UW Creative Futures Lab: AI Conference Debrief & Community Conversation
What does the future of creativity look like and who gets to shape it? Join Madison Media Professionals for a special conversation with members of the UW Creative Futures Lab team as they debrief their September AI Conference (conference tickets still available) and introduce their work to the MMP community. UW Creative Futures Lab is exploring the forces shaping the future of creative work, from emerging technologies and changing industries to the people who are imagining, making, and leading what comes next. And that future is already being shaped right here in Madison.
Come learn more about the Creative Futures Lab team, hear what they discovered at their September conference, and consider how your work, ideas, and perspective are helping shape the creative future of our community. Whether you’re a longtime creative professional, a student just getting started, or somewhere in between, you are part of the future of creativity in Madison. Come be part of the conversation.
Tuesday, October 20th, 2026
5:30 – 6:00 PM Networking/Appetizers
6:00 – 6:10 PM Announcements & Introductions
6:10 – 7:30 PM Presentation & Q&A
Location:
4001 Felland Rd. #101
Madison, WI 53718
Pricing:
MMP Members Free (Register in advance)
Our Presenter:
Derek Johnson is a professor and department chair in Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research examines the ways in which creators, consumers, and marketers negotiate their interests in long-running narratives, brands, and technologies, revealing struggles over the reproduction of the past and the management of the future. He is the author of Media Franchising: Creative License and Collaboration in the Culture Industries (NYU Press, 2013) and Transgenerational Media Industries: Adults, Children, and the Reproduction of Culture (University of Michigan Press, 2019). Most recently, he has launched the UW Creative Futures Lab initiative to partner with media companies and develop the insights necessary for creative cultures to thrive in the face of industry change.
Guests $15
Student Guests $5
($5 more at the door/be sure to register in advance)