About
Built the room.
Now building the model.
Will Toms is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of REC Philly — and the person conferences, cities, and brands call when they want creativity to become infrastructure.
The short version
Ten years ago Will co-founded REC Philly in a 600-square-foot North Philadelphia basement with a hole in the roof. The idea was simple and, at the time, unfundable: creators don’t need permission or a lucky break — they need infrastructure. Rooms, gear, stages, and a business model that pays them.
Today that idea is a 10,000-square-foot creative ecosystem in Center City — 14 studios and a 250-cap venue programmed with Live Nation — that has put millions of dollars directly into creators’ pockets. Partners like Google, Comcast, Sony, and T-Mobile fund it. Cities study it.
Will’s work now is telling that story from stages — TED among them — advising the cities and developers who want their own version of it, and putting the playbook in creators’ hands through his book, (Un)Common Sense.
Recognition
Still answering DMs from creators who are exactly where he was ten years ago.
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