Hot on the heels of this year’s Eyeo Festival comes Leading Creatively 2012 with panels, workshops, films and tours exploring visual culture and digital technologies across various local Twin Cities venues from September 6th through the 8th. Two of WebUrbanist’s regional core creatives have requested and been issued press passes for this National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture event. While by no means exhaustive (see the full schedule on the NAMAC website) here are some of the highlights, followed by information on getting discounts and scholarships to attend.

Venues: For those not yet in the know, the Hack Factory and Soap Factory are, respectively, premier community-oriented maker and art spaces. The first will play host to a mobile Hacker Space at the conference itself, while the second is a stop on the must-see Twin Cities tour on Friday and exhibition opening on Saturday. And no arts event in the community would be complete, of course, with participation of the Walker Arts Center, site of last night’s epic CatVidFest.

Panels: Open Space Documentaries on Thursday tackles the evolution of traditional documentary formats to new forms of transmedia storytelling. Creators looking for funding will need to make a tough decision on Friday afternoon between theory and practice: Pennies from Heaven: Crowdfunding and Community-Supported Media/Arts and Grantmaker Speed Dating. Public Art: Engaging Communities, Claiming Space on Saturday will go beyond the classic notion of public art as abstract, large-scale, office-plaza sculpture, tackling less scripted (and sometimes un-permitted) creations.

People: The last panel mentioned above is where you will find the first person mentioned here: Steve Dietz, President and Artistic Director of Northern Lights/Northern Spark.  And those who chose the ‘theory’ over ‘practice’ option in the previous paragraph will get to see Stephanie Pereira, the Art Program Director of Kickstarter.com out from New York City (WebUrbanist is aiming to interview both, so stay tuned for updates!).

Films: With everything else going on, it would be easy (but a shame) to miss the two-day Film Festival with documentary screenings and associated pre-conference masterclass with day passes for just $15. Click here for more information and a full lineup of features.

Discounts: As conferences go, even the regular-priced, full-access tickets are reasonable, but for creatives on an even stricter budget: “NAMAC is offering incentives for Minnesota residents and organizations, including hotel and conference-registration scholarships, complimentary memberships to NAMAC, and discounted registration rates.” Visit NAMAC.org for more information on these and other options and opportunities, and feel free to say hello if you see a WebUrbanist editor or photographer at the event!