Joe Olsen gives opening remarks at last week’s Stack UnConference. Photo by Danny Schreiber.

When a group of individuals came together earlier this year to lay the groundwork for the first-ever Omaha Creative Week, we spoke with one of its team members, Joe Olsen of Phenomblue, to learn more.

In our June interview with Olsen, he told us that the idea to hold Omaha Creative Week (OCW) was “a build on New York’s Creative Week,” and that like New York, the effort here was to bring people together from different walks of life. The shared commonality of those individuals was an interest in and appreciation of creativity.

“From people in the technology field, all the way to people in the arts community, to people in the creative business field [and] entrepreneurship field,” Olsen said. The goal was to bring them together, “to meet each other, network, and really kind of show off all the different things that are going on inside of the city.”

The week (September 5-11) has now come and gone, and to follow up on our pre-event interview we’ve conducted a post-event email interview with Olsen.

Silicon Prairie News: What are you thoughts on the first-ever Omaha Creative Week? Did it meet the caretakers’ goals?

Joe Olsen: The first annual OCW had a fantastic response from the community as a whole. Our only goal was 10 events and we ended up with around 20. The idea of the first year was laying a framework for the future. We anticipate massive growth in next year’s week.

Do you know how many individuals attended events during OCW?

I don’t know numbers wise, but I have been informed by many event holders that attendance was great. I can tell you from a personal note that the two events I ran (Stack and Heartland Developers Conference) had a better than expected turnout. Overall the feedback from all attendees I spoke with was we need more of this, more frequently. That is a real indicator of need.

What was missing this year that could be implemented next year?

I think more events. Maybe a guide that walked people through the process of throwing an event. I think the more people we have contributing, the better diversity in the week, which has a direct correlation to the value of the week as a whole. More lead time would of course be fantastic, but we’ll have that taken care of. We’re also looking for some of the local creative organizations to take more of lead role in the week as well, as the caretakers did a ton of work this year and it’s difficult with a small group of people so successful in their daily endeavors.

At the beginning of the week, there was quite a bit of chatter around Omaha’s “Creative Community.” What role does Omaha Creative Week have in strengthening that community?

I think the goal of OCW is exposure. Exposure to new people, new experiences, and new ways of collaboration and thinking. Our community is small, but it’s very segmented in just about every way. Creativity is an ideal that should be held up and fostered like a great torch to unite the community around and that’s what weeks like OCW, Omaha Fashion Week, etc. promote. The only way Omaha will become a leader in the creative community is by continuing to build hugely successful organizations that support and enable Omaha’s talent to create. That fact does not change across for-profit or not-for-profit and it crosses all channels of creative works.

If we want the community at large to take creativity seriously, we have to be relevant to the entire community, not just patrons of creativity. Standing on the sidelines demanding respect and a significant voice at the table is not enough. We have to take that passion and build successful outlets for our creativity that are relative to Omaha so that we can make the changes necessary to build and sustain Omaha’s reputation for creativity. A reputation needed to make Omaha a destination for other creatives. That’s an ecosystem that OCW hopes to have a part in building. It’s one thing to talk about the value of creativity and quite another thing to have people experience it.

Do you have any details for OCW 2011? Should we expect early September again?

Yes, I believe that we’ll try for the same week each year, however, it’s up to the caretakers group so I am sure we’ll have to chat about it.