The Power of Procrastination in Creativity

DON’T PROCRASTINATE! Register today!

Meet the speaker for our next CreativeMornings Winnipeg “PROCRASTINATE” event on April 30!

Shaun Vincent is the owner of Vincent Design Inc, a Winnipeg-based creative marketing company. With more than 18 years of experience, he applies his deep knowledge of graphic design to creating work of enduring strength and quality that stands out in the field. Shaun has been recognized for his volunteer work throughout the city and currently sits on numerous boards including youth mentorship, Indigenous leadership groups and community centre development. He is also a professional dungeon master and potato chip sommelier.

What’s YOUR ripple effect?

One voice can inspire a movement, a single act of kindness can save a life. No matter how minuscule it may seem in the moment, what you do matters.

Our CreativeMornings theme for this month is RIPPLE, which invites us to think about the power of impact, influence and energy. Everything you do has the power to create its own ripple effect. Like an object breaking the water’s surface, our actions can cause a series of ever-expanding waves of impact stretching far beyond our individual reach.

OUR MARCH SPEAKERS: Making Waves in the Construction Industry

They are an unlikely pair, a Blue Bomber legend and a red-seal electrician, but James Murphy and Ramir Diaz have found a common purpose working together at the Manitoba Construction Sector Council. James and Ramir criss-cross the province help people get excited about the possibilities of careers in the construction industry. They rely on making personal connections, having a passion for the industry and on some cutting edge technology like virtual reality to help make their case.Join us in this month’s CreativeMornings’ breakfast lecture, where James and Ramir will discuss the ripple effect they they are hoping to cause while working with remote northern Manitoba communities They’ll discuss the role technology has made in the construction industry and how they’ve hoping to inspire the next generation of construction leaders across the province.

February’s global CreativeMornings theme is DIVERGENT. 

As we emerge out of the darkest of winter and head into the accelerated brightening of each day, there is an opportunity to reflect on the shifting sands around us – culturally, socially and emotionally. Our CreativeMornings theme for this month is DIVERGENT, which invites us to think and act differently, to think in ways that may challenge traditional systems or take action that may threaten the status quo. 

Divergent thinking is one of the most important skills involved in creativity and innovation. It asks us to make intellectual connections between random ideas and, in doing so, create something anew. Divergent thinking invites silliness and the absurd – which are, after all, the seeds to the best ideas. 

For instance: how many ideas can you come up with when asked to combine your cell phone and a water bottle into a new product? 

As important as it is to generating new opportunities, divergent thinking can also be risky – for those new ideas may be threatening and may be perceived  as going against the norm. 

When have you experienced divergent thinking? How has it fuelled your own creativity and new ideas? Have you ever experienced resistance from others to your own different way of thinking? 

Join us on February 26, 2021 when we dive deep into the theme of DIVERGENT and invite you to celebrate your own divergent ideas with us!     

February 26, 2021 Event: Chef Ben Kramer “Ingredients for a Creative Life”

We have invited Chef Ben Kramer to be our speaker this month, because his entire culinary career clearly illustrates a DIVERGENT and non-traditional path. 

He introduced new ways of approaching institutional cuisine in his development of Diversity Food Services, a social enterprise, for the University of Winnipeg. He has been involved in creative culinary events such as Winnipeg's Table for 1200 and Raw Almond. His commitment to social justice through the work on his newest venture, Made with Love, enhances food security at a time when the social divide keeps increasing. His CreativeMornings talk, “Ingredients for a Creative Life,” will consider his own creative process, using food and service as a canvas for divergent thinking. 

INGREDIENTS FOR A CREATIVE LIFE – February 26, 2021

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our very first official CreativeMornings event on January 15th! It was wonderful to have such great speakers with Albertine Watson and Chris Pointon talking about the theme of PROMISE and hearing from local hip-hop band, Super Duty Tough Work. 

We are very pleased to announce our speaker for February – Chef Ben Kramer! Ben is well-known in Winnipeg (and beyond) for his creative and socially-minded approach to building and challenging the culinary community. 

Chef Kramer helped establish Winnipeg as one of the most vibrant food scenes in North America. He was one of the first to champion the use of local, sustainable ingredients and Ocean Wise certified fish at the dynamic Dandelion Eatery, here in Manitoba.

He then accomplished what most thought couldn’t be done: he made an institutional food services program at the University of Winnipeg a model of excellence, world-wide. 

As the Executive Chef of Diversity Food Services, Chef Kramer transformed cafeteria dining into a culinary experience of the first order. He introduced a low-cost, high-quality, deliciously satisfying menu to the campus community based on the belief that everything should be made from scratch using local ingredients.

Chef Kramer left Diversity in August of 2015 to focus on what he finds most satisfying – working directly with individual clients to create individually crafted menus. Funeventsonlydotcom focuses primarily on custom catering events.

He’s been a part of the RAW: Almond (the winter restaurant on the river) since it’s inception as well as Table for 1200. He is the executive chef of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, feeding thousands of volunteers each year.

