Coming soon

The first ever CreativeMornings Summit was held in New York 2.-3.10. Our host Margot was part of the memorable event - here are her thoughts on #CMSummit14 and a film by Bas Berkhout of Like Knows Like:

CreativeMornings Summit 2014 from Bas Berkhout on Vimeo.

After catching up on sleep and consuming an enormous amount of coffee, I have almost recovered from the jetlag that resulted after a quick trip to New York City. I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever CreativeMornings Summit, organized by the CreativeMornings HQ in Brooklyn. More than 160 participants from over 30 countries gathered at the Invisible Dog Art Center to reflect, compare and learn from each other’s experiences.

“It’s like my wedding on steroids!” founder Tina Roth Eisenberg laughs as she welcomes us all on Thursday morning after a breakfast of (no surprise) donuts and Blue Bottle Coffee. “CreativeMornings is all love. Start from the heart. Host happiness. Never stop having fun,” she says. 

The two days were packed with heartfelt presentations, discussions and brainstorms, laughter and, upon Tina’s request, hugs. Dozens of hosts took the stage to share their best practices and horror stories, their tips for building a community and their tricks for attracting partners and finding funding.

LA’s Jon Setzen, the longest standing CM host after Tina herself, listed the things he’s learned along the way, like how important it is to pamper your speakers and how we shouldn’t underestimate the power of wooing guests with delicious treats! Edmonton’s Brandon Webber illustrated how we can do more with the content shared at events – his team commissions and screen-prints limited-edition posters with local illustrators. Atlanta's Blake Howard, a natural showman, taught us what it means to engage with the audience – he’s put on a “What’s in the box?” guessing game, a “money booth”, and a “battle of the sexes” competition.

Equally inspiring were presentations by spoken word poet Sarah Kay (known for her TED talk 'If I should have a daughter...'), documentary filmmaker Deidre Schoo and several of Brooklyn’s street dancers on the new film Flex is Kings, and host of radio show Design Matters and previous CM NYC speaker Debbie Millman (on her 10 things she wish she knew when she graduated college). Although Brooklyn was the conference’s home-base, we traveled to Manhattan for Thursday evening drinks at Shutterstock’s HQ in the Empire State Building, and CM NYC’s October event on CROSSOVER with graffiti artist Steve Powers at MoMA. 


We said our goodbyes on Friday evening at the center for art and innovation, Pioneer Works, in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood. With a cake to celebrate CM NYC’s 6th birthday, the first ever CM talent show, and a dance party with special appearances by HQ’s Kevin Huynh and Sally Rumble, the evening was memorable, to say the least. 


“CM is like two big arms that hug you and pull you in,” said Jon Setzen. It couldn’t be more true. A special thank you to all who made this event possible.

Text by Margot van der Krogt

Hello October!

A new month means a new global theme - this time it’s Crossover. The theme was chosen by our neighbours in Utrecht and the fantastic illustration is by London-based Brazilian illustrator João Lauro Fonte. 

We will be announcing our speaker soon, thus be sure to follow us here and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Ps. Photos from September’s colourful event are online.

September’s speakers on Color are digital creative designers Kris Hermansson and Franc Cheetham. These 2 antipodean digitalists will sit back and let the colours do the talking on Friday the 26th at the Volkshotel. They will explore some ideas and thoughts on the latest innovations of colour on our digital retinas. A short introduction:

1. What is your creative profession?

Kris - Digital Creative, Resn, Amsterdam
Franc - Digital Designer, Google Zoo, Paris

2. What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 26th of September?

Kris - The thing that Franc is about to say.
Franc - How colour is making it’s way into our digital lives.

3. How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

Kris -  Amsterdam is the Club Sandwich of Europe and the creative scene is the mayonnaise, and I love a Club Sandwich with mayonnaise.
Franc - Franc has only recently moved away from Amsterdam. While residing there he found himself in a pretty well connected and motivational community of creativity. He found digital creatives who were hot on the tail of the bleeding edge of digital design offering fresh and new perspectives. Amsterdam will be remembered for it’s ever present creativeness.

4. If stuck in a creative rut, what’s your trick to get free and let loose?

Kris -  I eat a bunch of unpasturised cheese and take a sleeping pill.
Franc -  Get outside, get lost.

Thank you Kris & Franc for this short interview. We are looking forward to Friday’s talk at the Volkshotel! The tickets are currently sold out, but do keep an eye on our website for the waiting list.

The next CreativeMornings session will be held on Friday 26th of September at the recently opened Volkshotel. Just outside the city centre in Amsterdam East, Volkshotel brings together neighbours, friends, locals and tourists. All this with a cocktail bar, rooftop club, open work spaces, restaurant, café, hot tubs and creative workrooms. And of course, Volkshotel also serves as a hotel. A place where folk meet and where working hard leads to playing harder. This way, Volkshotel intends to create meetings between like-minded people and to stimulate an environment where locals and travellers can enjoy art and culture together. We talked to Ewa Scheifes, cultural programmer and PR, to find out more about the connection between the Volkshotel and the creative community:

How do you collaborate with artists at the Volkshotel?
Creatives and artists have been involved in creating the Volkshotel since the start of the project. They’ve contributed to the branding, ideas for the hotel rooms and the kinds of materials we’ve used. The hotel has nine Special Rooms that were created by young artists and designers. There is a room inspired by the Jordaan, a Soixante Neuf room with a hanging bed or you can sleep in a carrier bike, for example. We would also like to build up a network of young, international artists that haven’t been discovered yet. This is why we started Project Unexpected, an artists-in-residency project where we invite them to sleep, eat & create at the Volkshotel. Here we can offer them a platform to share their work while meeting Amsterdam locals as well as international guests.

