The Collective Upgrade Recap
Team Corker gathered in early September, cross-legged on the yoga studio floor asking questions of how to wrap this year of 2022 in a bow. What could we as a Collective say YES to? What would we like to no longer do? How do we celebrate each other, our clients, our community and our friends?
It felt like a tall order. Community really matters. Connections felt important. Gathering still felt questionable. And mailing holiday gifts to “company offices” (what are those anyway?!) most definitely felt like a NO. Yet updating our headshots, meeting in a new space and giving everyone choice were really easy YES’s. We wanted to explore the places and spaces in our lives that have felt dormant over the last couple of years.
From that, The Collective Upgrade was born: The Collective You just so happened to be available for a portrait session, werklab was in to collaborate and an incredible team of humans are said YES.
One of those amazing humans was Jacki Carr who on short notice, jumped on a plane to host the evening. She is a woman who was born with a microphone in her hand because her ability to hold space, tell stories and ask questions to an audience is second to none. Thank you Jacki!
Another incredible soul who joined forces with us was Caitlin Powell-Bowman and her event team at Sparka Group . They don’t miss a beat, a detail, a person or a moment. They know how to make sure you are welcomed, you are fed, you are seen and cared for. Thank you for sharing this special gift with us!
The details never come together on their own. It really takes a village to bring together the best beverage line up (hat tip to Sansorium), the special pink donuts and the gorgeous vegetarian charcuterie board from the food-artist Marika. We were lucky enough to have Ben Owens with us to capture all of the moments-in-between throughout the evening as well.
The location was very special: Werklab is a community hub that allowed for a full photo studio to be created on one side while the other side was available conversation. The experience of being photographed by Dennis is vulnerable, emotional and truly beautiful. People saw their portraits and didn’t recognize themselves outside of zoom; they gathered at the photo wall with tears in their eyes for this version of their life to be captured as only he does. While the classic black and white prints may stream social media, the framed portraits that hang in homes is what memories are really made of: the memory of life in 2022.
The conversations Jacki hosted were not like anything else or anything you’d expect. While she did speak with Lana Bradshaw about the recruiting upgrade, she also riffed with Fiona on being sober and Anna Farrant on changing career trajections. Jacki shared the crunchiness in taking upgrades; the small, tiny changes that occur everyday that make up the upgrades; the anti-glamour life of choosing a new way – and therein lies, the upgrade.
All of this to be said, The Collective Upgrade was designed as an opportunity to come together because leaving our homes, our zoom screens and solitude, we felt was one step closer to a community upgrade.
The seats at the front of the plane are always available for an “Upgrade”. We are not implying that the seats anywhere else aren’t great – we are simply here to remind you that taking that available Upgrade is an option that is here for all of us. The seats may be limited yet you are worth it. We hope you heed the choice to find the seat that is right for you!
We are already looking forward to our next event in 2023. See you there!