Food security and giving back have always been a major pillars in every business he has been involved in. Ben partnered with the Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) back in 2014 when founder Nic Saul reached out and asked him to become a chef partner in Restaurants for Change. 

Since then, Ben has been involved in several CFCC projects including Made with Love where his team, in partnership with NorWest Co-op Community Food Centre, has produced and delivered more than 20,000 meals to some of Winnipeg’s most vulnerable. Through Made with Love, Ben was instrumental in saving food from restaurants that would have otherwise been thrown out at the beginning of Winnipeg’s shut down in March 2020 – and turning those into nutritious meals for community agencies to distribute.

Ben’s culinary career has been anything but ordinary. He has diverged from traditional career routes, taken risks, and has always supported a drive to social justice through his talent. CreativeMornings/Winnipeg is thrilled to welcome Chef Ben Kramer to our event on February 26th. Please join us! 

Announcing the speakers for our first public Creative Mornings Winnipeg event on January 15, 2021!

Albertine Watson is a game designer with Bunnyhug Games, an international independent game studio working on an unannounced project. Previously, Albertine was a communications professional within the game industry and has worked on diversity initiatives in the non-profit sector serving Manitoba’s interactive digital media industry.

Chris Pointon is a graphic designer and post-secondary instructor, with 18 years of teaching under his belt. Previously, Chris co-owned a Winnipeg-based design studio called Space Cadet, where he architected memorable campaigns for clients such as Folklorama, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Warner Music Canada, and Levi’s.

You’re not going to want to miss this event, register today!

https://creativemornings.com/talks/albertine-watson-and-chris-pointon

As a valued creative- thinker, doer, tinkerer, innovator, maker, or
supporter- in our community, we’re inviting you to participate in an event introducing an exciting addition to Winnipeg’s creative
scene. 

Join us on December 4, 2020 as we prepare to launch the official Winnipeg chapter of CreativeMornings in 2021. Here’s our application video!

Please email winnipeg@creativemornings.com for more details and to be sent a link to the registration portal. Hope to see you there!

Hello! I’m Christine Watson, the host of the new Winnipeg CreativeMornings chapter. Here’s our introduction video!

Our wonderful steering committee made this video as part of our application to start a CreativeMornings chapter in Winnipeg. Now that our chapter has been officially approved, my volunteer team and I will be making these ideas reality and bringing the community together in Winnipeg!

About Winnipeg:

Nestled in the geographic centre (aka: the heart) of North America, Winnipeg is situated in Treaty One territory on the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe), Inninew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene Nations, as well as the birthplace and heart of the Métis Nation. The Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers has been a place of meetings, trading, worship and exchange where objects, worlds, and cultures have been shared for thousands of years. It is through this spirit of sharing that Winnipeg has become a braid for culture, innovation, and art. It is the perfect place to start a Chapter of CreativeMornings!

A bit about me

I acknowledge that I am a non-Indigenous person located on Treaty One territory. Born and raised in the Canadian prairies, I value hard work, resilience and community connections – all of which are essential when you face brutal winters (-40C) and scorching summers (+40C). Before arriving in Winnipeg in 2013, I lived and studied all over the world and across Canada (including Japan, Australia, Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan). My experiences have instilled a love of travel, diversity of perspectives and adventure.

Since 2013, I have made Winnipeg my home with my two sons, Michael (13) and Matthew (11) and my wife, Alisa, who works with the Government of Manitoba. I came to Winnipeg to join Red River College as Vice-President Community Development and most recently have spent the last several years as Vice- President Academic, the position I currently hold. These roles have allowed me to support the power of transformative education through applied learning at the largest polytechnic institution in Manitoba with 22,000 students, 120 programs and 9 campuses.

My commitment to diversity is strong, as I strive to be a positive influence for my two Indigenous sons and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

I am honoured to be the host of this CreativeMornings™ Winnipeg Chapter because I believe we have the right steering committee to guide it along with the passion of our city and the many people in it who deserve an opportunity to celebrate and share their incredible work with each other and with the world.

A bit about the team

Every CreativeMornings event is free and run by a team of volunteers. Our volunteers have come from many different backgrounds and bring many different talents to our vision for CreativeMornings!

Our Chapter commitment to diversity:

Located in one of the most diverse communities in North American, the CreativeMornings Winnipeg Chapter is fully committed to inclusion and diversity in all its forms, from age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, perspective, and more. We are as inclusive as we are creative. We believe in the value of diversity of perspectives, audiences and industries as we create safe events to debate and discuss what it means to be successful and what it means to be creative. We will celebrate multiple approaches and points of view and be mindful and purposeful in building a culture where difference is valued. As our commitment to inclusion, we will ensure all venues for CreativeMornings Winnipeg Chapter events are fully accessible. Services for participants who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing are available.

How to participate

Want to be the first to know about our first event? Sign up for the CreativeMornings/Winnipeg newsletter. If you’re interested in partnering or volunteering, please email Winnipeg@creativemornings.com. Stay tuned for details and I hope to give you a (virtual) high five at our launch event!