Adobe MAX: why I'm heading to Miami after 11 years away

Creative Boom: Adobe MAX, it's been a while: why Creative Boom is heading to Miami after 11 years away As founding editor of Creative Boom, I last went to Adobe's creativity conference in 2015. Here's why I'm going back – and why I'm happy to let a few things slide. Adobe MAX 2023 Adobe MAX 2023 There was an email in my inbox I read about six times this week. I had to clean my new glasses twice just to make sure I'd read the message right. It was from the senior marketing team at Adobe, and it asked, politely and warmly, whether I'd like to come to Adobe MAX in Miami this November. I haven't been to MAX since 2015. That's 11 whole years.

Two US presidents have come and gone since then. (I'm not even going to think about how many UK prime ministers we've had.) There's been a global pandemic, too. And an AI revolution. So you'll probably understand why I was surprised by the invite. Happy, but immediately thinking... why now? The thing is, Adobe and I have history. Nothing sinister or dramatic. We've worked happily together for nearly two decades. But, like most relationships, we've had our ups and downs. You see, I'm a journalist, and I'll report on facts. That means I won't always write what they want me to. The subscription model. The introduction of Firefly.

I walk a tightrope between being fair to brands I respect and supporting the creative community I'm here for. The LA years My first MAX was in Los Angeles in May 2013. Creative Boom was just four years old and still very much a side passion project. I remember walking into the convention centre feeling like I'd blagged my way in and shouldn't really be there. I met journalists from other media titles who took the whole thing very seriously, as you would. I don't think I quite appreciated the privilege of being invited. It turned out to be quite the year to be in the room.

That was the MAX where Adobe announced Creative Suite was over and everything was moving to Creative Cloud, subscription-only. Gosh, you could feel the tension in the air. Journalists scrambled to the press room to file. It was, to put it mildly, a scoop. The next time I went was in 2015, and the event had seriously grown up. It had become a festival with Sneaks, keynotes and celebrity guests. That was the year I met Tom May, who has written for Creative Boom for more than a decade; Tom Banks, former Design Week editor; and Ashleigh Allsopp, another brilliant tech journalist. Adobe MAX 2015, LA.

Katy Cowan with Emma Wilkinson from Adobe Adobe MAX 2015, LA. Katy Cowan with Emma Wilkinson from Adobe Katy Cowan at Adobe MAX 2015, with Tom May, Tom Banks, Ashleigh Allsopp and Emma Wilkinson Katy Cowan at Adobe MAX 2015, with Tom May, Tom Banks, Ashleigh Allsopp and Emma Wilkinson What happened next I came home both times full of ideas and inspiration, pretty sure I'd return for another year. Then the invitations stopped. Was it because during The Black Keys I found a cardboard pig's head and encouraged all the other journalists to dance with it? Was it because I re-enacted Baywatch, fully clothed, on the famous beach?

Was it because I didn't stop giggling with much of the marketing team and had the time of my life? No. I suspect none of the above. It was nothing personal. And I wasn't alone. Plenty of us from the smaller titles found the same. This was purely about strategy. Back then, Creative Boom had no Instagram or YouTube channel and certainly no podcast. We were strictly words and pictures on a screen, so there was no competing with the brilliant content creators who came along and were miles ahead of us. Around 2016, things changed for companies like Adobe.

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The article provides insights into Adobe's evolving marketing strategies and the shift towards influencer-driven content, which is relevant but not groundbreaking in the context of brand strategy.