At Bond, we want the conference to be a safe space to share stories about running your creative practice as a business on the internet—and all of the challenges and struggles that come with it.
On Saturday March 10th from 10am-5pm, we’re hosting a second day called Office Hours at the BackerKit HQ. It’s a day of casual conversation and short talks from knowledgeable experts and experienced independent artists. Our aim is to create a comfortable, accessible space for creators, makers, and entrepreneurs to share their own stories, and offer practical advice with one another. Check out our lineup of featured speakers:
Amplifier (Merchandise & Logistics)
Joel Bush
Amplifier is a highly innovative third-party logistics company that blends traditional Order Fulfillment, high-volume Screen Printing and On-Demand Production and Personalization all under one roof.
Blackbox (Shipping & Fullfillment)
Karlee Esmailli
Blackbox is a shipping company for independent artists. Maybe you’re planning a Kickstarter campaign and you need to figure out how to ship rewards to your backers (and how much to charge). Or maybe you have a project that’s outgrown your garage. Reach out to Blackbox, send us your stuff, and we’ll take it from there. Then go back to the important part: making your next thing.
Cotton Bureau (Merchandise & Logistics)
Jay Fanelli, Nathan Peretic & Michelle Sharp
Cotton Bureau is a curated t-shirt marketplace for designers, communities, and causes. You supply the design and promotion, and we do all the hard stuff: selling, printing, shipping, and customer service. Did we mention it’s free?
Dragon Innovation (Manufacturing)
Kaethe Henning
Dragon Innovation reinvents the way companies manufacture products at scale. Through its modern SaaS platform, Product Planner, and team of hardware manufacturing experts, Dragon manages the full manufacturing process and greatly simplifies and de-risks the journey from “One to Many.” As Director of Business Development for Dragon Innovation, Kaethe works with early stage hardware companies as they approach mass manufacturing, suggesting resources and solutions to help them launch with confidence that their product can be manufactured on time and at cost.
Gaymer X (Video Games)
Matt Conn & Toni Rocca
GaymerX started as a dream for a one-off event focused on LGBTQ people who love video games. Founder Matt Conn now spends his time working with fellow LGBTQ creators on a series of well received games through MidBoss while Toni Rocca steers the GaymerX nonprofit to create better practices and more opportunities for LGBTQ creators and fans.
Kickstarter (Crowdfunding)
Clarissa Redwine & Cassie Marketos
Kickstarter is where creative projects come to life — everything from films, games, and music to art, design and technology. Since its launch in 2009, 14 million people have pledged over $3.5 billion on Kickstarter, funding more than 139,000 creative projects. Joining us will be Cassie Marketos (VP Community Strategy) and Clarissa Redwine (Design & Technology Outreach).
Lumi (Design)
Jesse Genet
Lumi is an online tool that makes it easy for ecommerce brands to ship their products in great packaging. Jesse Genet is the founder and CEO of Lumi. She launched Lumi in 2015 with co-founder Stephan Ango and she’s been an entrepreneur since she was 16.
Oh My Dollar! (Financial Planning)
Lillian Karabaic
Lillian Karabaic teaches money management for creatives using cats and glitter. As Oh My Dollar!, she hosts a weekly personal finance radio show, money bootcamps online and across the country. Her book, Get Your Money Together, is a cat-filled illustrated workbook about money – call it purrsonal finance. She’s here to help with cash flow planning, taxes for crowdfunding projects, and understanding retirement as a self-employed person.
OpenVerse (Marketing)
Rob Goodman
Rob Goodman is principal at OpenVerse, a marketing and storytelling firm focused on strategy, content, and brand for emerging technology companies. He is also the creator and host of Making Ways, a podcast all about the unexpected paths to a creative career. Today, he works with an array of startups and technology companies to drive brand, content, and product initiatives.
Patreon (Membership)
Dave Hunt & Ana Ulin
Patreon is a membership platform that makes it easy for creators to get paid. Thousands of podcasters, video creators, game developers, comic artists, and more are making a salary on Patreon. Joining us will be Ana Ulin (Senior Engineering Manager) and Dave Hunt (Creator Care Manager) helping creators manage their success.
Podo Labs (Product Design)
Eddie Lee
Podo Labs is an SF-based consumer tech startup and the creators of Podo, Jack, and Belle. In addition to shipping and retailing products all over the world, Podo Labs has established themselves as the top 1% most-funded Kickstarter creators of all time. Eddie Lee is the President and Co-founder of Podo Labs and would love to geek out with you over crowdfunding, hardware, and blockchain applications.
Twogether Studios (Tabletop)
Jenn Ellis
Twogether Studios is a small independent board game company based in Portland, Oregon. They have successfully crowdfunded and released the games Phoenix: Dawn Command, Illimat, and Action Cats!.
Work Made For Hire (Contracts & Negotiation)
Katie Lane
Katie Lane is an attorney and negotiation coach who helps creators protect their rights and get paid fairly for their work. Her clients include comics creators, game designers, authors, illustrators, and musicians. Katie loves: teaching people how to negotiate, reading contracts with a red pen, bow ties, and Star Trek.
Tabletop Gameroom!
Throughout the entire Office Hours event, we will have a tabletop gaming room set up featuring a variety of awesome games. Here you will be able to try out some really fun games and play with the creators behind them. Featured games will include Illimat and Action Cats! from Twogether Studios, God Hates Charades by the God Hates Games crew, Ursa Miner from Room and Board Games, and Maybe Capital from creator Andréa Koval.
Excited to meet everyone above to share stories and advice!? Be sure to head to the official Bond website for more details and announcements including our impressive lineup of conference speakers. Space is limited, so reserve your tickets today! And thanks to our generous sponsors, we still have a handful of subsidized passes available for $49!