Upcoming Book Events

All of the public events will be live streamed on Instagram.

New York

Monday, April 20th, 2026, New York
Private Book Launch Event in New York, with special guests
7:00 – 9:00pm
Presentation will be live streamed

Tuesday, April 21st, 2026, New York
Hosted by B&H Photo
11:00am – 1:00pm
B&H Camera Event Space, 420 9th Avenue, New York
This event is free and open to the public and books will be available to be signed by the authors.

Private Twenty One Summers Dinner with Marie Audier
Select Gallery, New York
2:30 – 5:00 – Interviews with Marie
5:00pm – 7:00pm - Private Dinner

Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, New York
“A Creative Life - Finding Balance and Success in a Creative Career”
Hosted By: Soho Photo and The School of Visual Arts, Masters in Digital Photography Program
7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30
The School of Visual Arts Theater, 209 East 23rd Street, New York
This event is free and open to the public and books will be available to be signed by the authors. Eventbrite RSVP required

Seattle

Friday, April 24th, 2026, Seattle
“A Creative Life - Finding Balance and Success in a Creative Career”
ASMP Seattle Northwest
6:30pm-8:30pm, Doors open at 6:15pm
Phinney Center, Room 7, 6532 Phinney Avenue North, Seattle, WA
RSVP Here

Saturday, April 25th, 2026, Seattle
Evening Private Event with Global Leaders in Technology

Santa Fe

Monday, April 27th, 2026, Santa Fe
Evening event

Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, Santa Fe
Private Evening Event, Twenty One Summers Dinner

Creative Life - Finding Balance and Success in a Creative Career

About The Event

Meet Derrick Connell Microsoft’s formerly one of the leading advisors to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on AI, and Thomas Werner, former NY Gallery owner, exhibiting artist, and author of the books The Business of Fine Art Photography and The Fashion Image as they discuss their new book Twenty One Summers and the challenges we face as creatives.

Living a creative life can be challenging. Our careers, industries, and our personal lives are transforming rapidly, particularly as AI begins to influence nearly every aspect of how we work and live. Time slips away from us. Sometimes in large chunks and other times in small pieces. One moment it seems like we have forever and then all of a sudden ten summers have passed and we wonder what happened. We find ourselves feeling stuck, or asking when we will have the chance to do the things we love

Join the authors of Twenty One Summers as they address the challenges we face as we work to define and achieve our goals, and offer practical strategies to navigate them successfully. They will draw from their careers in the art and technology introducing processes and solutions from both fields.

We will cover the following:

  • The challenge of consistently creating new work

  • Blind Spots that may be limiting your growth

  • Managing the business and creative sides of your career

  • Work/Life Balance

  • Time Management

  • The role of success and failure

  • AI in the arts and business

  • And more…

There will be a Q&A at the end of the talk

Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase


About The Authors:

Derrick Connell - One of the world’s leading software executives in the fields of Search and AI. While at Microsoft he worked directly with Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella. He has co-created and delivered global products via partners such as Apple, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Yahoo, and through Windows, Office, Azure, and xBox.  Derrick is currently an advisor to tech companies around the world.

 Thomas Werner - Author of the books The Business of Fine Art Photography and The Fashion Image. A former New York gallery owner and previous Director of the Photography Program at Parsons

School of Design. He has worked with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations/UNESCO and the Department of State on cultural projects internationally. Thomas is currently a consultant working with individuals, businesses, cultural institutions, and not for profits.