Volkshotel also offers workspaces for creatives. Could you tell us more about that?
Before Volkshotel opened its doors, there already was a creative hub (“Broedplaats”) in the building run by Urban Resort. They turn vacant buildings into affordable studios for artists. About 1/3 of those studios are still located in the building. This is where photographers, architects, performers and for example also the graphic designer of the Volkshotel & Canvas do their work. In the basement you can find music studios for bands like Koffie and Cirque Valentin as well as well-known Amsterdam DJ’s like Tom Trago and Homework. We actively involve the talented artists from the Broedplaats in the cultural programme of the Volkshotel.

What is your favourite place in the building?
My favourite place in the building is Badplaats, a roof terrace with hottubs and a mini sauna on the 8th floor. However the reason that I like this place so much is not for the bathing, but for the most beautiful view of the city and the Wibautstraat. And you can see what is going on at the terrace of Canvas below. Also, it is really nice & quiet up there, so it is the perfect place to enjoy the fresh air from time to time.

Thank you Ewa for this interview! See you on Friday 26th for a CreativeMornings session on Color with Kris Hermansson and Franc Cheetham. As usual, tickets will go live on Monday at 9 am!

Image and text by Naomi Den Besten

Hi there! Thank you for a fantastic edition in August. Have a look at the photos of the event on Failure here.

A new month means a new theme - this one is chosen by our Paris chapter. A splash of Color is what we need when the nights start getting darker… Thus come and get your dose at September’s event!

We are keeping the speaker and location a secret for just a little while, thus keep an eye out on this space and our social media channels for the announcements. 

This month’s illustration is by Erin Jang and the theme is presented by Squarespace, the Official Partner for Online Publishing at CreativeMornings.

August’s speaker is Wouter Boon, a brand strategist, the founder and chief editor of Amsterdam Ad Blog and author of Defining Creativity, a book that explains “the art and science of great ideas”. He will be discussing the process of exploration, trial and error, and the difficulties that are part of the creative process. Like last month, we’ll introduce our speaker with a couple of questions:

1. What is your creative profession?

I am a creative strategist, which means that I inspire and support the advertising creatives in their creative process. Apart from that I am also a publicist; I blog, write columns and am since recently also a “published author”.

2. What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 29 August?

I will talk about the parts in my book that cover the process of exploration, trial and error, and the difficulties that are part of the creative process. 

3. How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

The aim of Amsterdam Ad Blog, of which I am the founder, is to celebrate the best and most creative advertising from Amsterdam. As editor of the blog I often interview advertising creatives and try to find out how they work and what drives and inspires them. I really enjoy doing that.  

4. If stuck in a creative rut, what’s your trick to get free and let loose? 

I walk away and start working on something else. When I later continue with my original project, the solution always simply presents itself.  

Thank you Wouter for this interview! Sign up now for this Friday’s event at A-Lab. The doors will open at 8:30. See you on the 29th!

Get in the mood for this month’s global theme, Failure, and have a listen to the playlist created by Jim Quindlen, a creative director, visual designer, DJ, aspiring drummer and curator of the official Creative Mornings monthly playlist!

Tickets for our next event will go live tomorrow at 9am. We look forward to seeing you at A Lab on Friday the 29th, when creative brand strategist Wouter Boon will share his ideas on failure and the creative process.

New on our blog: interviews with members of our inspiring CreativeMornings community! First up is Lu Ying, 28. 

Image © on a hazy morning

1. Who are you?

I’m definitely not a morning person. My name is Lulu. I prefer evenings.

2. What triggered you to become a member of the CreativeMornings community?

To be honest, I had no idea of how not to become a member of the CreativeMornings community. I was genuinely interested in the concept from the first moment I heard about it and even moving to another country didn’t feel legitimate enough to stop me from being part of the CM Helsinki team - and now a member of the CM Amsterdam community. To me, this is a truly inspiring way to start your morning: fresh coffee, open-minded people and a space of flowing ideas. What’s better than that?

3. How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

I’m still new to Amsterdam but I’m already in love with this city. It’s a colorful cocktail of freedom and diversity yet there’s so much more to it beneath the surface. The easiness of accessing arts, music, international kitchen, culture and street fashion all showcase the laid-back vibe of this place which is probably one of the reasons why I’ve always felt like Amsterdam is so much bigger than its body.

4. Who would you like to see talk at CreativeMornings?

Frank William Abagnale Jr. For I’ve always been inspired by his life story, his guts to do the things he did, his determination to execute the plans and his complete ignorance towards the existing system - because isn’t that what creativity is all about?

Thank you Lulu for this interview! If you happen to be in Helsinki next week, don’t forget to attend the first ever CreativeMornings session in the Finnish capital on Friday 29th of August. Our very own Amsterdam chapter will continue on the same date - don’t forget to get your tickets on Monday the 25th!

Our speaker for this month’s global theme, Failure, is Wouter Boon! Brand strategist Boon is the founder and chief editor of Amsterdam Ad Blog and author of Defining Creativity, a book that explains “the art and science of great ideas”. 

He will be discussing the process of exploration, trial and error, and the difficulties that are part of the creative process. 

Tickets will go live Monday August 25th at 9am for the event on Friday the 29th at A Lab. Come join us!

This month’s global theme is Failure, chosen by the CreativeMornings Singapore team and depicted by photographer Bill Wadman in his conceptual narrative style. Stay tuned for the announcement of this month’s speaker!