Last November, Avantgarde worked with Pereira & O'Dell to produce Creative Social's tenth creative summit this time in San Francisco.

Creative Social

Every big idea started out as a question. Global brands, political revolutions, successful blind dates—they all began with What if…? What if we put cotton on a stick? What if we sent bits of data through the air? What if we made a car that runs on feelings? That last one’s made up, but then again, so is everything.

This year’s Creative Social brought together some of the world’s most notorious what-iffers from 15 cities across 10 countries. These infamous innovators assembled in a 100-year-old former speakeasy, the BarrelHouse, to share stories and discuss the future of their respective fields—Design, Music, Film, Technology, Food and Business.

It was only fitting that the Fall ’09 Creative Social landed in San Francisco. A notorious bubble of innovation, ideas, and liberal politics, the city by the Bay is the perfect backdrop for this weeklong what-if-a-thon. Each day, talks explored concepts, products, and movements that began locally, but grew into global phenomena. All this occurred over delicious local fare and the muffled din of smart people whispering excitedly to other smart people.