“Together We Thrive”: the JCOD Summit & Festival in Inglewood

IMG Innovate Marketing hired me to cover the Los Angeles County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department's “Together We Thrive” Summit & Festival at WePlay Studios in Inglewood. The job was to cover the event design and the event itself, making sure I got every part of it.

The layout made that less simple than it sounds. The music and eating were outside, the main stage was inside, and another large stage all the way to the left was running concurrent talks. I had to keep hopping between all three and get the timing right for the speakers and the moments that couldn't be repeated.

There was a big check handoff on the main stage that I absolutely had to be there for. That meant working backward from the schedule, knowing when I could leave one stage, and making sure I was back in position before it happened.

It was cool hearing Danny Trejo talk about his time in prison. I also spent time listening to the women working for the fire department and to people talking about programs that had genuinely helped them. Those parts made the day more interesting than just moving between stages and checking things off a shot list.

They needed quick highlights the next day. The full set covered the event design, the speakers, the concurrent talks, the festival crowd, and the big main-stage moments for the client and IMG Innovate Marketing's recap.