FC/LA: A Meeting Of The Most Creative Minds

Join Fast Company editors and writers live from our creativity counter-conference in Los Angeles on May 6th & 7th!

With FC/LA: A Meeting of the Most Creative Minds, Fast Company presents our first-ever gathering in Los Angeles to cast a lens on the impact and importance of creativity in business, technology, design, and of course, entertainment.

During the event we’ll also be celebrating the 2015 inductees to our Most Creative People in Business community, who will be announced in the June issue of the magazine.

With leading thinkers from companies like Funny or Die, Hulu, DAQRI, The Honest Company, TOMS, SoulPancake, and more, FC/LA will bring the best of Fast Company’s magazine and websites to life.

Check out the full event agenda here.

3rd & 7 37yd

Day 1 of #FCLA15 was amazing, and now we're celebrating with some cocktails and late nineties dance music

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 2:38:14 AM
Oprah Announces A New Reality Show
Fast CompanyThe new show, called For Peete's Sake, will star actress Holly Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL player Rodney Peete.

by Rose Pastore 5/7/2015 1:18:35 PM
It's a beautiful day to be creative.

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 4:28:18 PM
Important conference safety notice.

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 4:31:26 PM
Just getting ready to begin the first session of the day with OWN co-presidents Sheri Salata and Erik Logan, interviewed by Fast Company contributor Nicole LaPorte. The room is filling up!

by Lori Hoffman 5/7/2015 4:55:25 PM
Proud to welcome #FCLA15 to Los Angeles! Welcome @FastCompany, to the capital of #entertainment, #tech, #fashion, & #design. #longLA #techLA

by LA Mayor's Office via twitter 5/7/2015 4:56:54 PM
FC editor Bob Safian kicking us off at FCLA. Amazing weather at 72andSunny - and a room full of MCPs!

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 4:58:09 PM
You may also have heard about the donut wall. This was not a drill: 🍩🍩🍩

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 4:59:12 PM
Starting day #2 of #FCLA15 off right with an actual wall of donuts as participants enter. We will try really hard to have only one today.

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 5:00:29 PM
Fast Company writer Nicole LaPorte is kicking off the first session.

How can a company really have two CEOs? Erik Logan, co-CEO of OWN Network, says "I speak for Sheri [Salata, co-CEO], and Sheri speaks for me." They both work on business and creative. "If we can't reconcile art and commerce, how is the rest of the company going to do it?"

They tell staff that they're so aligned, an update only needs to go through one of them. It's their responsibility to update each other--not everyone else. Having Oprah being the inspiring soul of the company helps.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:15:47 PM
Sheri and Erik are talking about how they are peas and carrots as co-presidents at OWN. They both manage the creative and the business in a very symbiotic relationship.

by Lori Hoffman 5/7/2015 5:15:51 PM
It may be surprising to think about, but the OWN network didn't just spring up. Over the past four years, the focus of OWN has had many iterations. The first years were spent learning the cable world. Now, a Tyler Perry partnership has signaled another pivot in programming. The driving factor has been a desire for storytelling, and that's how the network has grown.

That's been a thread throughout the conversations at FCLA. Realizing that creative, successful brands were not at that scale from day one. Having the courage and desire to create and keep creating is how every one of this big ideas has grown.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:24:15 PM
OWN Co-Presidents Sheri Salata and Erik Logan share some thoughts on how they are able to work so well together and what makes their partnership so successful:

"This only works if there's love. If there's mistrust or fear, it won't work. Oprah knows we take our relationship very seriously and that if she speaks to one of us it's the other's job to update the other one."

"Call in the miracles you want to happen and leave that space in your life."

"We've signed up to play the long game here that will represent Oprah's legacy for a long time. The big decisions we make are much bigger than any single debate."

"We're on a heartfelt spirit-driven road together so if something doesn't feel right, it usually doesn't feel right to most of us."

"We don't divide our roles into business and creative. If we divided art and commerce there would be a chasm in the company we didn't want."

"Anytime I was in trouble, I had somebody here that had my back. It felt like magic."

"We don't make really fast decisions because that's when you get into trouble. We take our time and will spin it around then try it on for size first."

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 5:24:36 PM
Nicole LaPorte to OWN co-CEOs: OWN was losing money not too long ago. How has the turnaround happened?

Sheri Salata says "We didn't believe what people were writing." She says if most of her team had done even 10% better than the day before, they had the right recipe: momentum.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:26:47 PM
ICYMI: Oprah showed up to Fast Company's offsite session at OWN yesterday. Sheri says that was the magic that the company is used to creating. And you can feel it in the staff culture.

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 5:31:14 PM
"It's all about meeting people where they are." - @SheriSalata on embracing new social media platforms #FCLA15

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 5:38:32 PM
Simple but useful advice from Oprah Winfrey co president Sheri Salata: do more of what's working, less of what's not.

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 5:41:29 PM
"There is no room for creativity when you're completely burdened by tasks that get you absolutely nowhere." - Sheri Salata's final comments on staying nimble and creative - and editing out time sucking projects.

