Neocon Workshop Updates

Day 1: Time, profits & creative vision

Time, profits, and a little bit of chaos

We kicked off Day 1 of Neocon with a packed workshop in partnership with ASID. What started as a session on internal systems quickly turned into a bigger conversation about what it means to run a creative practice in 2025.

Designers talked about feeling pulled in every direction - emails, client edits, spreadsheets, back-and-forth approvals - and how hard it can be to maintain clarity (and margins) once projects get busy.

But there was momentum, too.

The Client Dashboard caught attention fast - especially the idea of letting clients in just enough to stay informed, without handing over the whole kitchen sink. There were lots of questions about access levels, and even more about live-sharing selections, images, and documents in a way that’s professional, not messy.

The Add from URL feature was another hit. It clicked immediately: “Oh wow, you mean I don’t have to copy-paste specs from product pages anymore?” Designers saw it as a practical fix for something they’d just accepted as a time suck.

And the Canva integration? Total win. Live syncing between platforms just makes sense, especially when moodboards and visuals are changing on the fly.

More tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Day 2: Accuracy, visibility & staying out of your client’s inbox

If Day 1 was about saving time behind the scenes, Day 2 was about what happens when you don’t - when a spec’s out of date, the contractor’s working off an old version, and no one’s quite sure what was approved or when.

Melissa kicked things off with a conversation on specification accuracy and operational communication. It resonated fast. Everyone had a story - the spreadsheet that got out of sync, the quote that disappeared into someone’s inbox, the approval that was “definitely” sent but never tracked.

The core message? Misalignment costs money - and trust.

Vanessa built on that with a walkthrough of how to set up reusable project templates across key design phases. It wasn’t just about working faster - it was about building a backbone for a studio’s entire process. One that protects time, margins, and energy.

Standout features today:

• Live specs + approvals: Clients can view and approve products directly from the shared dashboard, with time stamps, comment history, and a running log that finally settles the “but I thought we agreed…” moments.
• Flagging for contractors: Designers loved the ability to flag items for contractors with notes - like “pricing changed” - that show up live and eliminate constant back-and-forth.
• QR codes on site: Contractors scan a code at the job site and access the live schedule — no PDFs, no outdated folders in the garage, no lost emails.
• Web Clipper + Add from URL: Scrape product data, then refine it manually if needed. Fast, flexible, and a clear upgrade from dragging info into spreadsheets.

The biggest shift? People started to see that operational clarity isn’t just admin hygiene - it unlocks more trust, capacity, and control.