Richard Florida is available for a limited number of executive workshops. Workshops are one or two day- tailored programs designed to empower small groups of leaders to better understand the framework and tools of the creative economic theory.
In these workshops, Florida personally leads leadership teams through his research, theories and trend analysis and provides them with the capacity to develop new initiatives, programs and strategies.
Companies have benefited from these highly customized workshops, launching new marketing initiatives, increasing their ability to retain and attract talent, and implementing better management practices. Drawing in more than two decades of research and experience, Florida can lead custom workshops for private companies, non-profits, economic development organizations and government agencies, on the following subjects:
Talent Management: Attracting and Retaining the ‘Best and Brightest’
The requirements of the Creative Economy, changing expectations of workers, and demographic shifts have caused a serious shortage in workers resulting in the ‘Talent Wars’.
The Talent Management Workshop was developed and led by Florida who has been dubbed the “world's leading cartographer of talent” by Fast Company. In this workshop, Florida distills his framework for how to attract and retain talent and explains his analysis of which locations offer the best talent pools for innovative and creative workforce.
This workshop is aimed at corporate leaders, human resources directors, and those responsible for attracting and retaining the ‘best and the brightest’ to their organization. The World is Spiky, not flat, as, Creative Talent increasingly clusters in certain places; it's leaving other locations depleted. Moreover, today's talent cannot be won over through basic methods such as increased compensation.
Based on the years of surveying and interviewing members of the Creative Class and exhaustive quantitative and locational analysis, this workshop will help you answer the question: Where is the talent and how can my organization attract and retain the creative and highly valuable workforce required for success?
Managing Creativity
In The Creative Management Workshop, Florida leads teams of executive and managers on how to manage creativity culled through more than two decades of research on leading edge companies and his breakthrough Harvard Business Review article with SAS CEO and founder Jim Goodnight. This workshop leads teams through exercises which enable them to develop new thinking and strategic initiatives on how to manage creative people and motivate and inspire them.
Managing Diversity
Most corporate diversity efforts are compliance driven, adding little to the bottom line. Drawing upon his research and analysis in his best-selling book, Rise of the Creative Class and other sources, Florida's Managing Diversity Workshop provides a framework for making diversity efforts value adding. This workshop leads teams through exercises through which they establish new value producing diversity initiatives.
Marketing to the Creative Class
From BMW and Apple to Equity Office Properties – firms across industries have identified the Creative Class as a core market for their products and services. Who is the Creative Class and why do they matter? The Creative Class, is 40 million strong, making up 30 percent of the U.S. workforce, with 50% of wages earned and controlling nearly 70% of discretionary spending in the US. That is over $500 billion in purchasing power annually! This consumer group, consisting of scientists, engineers, managers, innovators and people in research and development, as well as artists, writers and musicians are the most educated and demanding consumers in the marketplace. The Creative Class Group has years of data on who they are, where they are, what they read, what they purchase and the ethos that drives their decisions. With our intelligence and insights, BMW had its most successful ad campaign in history.
This workshop identifies the five major segments of the creative class, what they buy, the trends they set, and the ethos that drives their decisions. Participants come away with both new a understanding of the creative class and initiatives that enable your teams to develop a custom strategy for finding, communicating, and selling to this growing customer segment.
Leveraging Location
Florida's research identifies the location factor as a key element of business strategy. Location is not an after-thought. It is a key component of overall business strategy, enabling firms to better attract and retain talent, harness creative workforce and market products.
The Location Factor Workshop uses research from Rise of the Creative Class and Who's Your City to show the key locations relevant to your business and industry. It provides a series of data-driven team based exercises which will enable your organization to identify its best locations and get the most out its existing ones.
Real Estate in the Creative Economy
Whether you're a real estate developer, property manager, or corporation, you likely understand the importance of location. The increasing concentration of the Creative Class has intensified their variations in locational advantage or disadvantage. Beyond location, the work style and lifestyle of the Creative Class is forcing real estate professionals to reassess how real estate is designed and used.
In his research and writing, Florida has uncovered the underlying drivers of real estate success and a series of leading indicators – from the bohemian index, the gay index and more – to identifying high value real estate locations.
The Real Estate Development Workshop distills the key factors that underpin real estate success. It provides a series of data-driven team exercise which enable your organization to identify key strategies, programs and initiatives to increase the effectiveness of your real estate investments and projects.
Creative Class Communities
Our Creative Communities Leadership Project (CCLP) gives emerging leaders the tools they need to generate greater economic prosperity in their region. No longer are cities competing with neighboring cities, rather mega regions are competing globally.
This two-day intensive workshop with your cities crucial leadership will give you the necessary framework to make your community more competitive and vibrant. Richard Florida will equip your team of facilitators with the most current regional economic and demographic data, knowledge of cutting-edge community-building practices and the only national support network of Catalysts and experts.
From Tallahassee, El Paso, Charlotte, Duluth and Tacoma, these projects are rapidly building momentum, with stories in the New York Times, the Seattle Times and more. Start your community leadership project today.
