Andy Epstein started his career as a freelance designer and illustrator. Later, jumping into the world of in-house, Andy created and grew in-house design teams for Commonwealth Toy and Gund, restructured the 100+ creative team at Bristol-Myers-Squibb and consulted at J&J. Following an engagement at Designer Greetings leading their product development team, Andy has moved back into pharma heading up an 85+ managed services department at Merck for The BOSS Group.
Andy has written and spoken extensively on in-house issues and published “The Corporate Creative”. He is a co-founder of InSource and for the past 5 years served as program director for the InHOWse Managers Conference. Most recently he was head of INitiative, the AIGA program dedicated to in-house outreach and support. Andy now partners with Cella Consulting where he has expanded on his efforts to empower in-house teams and raise their stature in the design and business communities.
Andy has written and spoken extensively on in-house issues and published “The Corporate Creative”. He is a co-founder of InSource and for the past 5 years served as program director for the InHOWse Managers Conference. Most recently he was head of INitiative, the AIGA program dedicated to in-house outreach and support. Andy now partners with Cella Consulting where he has expanded on his efforts to empower in-house teams and raise their stature in the design and business communities.
Sessions
Getting PD PDQ: Professional Development Strategies and Tactics for In-house Teams
Wenesday, May 6 • 4:15 – 5:00pm
As a manager, how much time do you spend developing your team’s skills and talents? A recent survey shows nearly 75% of creative leads don’t do enough to support professional development among their staffs. That’s a sure-fire way to set your team up for failure. At a time when designers need to know ever-changing tools and technologies, when they’re being called upon to provide additional strategies and services, professional development has never been more critical. In this session, Andy Epstein will convince you that you should focus on your team’s professional development and define three key areas of development: institutional knowledge, soft and hard business skills, and soft and hard functional expertise. You’ll get tactics on how to implement development practices and create a supportive plan specifically designed to help your in-house team shine and succeed.
3 Main Take-Aways:
- You’ll understand why professional development matters for your team—and for you as a manager—and the different types of development you should focus on
- You’ll learn how to assess your team’s skills-development needs and design a high-level plan specifically to meet those needs
- You’ll gain tactics and tools to implement a training program for your team
