CreativeMornings/Grand Rapids

Big thanks to Cliff and the whole Mighty in the Midwest crew for hosting us last month for Education. If you didn’t get a chance to make it for the event, we’ve got Cliff’s video up in the archive, along with photos from the event on our Flickr page. Check ‘em out!

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We’ll be having this month’s talk, Ugly, at A.K. Rikks in Cascade. If you haven’t yet been there, you’re in for a treat.

Opened in September 2012, the space is a full 28,000 square feet of men’s and women’s attire and accessories. With massive windows, important fashion brands, and a strong culture, the space was designed to create a shopping atmosphere in Grand Rapids that competes with other independent retailers in Chicago and New York.

Here’s a couple photos of what you can expect a week from Friday:

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What’s Ugly make you think of? To Jim Quindlen, Creative Mornings monthly playlist editor, his head goes directly to the punk scene of the mid 70’s. At that time, bands like the Sex Pistols, New York Dolls, and The Ramones were releasing albums at the same time as Rod Stewart and his love ballads were topping the charts. “[Punk bands] were rebellious, loud, raw and in your face in a way that the overwrought polished pop music of the time wasn’t.”

Feel like jamming out to a playlist of the unattractive, the repulsive and the ugly? We’ve got it on Spotify. Click it!

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It’s that time again. We’ve got the next GR CreativeMornings event, Ugly, coming up on January 30. We’ll he hearing from Jim Murray, President of A.K. Rikk’s, a luxury lifestyle clothing store located in Cascade. It’s only fitting (bad fashion joke) we’ll be having our talk at their space.

Jim’s been at it for just under 9 years, with next month his anniversary building this mini-fashion empire. But more than just clothing and furniture, he’s in the business of making people the best versions of themselves, whether that be a client or someone who works for the organization.

Tickets will be available here - pick one up on Monday the 26th!

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Cliff’s talk on Education is under 24 hours away, but before we head over and get started, we figured it might be the time to ask ourselves, who is Mighty? What kind of web design and development do they do?

Here’s a brief tour in photos:

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“As a project manager and working side-by-side with Cliff on projects, I’ve learned a LOT about composure, thoughtfulness, and how to keep calm. His ability to listen and adapt has really made an impression on me when questioning change within our work.” - Annie DeYoung, Project Manager, Mighty in the Midwest, on what she’s learned from Cliff

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“I’ve learned to take charge of my projects. Cliff places a lot of trust in us to make decisions and do what is right for the project so I’ve learned to take that trust and run with it.” - Noah Reed, Mighty in the Midwest, on what he’s learned from Cliff.

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Cliff!

We’re excited to have Cliff Wenger, founder of Mighty in the Midwest to cover off on our Education theme with us on Friday, December 19th.

Cliff has been a designer, developer, and creative leader in Grand Rapids for nearly fifteen years. He likes to say he was born at a small design firm, raised in a top advertising and design agency, and rebelled at an ambitious tech company. Since then, he has continued to learn, teach, and grow as the CEO and Creative Director of Mighty in the Midwest, a web and mobile design and development company he founded in 2007.

Cliff is passionate about teams and developing individuals that have the ability and desire to come together to do things bigger than themselves. He believes that you can work both smart and hard, and that details matter, no matter how early you ship.

His twelve-person team at Mighty has humbly supported the growth of Grand Rapids’ art, design, and startup community by designing and developing StartGarden.com and ArtPrize.org. Cliff is also proud to work with many businesses in West Michigan that have gone the distance, including American Seating, Brunswick Bowling, Herman Miller, and Zondervan.

When not creating and leading, Cliff is typically watching Manchester United, fishing on the Rogue River, or hiking with his wife Tara and his boss of a dog, Olly.

Want to follow Cliff before the big event? Do it here:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cliffwegner
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cliffwegner
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cliffwegner

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Learning from each other is at the core of every on of our CreativeMornings events. Whether its ambitious students or seasoned makers, we’re waking up early in 100 cities (and counting!) to reflect on new ideas. And that’s why we’re excited to have Education as our theme for December, presented by CreativeLive.

Our event’s happening Friday, December 19th Mighty in the Midwest. We’ll be chatting with Cliff Wenger.

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Despite the awful weather, thank you to everyone who joined us for our November event at Start Garden. Paul and Ben talked to us about taking chances on new ventures, an amazing coffee machine, and alley ooping to ourselves.

Thank you to Start Garden, Atomic Object, Universal Mind, Elevator Up and coLearning for sponsoring this event!