A few weeks back we hosted our first In/Visible Salon at Noise 13 with colleagues from Adobe, Mozilla, Pinterest, Google, among others. After a brief introduction by conference founders Arianna Orland and Dava Guthmiller, the conversation coalesced around the creative process and the role it plays in our personal and professional lives.

To stoke dialogue and get people talking we placed posters throughout the event designed to invite attendees into a shared conversation. We asked questions like “What’s your favorite color?” No surprise: a lot of black, “What was your first job?” Somewhat of a surprise: birthday party magician, and “Who is one of your heroes and why?” Biggest surprise: Sister Corita Kent, silk screening nun. ‘Nuff said.

The most talked about the question of the evening was “When did you first realize you needed to be in a creative field?” Check out some of the responses below.

We love this question because on an individual level the answer offers a glimpse into each person’s unique creative center. For the group, reading these answers as a collection reminds us that everyone’s path is different and there’s no right or wrong way to begin. John Cage, the late experimental composer and artist tell us “Begin anywhere.” And with his wise words at our backs, we at the In/Visible Project will continue fostering an open dialogue about the creative process.

Join us on September 13th from 6-9pm on the roof of CreativeLive for the next In/Visible Salon. Special guest Travis Neilson will share his perspective on tackling the ideation process by adding tools (skills, experiences, rituals) and not rules (procedures, limits). Libations, light bites and a rich conversation about the creative process will be provided. Ticket sales will be limited to the first 50 guests, get yours here.