What to Expect from a Create & Cultivate Conference | San Francisco 2019

Create & Cultivate is a single-day conference for women divided amongst two tracks – entrepreneurship and brand/content development. The day is jam packed with panels featuring the best women in biz, mentor power hours, networking, happy hours, hair & make up touch ups, instaworthy moments, and brand discovery. If you’re looking for a shift in mindset or just some inspiration, you just might find that here.

The Panels @ Create & Cultivate

The day is filled with superstar women sharing their career experiences over a variety of topics. Topics covered this year included: raising capital, dividing equity, leading a team, building a brand, work life balance–the list goes on. You’ll be sure to hear from boss babes in both corporate and entrepreneurship roles with representations from small business to large business. Everything from Microsoft and Softbank to BlueJays and Moroccan Oil. You’ll even get to hear from some of your favorite influencers and celebrities. This year’s San Francisco event had stars like Kourtney Kardashian, The Skinny Confidential, and Giuliana Rancic. At C&C it’s not just about being an entrepreneur but also about being an intraprenuer.

Track One or Track Two?

If you purchase a general admission ticket, the C&C team picks your track based on your responses. Now, if you know which track you’re leaning to, just be savvy when responding to the questions regarding track placement. If you’re VIP–you can pick your own track. A few weeks before the conference, C&C will publish their schedule. Use this schedule to your advantage and research the women attending ahead of time.

The Vendor Game was on another level this year:

Every C&C event has a handful of companies with their marketing booths. Some of these booths were incredible at how they put everything together. There’s also a lot of free swag you can get your hands on as a consumer.

• Vanity Fair had tablets collecting your consumer profile data (name, address, email, etc.). Upon providing them this info, you received a free fitting and free bra that’s valued retail $40
• Chandon had quite the creative picnic photo set up. (See photo below.)
• Alaska Airlines had one of the best booths offering video footage of you and your C&C girlfriends throwing around confetti
• LaCroix had an all pink office desk set up as a photobooth that provided printed out photos with LaCroix bold across the bottom. See photo below.
• RoC skin care had a lovely set up of their product and Macaroons from Laudree. Those that visited had a macaroon personalized for them while hearing about the benefits of the product.
• Vital Protein was giving out free immunity shots and drinks while educating their visitors on the product.

Attendee Happy Hour: The Evening Before the Create & Cultivate Conference

Prior to every conference, C&C hosts a happy hour in the city. This is a great way to start networking with fellow conference attendees. If you are attending the conference as a panelist (boss babe alert!), there is a separate dinner event for panelists that you will be invited to.

Food at Create & Cultivate Conference:

C&C is vegan-friendly. Matcha and cold brews are served all day. Breakfast in the past has included yogurt and bagels. You can expect a salad for lunch. In the evening around six, they bring out Beyond Meat Burgers, which are bomb. There are healthy and organic snacks available in the food hall all day long. Beverages are flowing throughout the day as well. And if you’re VIP, you can have a cocktail at any point in the day.

How much does the ticket cost for the Create & Cultivate Conference?

• General Admission: $350
• VIP: $575

Create & Cultivate Conference happens a couple times every year in different cities. Stay tuned to the site to see what city they will arrive in next.

Is it worth buying a VIP ticket to the Create & Cultivate Conference?

I have now attended Create & Cultivate with a GA badge and VIP badge. TBH, GA is better bang for your buck. I think one of the ways that C&C could make the VIP tickets more worthwhile is by offering dedicated priority seating to VIP attendees. Currently there is only dedicated seating to C&C Insiders (a program you can sign up for online or at the conference for an added cost).

Walk away with…

Not only do you get to leave with all the stories you heard, the relationships you formed, and the swag you collected throughout the day, but to add icing to the cake, you walk away with an entire bag full of sponsored goodies. The products in the bag are worth the ticket price in itself! You’ll just have to see for yourself.