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09.29.23

Syracuse Sync 2023

Dan Rose
Studio

Our studio recently jumped at the chance to support an event we have a little bit of history with.

a street sign that reads “Syracuse Sync” on a sidewalk outside a city building

Hi. Dan here. If you’re familiar with Create Upstate and Photoshop Etiquette, you probably know I have a thing for side projects. There’s one that hits a little different, and we recently had the chance to bring it back after a ten-year hiatus.

It’s Syracuse Sync, and here’s a little backstory into what makes it so special for me:

The quick ditty on Sync is that it’s a one-day summit of sorts for creative people in and around Syracuse. It’s a chance to make introductions and reintroductions. We find somewhere cool to hang, talk shop, and everyone goes home with a t-shirt and a new lease on camaraderie.

Sync started as a proof-of-concept for me. In 2013, I was heavy into speaking at design conferences and loved the energy and inspiration they generated. Naturally, I wanted to see what it’d be like to have a version of that back home. This year’s event — held at nearby indie vendor marketplace McCarthy Mercantile — did nothing but reinforce that our local creative club should have something to help celebrate the people, projects, and ideas coming out of Central New York.

A handful of my most impactful relationships started at Sync. It’s where I met Maribeth & Nate and thus, the community-supporting studio of Adjacent. I’m reminded that we never take enough photos together.

It’s also how I met Sarah Miller, who — somehow — has as much event-planning energy as I do. Getting to team up on this version of Sync was super fun.

Sync’s also the first time I met so many of my creative neighbors, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years. Making a vow to be a better neighbor, myself.

Ultimately, Sync is a celebration of creativity. Not the clever I-see-what-you-did-there kind but the make-something-where-there-was-nothing kind. So now’s the fun part: being on the lookout for someone who caught a spark of inspiration that day and goes on to create something wonderfully new around here.

Big thanks to Lexi from Tom Studios for the photos. So fun hanging with our pals at neighboring shops like The Lab Creative, Stay Fresh, Terakeet, Switchstance, 76 West, 29 Design Studio, Relays, and Idea Kraft. Shoutout to our adjacent-to-Adjacent friends like Karen Bedard and Matt Petrocci. Tiny Fish! Gosh, just too many more to name.

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