Editor's Picks: Calendar for Sept. 29 - Oct. 6

From learning how to weave creativity into your company’s culture at Signposts of Innovation to browsing pieces at the Cottonwood Art Festival, here are events to enjoy the fall weather and boost your career in the next week.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 29

LEATHERWORKING BASICS — 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Dallas Makerspace, 1825 Monetary Lane, Suite 104, in Carrollton. This free event will provide information about the basics of leatherworking, and the tools and supplies needed. There will be hands-on demonstrations and information given on where to purchase leather. Visit dallasmakerspace.org for more information, and to register.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 30

CONTAINERIZETHIS — beginning at 1 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday at Dr Pepper StarCenter, 12700 N. Stemmons Freeway, in Farmers Branch. The free conference focuses on all things containers, big data, and development and operations. Attendees can learn about the entire container ecosystem through presentations, workshops, Q&A sessions, and panel discussions. To learn more and see a schedule of events, visit the event website.

POLACON 2016 — various times and locations in Dallas and Denton Friday through Sunday. This weekend’s PolaCon 2016 will celebrate photos of the tangible kind. It’s billed as the world’s first instant film convention and grew out of the popularity of North Texas PolaWalks, according to D Magazine. The event’s offerings range from a workshop titled, “Scanning, Printing, and Enlarging your Polaroids,” to pop-up galleries and photo booths. Of course, there’s also the State Fair PolaWalk, which invites participants to grab their instant film cameras to embark on a photographic journey from Deep Ellum to Fair Park. Visit the event page to learn more and see a schedule of events.

ALLEN FOLK FESTIVAL — 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Allen Public Library, 300 N. Allen Drive, in Allen. In this free event, Mike Carroll and the Blues Evolution and Celtic folk band Beyond the Pale will perform. Visit the event page for more information.

SATURDAY, OCT. 1

COTTONWOOD ART FESTIVAL — 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Cottonwood Park, 1321 W. Belt Line Road, in Richardson. This free two-day event will exhibit more than 240 artists with works ranging from ceramics and sculptures to paintings and digital pieces. The festival will also feature local bands, and serve food and beverages. Visit cottonwoodartfestival.com for more information.

SUNDAY, OCT. 2

INTRODUCTION TO C# PROGRAMMING — 2 to 4 p.m. at Dallas Makerspace, 1825 Monetary Lane, Suite 104, in Carrollton. This free event will introduce Microsoft Visual Studio including creating a winforms application, using DataGridView, and much more. A labtop will be needed. For more information and registration, visit dallasmakerspace.org.

MONDAY, OCT. 3

SIGNPOSTS OF INNOVATION — 4 p.m. at 500 N. Akard, Suite 2600, in Dallas. How can companies create a culture of creativity? Economist Bart Van Ark will lead a conversation about the future of innovation with Fortune 1000 leaders at Microsoft, IBM, Sabre, and Blue Cross Blue Shield on Monday. Registration and networking will begin at 3:30 p.m. A panel discussion will be from 4 to 5 p.m., with a reception to follow from 5 to 7 p.m. celebrating some of Dallas Innovates’ top stories of the year. Visit the event page to register.

3D PRINTING COFFEE KLATCH — 7 to 9 p.m. at TheLab.ms Education Center, 1915 N. Central Expressway, Suite 370, in Plano. This event is open to novice and experts alike in the 3D printing world. At this month’s meeting, the group will attempt to design 3D printable joints for their “Strandbeest.” For more information visit the event page.

TUESDAY, OCT. 4

CROWDFUNDING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — Noon to 1 p.m. Cynthia Nevels will be the featured speaker for a free webinar on equity crowdfunding for economic development corporations, community development corporations, community development financial institutions, small business development centers, banks, and chamber of commerce executives will be hosted by Comerica Bank, Computershare, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and ThinkCrowdFund.com. Go here to register.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5

WERXSHOP SERIES: THE ARTIST’S WAY — 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at The WERX, 610 Elm St., Suite 700, in McKinney. This is a free, six-week workshop centered on using creativity in entrepreneurship. Damian Skinner will teach techniques from the author Julia Cameron’s bestselling book, “The Artist’s Way.” Sessions will be held Wednesdays. For more information visit mckinneywerx.com.

THURSDAY, OCT. 6

BOOTSTRAP DENTON — 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Stoke, 608 E. Hickory St., Suite 128, in Denton. This event is designed to celebrate Denton’s creative tech and startup community. For more information about speakers and registration visit bootstrapdenton.com.