Chief Creative Officer at NYC & Company Willy Wong, the man who sells New York to the rest of the world, will be speaking at WDCD14. A focus on design is one of his instruments.
‘Always keep a bottle of champagne in your fridge, because you never know when you need to celebrate.’ One golden rule of Willy Wong, Chief Creative Officer at NYC & Company, the City of New York’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization. In 2011 Wong and his team will have popped some corks upon hearing that they surpassed their goal of 50 million annual visitors for New York – four years ahead of schedule.
Wong leads the creative, digital and marketing teams responsible for the brand stewardship of NYC. Their work spans global advertising campaigns, major civic initiatives, programs, services, content creation, and product design for the internet, mobile, social media, retail and environments.
A focus on design is one of the instruments to promote the city, reason why Wong decided to bring a range of existing fairs and shows, including the Frieze New York art fair, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) under the denominator of NYCxDesign.
“With 40.000 designers in New York there should be a moment in time when the city actually celebrates all of the great design that happens in New York,” Wong says.
Wong received his Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Yale School of Art and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College. Prior to his work for NYC & Company, he worked for several consultancies and advertising agencies. Wong is the current president of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA/NY), and a former advisory board member of SXSW Interactive.
