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Create Now St. Louis Design Week

Picture October 6, 2026 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM CDT

Adobe is headed to St. Louis.

Join the St. Louis creative community for creative inspiration, practical learning with Adobe experts, and real connection during St. Louis Design Week.

Create Now is an evening designed for you to gain new skills, fresh ideas, and confidence using the latest updates across Photoshop, Illustrator, Firefly, and more. Adobe pros will walk through real-world workflows, smart shortcuts, and practical ways to integrate AI as a creative assist—so you can move faster without sacrificing your personal style or creative control. You'll also hear from talented local creatives as they share their inspirations, process, and standout projects!

Connect with fellow creators to exchange ideas, build your network and be inspired by your local creative community. This event is open to creators of all levels and aims to support your creative growth! Enjoy complimentary bites and drinks, meaningful conversations, and a chance to win a free Creative Cloud membership. This free event has limited capacity, so only RSVP if you plan to attend.

By attending this event, you consent to the use of your likeness in photographs and videos for promotional and documentation purposes.

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Agenda

5:30 PM
Get Settled

Welcome to Create Now—an evening of inspirational talks, interactive activations, and laid-back networking with the local creative community. Check in with our team, grab a drink and a bite, and get to know your fellow creatives.

6:15 PM
Get Inspired

Hear from our Adobe speaker and talented local creatives as they share tools, workflows, and real-world inspiration designed to level up your creative game.

7:15 PM
Get Connected

Connect with fellow creatives and chat with our speakers. It’s the perfect time to swap ideas, ask questions, and meet new friends and collaborators.

8:00 PM
Get Going

You’ll head home with fresh inspiration, new connections, and some sweet swag!

VENUE

The Sheldon

3648 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA

Street Map with The Sheldon

Presenters

Andrew Hochradel

Community Led Growth Manager

Andrew Hochradel

Andrew Hochradel has a passion for making creative education entertaining, accessible, and informative. Through branding, design, and illustration, Andrew strives to create worlds and experiences to allow others to experience new perspectives.

Guest Speakers

Reaghan Lesh

Local Creator Showcase

Reaghan Lesh

Hi! I’m Reaghan, a St. Louis-based brand designer and commercial photographer. My work focuses mainly on branding, product photography, and helping businesses visually tell their stories. I studied Digital Media and Art at Greenville University and have previous experience as an in-house photographer and graphic designer at St. Louis County and MSHSAA. These days, I’m a full-time freelancer doing what I love: designing, taking photos, and working with creative people and businesses. Outside of work, I’m a big fan of movies, TV, and books. I’m also a proud dog and cat mom to Salt, Pepper, and Curry!

Xander Simms

Local Creator Showcase

Xander Simms

Xander Simms is a creative technologist and AI filmmaker based in St. Louis, currently building production AI effects and agentic video pipelines for Facebook Reels at Meta. He's a Luma AI Creative Partner Program member and the founder of Digital Storytellers Ink, an embed-style creative technology practice that has delivered generative pipeline work for Meta, HSBC, LVMH brands, Lexus, and NASA. His flagship work, THE SIGNAL, an 11-minute AI spoken-word film produced end-to-end on a single Luma AI board, was featured in Luma's CPP newsletter. He also built Night One, a complete agentic video pipeline shipped the same day ComfyUI's MCP launched, publicly cited by ComfyUI cofounder Robin Huang as proof of what the tool could do on day one. Xander works at the intersection of narrative craft and AI-assisted production, translating creative intent into repeatable, on-brand pipelines.

Host

Meghan Arnold

Sr. Community Events Manager

Meghan Arnold

Meghan works at the intersection of marketing, design, and technology with a focus on building and nurturing communities. In over 10 years at Adobe, she's connected with thousands of creatives through hundreds of events, placed design speakers at everything from small meetups to conference stages, developed and executed large-scale installations at Adobe MAX, led internal and external campaigns, and played a key role in the launch of Adobe Fonts.

Madison Laurence

Events Logistics Coordinator

Madison Laurence

Madison is a detail driven Event Coordinator for Adobe, crafting visions into unforgettable moments that spark connection and enthusiasm. With her eye for detail and passion of creativity, she brings every event to life with purpose and personality. Madison is dedicated to creating a smooth and engaging event.

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