and was co-facilitated by Wan Lucas and Chris Penrose. This session was designed to bring forward valuable ideas on how to approach marketing music from a range of perspectives. This conversation took place as a part of CONVENE: B-Side of the Music Business, which was a full day of workshops, panels and performances presented by Watrvision Creative, Factor Canada, City Hall Live and Free Space on June 2nd, 2019 in Toronto.

CONVENE - Building a Marketing Plan

CONVENE is a conversation series with a narrative arc focused on the creative community in Toronto. We develop meaningful conversations with artists and creative professionals to provide audiences with practical resources, opportunities for networking and the inspiration to take important next steps.