If you’re a creative type in need of a creative boost, you should know about Creativity CON 2012, taking place in Lancaster on Saturday, October 20.

The one-day conference costs $99 through this Sunday, September 30. (After that, it increases to $125 – still a good value.)

Creativity CON is a new event being pulled together by the folks of the amazing Wood Stove House: Jason Mundok and his wife Susanne, along with Steve Carlson.

I cannot say enough good things about these Lancaster residents. They are the perfect team to put on a quality event about creativity in the Lancaster area.

The day will include collaborative time but is centered around talks on subjects related to creativity. The speakers include Amanda Kemp, who appeared as an interviewee on the Lancast in January and Andrew Zahn, who self-published an ebook on creativity this month, along with Alyson Earl and Chad Martin. I haven’t met any of them, but their bios present them as charismatic and articulate.

The day’s closing speaker, Erich Goldstein, is someone I know well as an extremely creative and gifted artist and community member. He and I served together for years on the board of Creative Works of Lancaster, where I saw him living out (over the course of hundreds of hours) the subjects he’ll be discussing at Creativity CON 2012.

Erich will be addressing (this is my paraphrase) how to have “committees for art” instead of “art by committee.” In a creative community, like the one that Lancaster both is and aspires to be, artists and other creatives collaborate. We collaborate both because it is necessary and because it is good. But one thing collaboration is not is easy. How do we keep “collaboration” from becoming synonymous with “conflict”?

As Creative Works of Lancaster moved more and more to a role of producing works of performance art rather than straightforwardly planning and performing them entirely ourselves, the question of collaboration is one that Erich made sure we dealt with intentionally and intelligently. When Creative Works produced an evening of sketch comedy by Happy Time Explosion Show this past April, Erich led our board in balancing our need to maintain the Creative Works brand/reputation without stifling the creative spirit of the sketch comedy troupe. He did so not as an aloof administrator, but rather as a gifted (and often very funny) artist (he’s a playwright) desiring to support and collaborate with other local artists.

I have no reservations about wholeheartedly encouraging anyone reading this to attend Creativity CON 2012. It will be an inspiring and memorable day for you.

Get all the information and buy your advance ticket at WoodStoveHouse.com/CreativityCON.