Matthew Chen’s Creative LIAisons Diary #1: You’re not just a creative, you’re a human

Art Director Matthew Chen is representing Australia at the 2025 Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas featuring some of the world’s most respected creative directors as speakers. Here, Chen reports exclusively for Campaign Brief.

13,000+ km away or 8000+ miles as the locals would say, sits a city that is unapologetically exaggerated… Las Vegas home of Elvis weddings, fake real cities and this art director for the next five days.

Day one was jam packed of seminars from brilliant minds from around the world. Treated to insights about topics from ‘what it’s like to be a CCO’ to ’the art of craft’ but one message stood out that consistently appeared: you’re not just a creative, you’re a human. A welcomed reminder in this time of AI, data and statistics and algorithms. Using your voice, feeling the emotional ups and downs of your work and experiencing life not through living is what really enriches the work. So with that in mind we wrapped day one and explored this crazy city building human connections with some new friends.

Day two was all about getting some practice in. A marathon eight hour workshop resulting in teams pitching their ideas for an Australian and NZ focused Disney x Westfield x AKQA collaboration. Finally, my experience living near a Westfield came in handy. It was tough, at times rough, but in the end we got up there with a deck and idea in hand. Now time for a well deserved night out and maybe some sleep.