Canberra's Digital Creatives Like Lunch

Creative Connect Panel at CBRIN:
Lucy Sugerman, Elvis Gleeson,
Emma Laverty, & Owen Walter

Greetings from Canberra Innovation Network, where I am taking part in "Creative Connect", sponsored by the ACT Government. We were surveyed beforehand and it turns out the largest group are digital creatives (which I guess I am) and we like meeting over lunch (CBRIN have put on a good spread). We have a panel with Lucy Sugerman (Music ACT), Elvis Gleeson (Blank Creative),  Emma Laverty (Project Dust), and Owen Walter (Oculo Digital). So we have a musician, writer, dancer, and video maker. This was a revelation, as most people think of Canberra as a place for public servants, and government contractors. I knew we also have a large education sector, but hadn't realized there was also a "creative" industry. Some of that supports education and government. One of the panel talked about getting paid to make "Beats to sound-cloud rappers". From this limited sample creatives don't fit the pattern of university fine arts degree and then work. 

The question for me is what can Canberra do to help this industry? One surprising answer is "Be a nice place to live". I had assumed creatives would want a grungy inner city squat, but apparently the novelty of that wears off quickly. Another answer was that it is a place you go when your partner gets a job in Canberra.