Exposed at the Expo, March 12, 2012

Exposed at the Expo

by Nate Marks
Photos by Mike Tanimura

This year’s Chicago Creative Expo was held on Saturday March 12 from 10am to 5pm in the Cultural Center at Michigan and Randolph and is presented by Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. This was the 8th annual Creative Chicago Expo and the 3rd year that C3 has had a booth at the Expo. It was an interesting day because this year the Expo was held on the same day as Chicago’s famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade — so there was a lot of green to be seen both on Michigan Avenue and in the Cultural Center.

The Expo connects individuals and organizations working in all creative fields — music, film, fashion, theater, dance, literary and visual arts, design and new media — with funding, space, housing, business and social resources. Admission to the Expo and to all workshops was free and open to the public. This year more than 5,500 people participated in the free, day-long event that takes place throughout the Cultural Center. This year’s Expo also featured more than 150 exhibitors, 25 workshops, and the return of “Consult-a-thon”, with 50 consultants available for one-on-one appointments. Local and national specialists in social media, public art, performance marketing, fiscal sponsorship, and website design join space and housing developers, community development organizations, and legal and insurance providers.

Mike Tanimura, Jeff London, Carol Backe, Blanca Robledo-Atwood, Mary Badinger and Nate Marks attended to the C3 Booth. They passed out C3 and CanDo literature and asked people to sign our sheet requesting more C3 info. There was also a fish bowl to collect business cards — and at the end of the event we pulled a card for a one-year free C3 membership. The membership was won by graphic designer Pon Angara, the owner of Barkada Creative. It was really a lot of fun meeting and greeting everyone and promoting C3.