Taking the stage at the Gene Siskel Film Center this month is ad man and nomad Kevin Lynch. Kevin’s best known for his handful of self-initiated projects including Chair Free Chicago and most recently YearBnB. He’ll be sharing his ideas on the theme of Revolution.

Time for the Q+A!

What drives your desire to create?
I have the social skills of a Neanderthal, and creating things helps me fake being interesting while at cocktail parties. Though sadly, the illusion never seems to last long.

How does Chicago influence you or your work?
I’ve lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto, Shanghai, and now Hong Kong (sort of). Each place has contributed to who I am, but Chicago has far and away been the strongest influence. Here, I learned lifelong lessons about the value of a strong work ethic, the benefit of treating people well, and the importance of camaraderie. By comparison, in Los Angeles, I learned you can build a marijuana pipe out of a Bic pen.

What are you most proud of, professionally or otherwise?
I find dissatisfaction to be a great motivator. So whether it’s a work project or a personal one like raising a daughter, I always end up seeing the things that I can do better next time.

What does this month’s theme of revolution mean to you?
Sheesh, what do you want me to do, give away the whole talk right here?!? Let’s just say that, in hindsight, the theme is much more personally relevant than I realised.

What’s your take on Airbnb’s new logo?
Airbnb’s logo is like some of the beds I’ve experienced: uncomfortable at first, but not enough to make me lose sleep.

Kevin will be joining us on June 26th. If you still need convincing, when’s the last time you got to eat popcorn in a movie theatre for breakfast? This could be your first!

xo
Rusty