Hey, it's Charlee!

After wrapping up some big projects (which we're excited to share in the coming months), I spent the last five weeks at three conferences: Webflow Conf in Boston, the Creative Economy Summit by Pattern here in Indy, and AMA Indianapolis's MARCON.

Three different rooms, with three different crowds: Web developers and agencies; Government, nonprofits, and creatives; Marketers. But one idea kept showing up in all of them: the more AI can do, the more people matter.

AI makes average easy. Brand makes you memorable.

A question most of the room seemed to be asking at Webflow Conf was, "Can't AI just build and manage my website?" Yes, it can build you one. But AI is trained on what already exists, so what it builds is, by design, average. And a website isn't a one-time build - multiple people edit it, changes need approval, and it has to stay secure and on-brand long after launch.

Webflow's answer isn't to compete with AI, but to give AI a safe place to work. Their direction for the future is clear: build for marketing teams, so AI can handle the repetitive, technical work while people keep control of the brand, the approvals, and the final call. Two new tools we're watching closely:

• ​Source: a shared workspace where marketers, developers, designers, and AI agents work together, with views and workflows built for each role. We've signed up for research testing and will let you know what we think.
• ​Campaigns: a set of tools for demand gen and performance marketers to build, launch, and measure on-brand campaigns inside Webflow, no developer required.

MARCON came at it from the other side: creative is what makes marketing memorable. Strategy gets you in front of the right people; creative is what makes them remember you. We saw this firsthand on a feedback call with Lauren, the founder of Birthing Mothers this week. People keep telling her how much they remember her social posts, and she credits the brand we built together, one that's uniquely her (check out the case study).

A distinct, well-crafted brand is what makes you recognizable when everything else starts to look and sound the same.

Trust is earned before they ever reach you.

94% of buyers now use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude somewhere in their buying journey. Whether those tools mention you depends on the fundamentals of AEO: structured data, internal links, and current content. That service page or blog post from five years ago could be the only thing someone reads about you in an AI conversation, so it's worth updating or removing.

It also means that by the time someone lands on your site, they've already done their research. Your website's job is less about introducing you and more about earning trust, quickly.

Design is how you show care.

At the Creative Economy Summit, the room was full of people asking how Indiana becomes a place where people choose to build companies, careers, and communities. A recurring answer was that beautiful, well-designed places make people feel valued. The same goes for brands. How something looks and feels tells people whether it was made with care, and whether you'll care for them too.

The strongest brands also fit into their customers' world instead of asking for attention. Patagonia's 11.2 Million Vote Project gave $100 in store credit to people who made a voting plan with three friends, tying an environmental brand to real action at a time when a lot of us feel helpless.

Show up in the room.

Personally, I've been thinking a lot about the impact I want to have and where my time actually makes a difference. I've been treating it like trying out different rooms. I'm looking for the ones that line up with what I value, where my specific skills as a designer are useful, and where I leave feeling like I gave something rather than just showed up. The Creative Economy Summit was one of those rooms. It was where design, community, and policy all met, and it reminded me that a designer's skills are useful well beyond client work.

What I keep finding is the same thing these conferences taught me: people matter most. The rooms worth staying in are the ones where you're known, where you can offer something only you can, and where the work means something beyond the bottom line.

As a newly elected Precinct Committee Person, I can't end without a reminder to vote! Check your registration, review your ballot, and make sure your friends and family have a plan too.

Thanks for reading. Until the next Dispatch,
Charlee

Currently we're...

🍂 Leah is enjoying the two weeks of fall where you can wear fun jackets before parka season!

🗳️ Charlee and her husband knocked their 100th door this canvassing season

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