Every quarter, I have the privilege and the opportunity to put together LightFair’s e-magazine. It was an idea I came up with back in the fall of 2020 when trade shows were no shows and we were all trying to find ways to stay relevant with our audience in an industry where bringing people together was our business. We couldn’t bring them together in person, so we did everything we could to create a sense of community online. We started curating stories, profiles, interviews, case studies…and mirror what one might experience on the LightFair show floor. Conversations. Interactions. Discussions. Community.
The LightFair Blog and e-magazine came to be.
It is undoubtedly the most enjoyable and creatively rewarding and fulfilling aspects of my role as Content Marketing Manager. I even jokingly call it my passion project. My second job. The work I love to do when I am exhausted from all the other day-to-day content marketing work.
What is so enjoyable about being the editor/curator of the e-magazine is how much I get to learn. The wonderful people I get to interview, interact with, talk to and get to know. As someone who is no industry subject matter expert, I am pretty sure my naivete and lack of expertise is evident, but my questions and efforts are always met with such kindness and graciousness by the experienced professionals and lighting practitioners I reach out to. Humility is an admirable quality and I have been fortunate to be on the receiving end.
The other aspect I enjoy as a “creative” is the connecting of dots. After I have curated all the stories for a particular issue, I sit down (or take a walk) to come up with an editorial that ties it all together. This is one of the most nerve-wracking, unpredictable, exciting and creatively fulfilling pieces of the process. I don’t know what I’m going to say almost up until the last minute. I spend a lot of time mulling over the different stories and how they are connected, unusual connections, interesting links…and at some point in the process, the copy starts to write itself. At the end of it, I end up feeling like I can take no credit for the process or the output…and it doesn’t matter. I am just grateful I was part of it.
The experience of playing editor for the e-magazine has reminded me of what books on creativity tell you. When it comes to the creative process, and especially writing - I can say this: as a writer, you don’t always necessarily write. You let it flow.
Just care enough about the subject. Learn all you can. Let ideas and thoughts simmer for as long as they need to. Leave the doors (and windows) open for your muse…never forcing or expecting her to enter. And when she does…experience and enjoy the flow.