NOVEMBER | FEATURE
Creative Impact Conference
Uus Laine
Telliskivi Creative City
maintain an independent spirit . “ We sang ourselves free by being free in music ,” he said .
Among the conference delegation was a sizeable group of UK industry executives , including Glastonbury Festival booker and Great Escape cofounder Martin Elbourne , Music Venue Trust venue support manager Clara Cullen , BIMM senior lecturer Howard Monk , The Jazz Café promotions manager Jack Hersh , festival owner and artist manager Stephen Budd , and Tim Brennan , a video director who has worked with some of the biggest touring acts in the world and is one of the leading figures behind the Carry On Touring post Brexit campaign .
TMW usually takes place in late March but was delayed twice this year due to pandemic related issues . With the aim of attracting the widest possible international audience , TMW was delivered this year as a hybrid event , with some interviews taking place online and all conference sessions being made available to stream .
TMW head of communications Ingrid Kohtla says digital delivery is likely to remain a key element of the event for the foreseeable future . She has been involved with the festival since its launch in 2009 , having started as a web editor before co-curating the conference and running showcase nights . “ That ’ s not unusual , all members of the team have a finger in every pie ,” she laughs .
Compared to last year ’ s event , which took place from 27 August , Kohtla says staging TMW was comparatively plain sailing this year : “ We had compiled the line-up for the original May dates and , when we postponed , we had to change about 20 % of it because not all acts could make the new dates . That was nothing compared to last year ’ s experience when we had to change the whole thing . In the summer this year it was still pretty unclear what the exact situation would be so we waited and observed the situation , prepared the health check system , and didn ’ t start booking flights until August . We were making little changes right up to the last minute .”
With the event finally up and running , the Estonian president used her conference opening speech to praise the resolve of the TMW ’ s team in making it happen physically for the past two years .
“ I am very glad that Tallinn Music Week survived the pandemic ,” she said . “ It came back because [ founder Helen Sildna ] is brave , resourceful and creative , and everyone on the organising team is like her .
“ Creative and brave people are a sign of a free society because only truly free people are creative .”
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