10 Things I’m Looking Forward to at CreativePro Week 2025
Howdy, David Blatner here… As spring rolls around each year, I start to get so excited about two things: the return of beautiful weather and the fact that CreativePro Week is coming!
Yes, this year’s CreativePro Week is just around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited for it. Here are 10 things I’m looking forward to this year:
➡️ New Art: Internationally renowned digital artist Bert Monroy is releasing an incredible new creation during his session (A Master Class in Digital Art and Photoshop Innovation). The piece is particularly special because it is based on a photograph he took at the very same conference venue two years ago. It’s going to be so “meta,” seeing art inspired by the building we’re sitting in!
➡️ Three Minutes Max: There are tips and then there are “3 minutes max tips!” We’ve got four “3MM” sessions on the agenda this year: one each covering Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and PowerPoint. The 30 presenters (ranging from Jesús Ramirez to Lisa Carney to Khara Plicanic to Rob de Winter to Nigel French and more!) are pulling out all the stops to show their best, wildest, most compelling tricks… who will win the audience vote?!
➡️ Ignite CreativePro: Hosted by the amazing Khara Plicanic, our annual Ignite CreativePro session hands the stage to the attendees! This is one of my favorite sessions because you never know what to expect. Each person has 5 minutes, 20 slides, and a great story or lesson to share.
➡️ Camp CreativePro: Need a break from digital? Ready to actually use your hands to create? I’m thrilled that we’re doing the “Camp CreativePro” Arts & Crafts room again! I’ll be bringing a bunch of my old-time graphics supplies (Letraset, waxer, and so on)… and we have a ton of cool “make it” supplies! Even better: each day one of our amazing presenters will lead a “Maker Morning” class!
➡️ Developer Summit: Behind every creative is a creative developer — a coder, IT person, scripter, or integrator who is responsible for making design professionals more productive and efficient! That’s why The Creative Developers Summit is co-located at the same place and time as CreativePro Week. If you’re a creative dev into automation, or you have one on your staff, be sure to check out the Dev Summit. If you’re not a dev, then meet some of them, Thursday during lunch, at the Creative Wow! demonstration.
➡️ Water Slide: OK, I have to admit that the little kid in me is excited to end the day by jumping in the pool and getting on the water slide. The Sheraton Grand Wild Horse Pass is in an idyllic desert resort, located on the land of the Gila River Indian Community. Not into the swimming pool? There’s a big casino and a cool outlet shopping mall just 5 minutes away (free shuttle), plus golf, a really nice spa, and the only AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Five-Star restaurant in Arizona. Don’t miss it.
➡️ Welcome Reception: Yes, we’re bringing back our networking reception “Bingo” ice-breaker game! This is such a fun and easy way to meet your fellow attendees, plus have yummy food. Bingo winners are eligible for prizes from our sponsors!
➡️ Paper Party: Back by popular demand… Wednesday night Sabine Lenz will give out awesome paper samples and lead us in an exploration of all things paper and print. After so much attention on digital, this is an excellent time to dive into the real-world experience of analog design.
➡️ Solution providers: Come meet the real people behind some of the best software solutions on the planet, including PageProof, Adobe, and Priint. And of course we’ll have several people from the Adobe InDesign team there, too — it’s a great chance to tell them face-to-face what you want to see in future versions of the software.
➡️ Seeing you! Okay, maybe it’s cheesy, but my favorite thing about CreativePro Week is seeing old friends and meeting new ones, like you! The event is big enough to be full of energy, but small enough so that we can sit down together at a lunch table (or the Ask the Experts breakfast- and lunch-tables) and talk. If you’re joining us online, you’ll find me from time to time in our digital Coffee Break Room! Come say hi.
Remember: there’s only one place on the planet and one week of the year that all this is happening! June 2–6 at CreativePro Week, in Phoenix (and online). See you there!