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 5:42:07 PM
Next up: Jessica Alba from The Honest Company and Fast Company executive editor Noah Robischon.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:42:35 PM
Alba says Honest launched with 17 products in 2012. And even with their rigorous standards for eco-friendly and sustainably safe materials, they've been able to scale up to 200 products in barely three years.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:47:05 PM
Talking new product innovation with @noahr and Jessica Alba of Honest at #FCLA15

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 5:48:05 PM
Before expanding into new areas like feminine products like deodorant and personal hygiene items, Alba says they used customer data. "We have two to three thousand touch points with our customers every day." Smart but cautious scaling.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:48:57 PM
Lots of science-y talk here about all the chemicals in home and hygiene products. Alba's answer to that in women's products? "Organic cotton." Pretty simple.

FYI, the conversation has already veered to reengineering the tampon here. The Honest Company's version is all organic and doesn't pinch. "Ladies, you know what I'm talking about," Jessica Alba (founder) says.

by Sarah Lawson edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 5:51:45 PM
"With our retail partners they agreed to display our products as a suite of products so people can really understand our range of products. There are plenty of retailers that have been doing it for a very long day, so unless we created a retail store that is a destination and adds value, we aren't planning an expansion into that yet." - Jessica Alba on her plans for The Honest Company's expansion into retail stores #FCLA15

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 5:59:29 PM
"There's no better way to make a difference than with a business." -Jessica Alba

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 6:03:04 PM
One of Jessica Alba's hiring requirements: pass the "airport test." If you are stranded with someone for six hours, would you a) not want to kill them and b) want to have a beer with them and chitchat?

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 6:08:17 PM
The party has moved outside! LA mayor Eric Garcetti talking with Fast Company editor Bob Safian.

by Lori Hoffman 5/7/2015 6:30:07 PM
Just Fast Company Editor Bob Safian, Jessica Alba and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti hanging out backstage at #FCLA15

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 6:40:26 PM
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti on LA traffic: right now, there's an average of only 1.1 people in every car. If every car had an average of 1.6 people (roughly every other car was carpooling), "L.A. wouldn't have traffic."

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 6:47:05 PM
Fast Company contributor Baratunde Thurston talking Soul Pancake with Rainn Wilson and Shabnam Mogharabi

by Lori Hoffman 5/7/2015 7:07:19 PM
Rainn Wilson and Shabnam Mogharabi of Soul Pancake are up next, talking about how the uplifting web video company got its start.

Eight years ago when they were thinking about how to start a web content business, "the worst of humanity" was on the Internet. They wanted to change that.

So with Mogharabi, they decided to make uplifting video content that had an edge - nothing smarmy, sappy, or Oprah-esque (oh, snap!!)

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 7:10:56 PM
(Wilson's words not mine)...

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 7:11:41 PM
"We're not afraid to go right for the human heart." - Rainn Wilson on Soul Pancake's mission #FCLA15

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 7:14:26 PM
Do you measure the success of your company based on the number of gallons of tears? (They often pull pranks that turn out to be very emotional for the participants.)

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 7:15:48 PM
Rainn Wilson on what Soul Pancake is--taking universal human experiences and exploring them visually: death, joy, gratitude.

by Lori Hoffman edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 7:17:57 PM
Getting heavy (and funny) with Rainn Wilson talking about death and joy on SoulPancake #FCLA15

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 7:19:02 PM
"Like attracts like. Our storytellers believe in what we do and are excited to be part of something that brings people joy and tears." - Soul Pancake on their mission

by Michelle Markowitz 5/7/2015 7:21:46 PM
"We get to pay our employees a lot lot less because we have a mission," jokes Rainn. Note: His timing was perfect and cannot be translated into liveblogese. They did think about making Soul Pancake a non-profit at one point.

by Noah Robischon edited by Cayleigh Parrish 5/7/2015 7:22:27 PM
Fun fact: SoulPancake was almost named Metaphysical Milkshake #FCLA15

by Erin Schulte 5/7/2015 7:22:54 PM
Soul Pancake is so uplifting, their YouTube channel doesn't have troll-y comments. You read that right. Mogharabi says that when someone posts as a troll on one of their videos, the positive Soul Pancake fans self police the channel and drown them out!

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 7:32:55 PM
Number one social recommendation from Soul Pancake: choose one call to action for your audience and stick to it.

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 7:34:34 PM
What does success look like to you? Rainn: we want to make stuff that matters.

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 7:36:58 PM
Vosges chocolate workshop, wow you've never tasted so many flavors in chocolate. This is the founder Katrina Markoff.

by Noah Robischon 5/7/2015 8:27:05 PM
Katrina Markoff of Vosges, leading a chocolate meditation here at lunchtime

by Lori Hoffman 5/7/2015 8:27:15 PM
Just had an amazing "chocolate meditation" tasting with the talented Katrina Markoff of Vosges. I'll leave you with these photos, because there are no words for chocolate that uses olive oil, mushrooms and matcha green tea.

by Sarah Lawson 5/7/2015 8:48:41 PM