Instagram has set a three-day program dubbed Creator Week — the social-media platform’s first professional development event series designed to help creators grow their followings and make more money.
The first-ever Instagram Creator Week will run June 8-10, with a series of virtual streaming sessions. Those will be accessible by invitation only, with about 5,000 creators from the U.S. expected to attend. The Facebook-owned service also plans to have global programming with Instagram Creator Week events happening virtually in France and other European markets
While Creator Week is invite only, Instagram will make a portion of the content from the sessions available publicly on the instagram.com/creators account (4.5 million followers), including in a daily recap series called “The Rundown.”
The goals for Creator Week are to help creators build their community and help them grow their businesses, said Instagram VP of global partnerships Charles Porch. “They have told us they need more information on how to do that, not just from us, but from other creators,” Porch said.
Instagram concluded that hosting Creator Week as a virtual event was “the safest thing to do,” and that the online-only forum would “let us provide as much access to it as possible,” Porch said.
Programming will include sessions like: How to Supercharge Your Community (e.g. raising money for nonprofits); Media Training 101; How to Break Into Entertainment; How to Start a Podcast; How to Get Discovered on Instagram (a panel with industry execs); Fund My Merch Line, in which creators can pitch their dream product idea to a panel of judges — and the winners will get their ideas funded.
In addition, Instagram Creator Week will feature some product news announcements and appearances by top Instagram and Facebook execs.
The sessions will provide tips on how creators can use the Instagram suite of products (Reels, Stories, Feed, Live and IGTV) to grow their businesses. Creator Week programming also is designed to support creators’ wellbeing — addressing issues like burnout — and connect them with their peers.