Creative Mornings
“Breakfast lecture series for the creative community.”
It’s a Friday morning. You have 30 minutes before work. You could be anywhere in the world. It’s time to get inspired. You are at a Creative Mornings Session.
Started in 2008 in New York by Tina Roth Eisenberg, who goes by Swissmiss (who incidentally has an awesome email link pack), as an inspiring way for people in the creative community to meet, Creative Mornings has blossomed into a global phenomenon.
We’ve attended Creative Mornings in San Francisco for our blast of connection. They are sweetly hosted, with baked goods and coffee on arrival, name badges if you are ready to network at that hour, and efficient timing, you are straight into the talk because time matters when you have somewhere to be straight after.
It’s just enough time to get a perspective on a Big Picture issue. Each month, the Creative Mornings community selects a global thematic, and these have been ambitious signifiers of our times, from their first lecture subject of Art + Technology though to their 76th of Water (others have included #12 Bravery, #54 Serendipity, #67 Craft). The voices of speakers are equally as wide-ranging, from local thought-leaders to widely recognized names. These talks should give you an idea of that breadth: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker (NYC) , From Chaos to Creativity with Danny Kim (San Diego) and Craft: The Antidote to Perfectionism with Jen Hewitt (San Francisco).
Creative Mornings give just enough thinking space and a roomful of chattering people for us freelancers to feel part of a community. That’s maybe the bit that almost matters more, that you get out of your head and off your laptop, into a room with likeminded humans who are open to knowing more and are actively willing to get out of their mental comfort zones. Just being in the room recharges. Sitting next to someone who may be chasing down the same curiosity oddly comforting.
We haven’t mentioned that these talks are free (which is incredible when you think about what people charge usually for these inspiration consumables). Which means its popular. Which means you need to sign up for your spot fast. Pre-registering is essential.
If you are not near a Creative Mornings talk, you have a couple of options: you can catch them online (all sessions are recorded and there’s an extensive - read over 6000 - archive to spend some time with) or you could even do this, start your own by applying to launch a Chapter here.
Creative Mornings has now evolved into an extensive community of support online too. Check out their recently launched Creative Guild, a global directory of creative companies, professionals and jobs.
Creative Mornings are now in 194 cities and 65 counties. Attend one and aspire to their mantra: ‘More connected. More human. More heart.’
Website: www.creativemornings.com / Instagram @creativemorning / Twitter @creativemorning / Facebook @creativemornings
