Coming soon

This month we are proud to team up with Plan B and Moyee Coffee! They will provide you a delicious breakfast, that is not only healthy but also fair. 

About Plan B

Plan B is a catering initiative of homemade healthy and fair foods by Zhenia Sveshinsky.

Plan B is about knowing exactly what you put in your mouth and being fair to your body by choosing for the ingredients that make you feel good. 100% homemade form organic and fair trade products as much as possible, Plan B treats contain no processed components or so called cheap energy, such as sugar or white flour, nor chemically synthesized sweeteners. 

On Friday Plan B will serve you granola cakes made without wheat and dairy, packed with nuts, seeds and honey. Your morning energy levels are bound to be boosted the right way! 

About Moyee Coffee

Moyee Coffee is a FairChain company. FairChain is a word Moyee coined to define a more fair, more honest way of doing business. It is a new form of social entrepreneurship that relies on creating opportunity for producers in developing countries, rather than relying on development aid.

Roasting locally is the driving spirit behind Moyee’s FairChain coffee. Moyee is a 50/50 venture with local Ethiopian entrepreneurs—“a true producing-consuming relationship.” And because Moyee pays coffee farmers 20% above the market price for quality beans, they have access to the country’s best coffee. Hence Moyee’s tagline: radically good coffee. Radically good barista-style coffee with radical social impact.

See you all on Friday for our first event this year! If you have reserved a ticket but are unable to attend, would you be so kind as to ‘release’ your ticket for someone on the waitlist? Just sign in to your account and press ‘release ticket’ on the event page. 

CreativeMornings would be nothing without the amazing group of volunteers that helps our events become a reality every month. Next to our core team we also have talented photographers and videographers who make sure every CreativeMorning is documented. As they usually are busy behind their cameras, we wanted to offer them a place in the spotlight with a short interview. Thus: CreativeMornings community, meet our photographers Andres & Joyce of on a hazy morning!

What triggered you to become a part of the CreativeMornings team in Amsterdam?

When we first heard about CreativeMornings (we saw an Instagram post about the LA chapter and immediately checked if there was a CreativeMornings in Amsterdam), in the end of 2013, we were instantly intrigued by the concept. So we went to a couple of talks and then we decided to ask Margot (ed. our host) if we could photograph for the Amsterdam Chapter. And so we became part of it.

How do you spend your time outside the CreativeMornings activities?

Besides the monthly photography for CreativeMornings we do a lot of other shoots, both editorial and commercial. A better word to describe our work would be visual storytelling, because that’s what we love to do; capture moments and details to tell a story. 
Our focus is on lifestyle and travel photography, so we get to see a lot of cool and beautiful places and meet inspiring, likeminded people who love what they do. That makes this the best job in the world for us! 

What makes Amsterdam a great city for creatives?

Amsterdam is such a great city to live in, because there are always so many things going on! There are a lot of cool initiatives and ideas which definitely helps to keep the creative sparkle alive. Sometimes we wish it was a little bit bigger, Amsterdam feels pretty small compared to other cities like London, Berlin, Paris or New York, but maybe that’s also the charming thing about this city. You can get everywhere by bike very easily, without being stuck in traffic every day. 

Do you have a favourite among the CreativeMornings talks?

For me (Joyce) the favourite talk was on Freedom, by Lucie Pindat, about her project un demi. Andres liked Hidden, by Robin Cox of Citinerary, most. Robin’s talk also inspired us to collaborate with Citinerary. This is actually one of the great things about attending CreativeMornings talks; you meet a lot of interesting people!

Thank you for this interview, Andres and Joyce! We are over the moon to hear that you went on collaborating with one of our speakers, Robin. And obviously very happy that you are part of our team every month! 

Don’t forget that the tickets for this month’s talk on Ugly with Gabriel Shalom go live tomorrow, Monday the 19th, at 9am. Be sure to get yours on time!

Image taken in California, October 2014 © on a hazy morning

We are thrilled to hold our events at Rockstart on the beautiful Herengracht for the next three months.

Rockstart is an initiative that helps startups to become more successful in their first 1000 days. The company provides startups with funding, housing, acceleration, events and more through different formats, including successful international accelerator programs, startup pitching events and the 2000 sqm Rockstart Spaces in the heart of Amsterdam. 

A big thank you to Rockstart for teaming up with us - see you on Friday the 23rd from 08.30 on for a talk on Ugly!

Our first speaker this year is artist, director and composer Gabriel Shalom. He will share his insights on our global theme, Ugly, and invite us all to think about the context in which both ugly and beautiful exist. Make sure to get your (free) ticket for the event on the 23rd of January at Rockstart! But first: here’s Gabriel’s answers to our short interview.

1. What is your creative profession?

Generally speaking, people pay me to play around with objects and make music out of them. One day if I’m lucky they’ll let me use some actual instruments, but in the mean time I’ve managed to work with things like traffic cones, hair dryers, leggings and knives.

2. What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on the 23rd of January?

I’m interested in how ugly can become beautiful by a change of context. Put another way, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder then ugliness is mud in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever appreciated how lovely the sound of a glitched hoop earring can be? It’s all about context. Many times things which start out as ugly are eventually appreciated as beautiful. Much of this transformation is contingent on the passage of time.

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

The creative scene in Amsterdam is awesome because you’ve got the charm of Europe mixed with the cosmopolitanism and diversity you’d expect in London or New York. Having lived in Berlin for almost seven years, I’ve found that the creative scene here is heavily oriented towards the domestic German market. In contrast, in Amsterdam there’s an international professional creative community which produces outstanding work. And on the topic of ugliness and beauty: Berlin is as ugly as Amsterdam is beautiful ;)

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

It depends what kind of rut. If I’m stuck making music I usually like to dress up as the kind of musician who would make the music I’m trying to make – you know – to get myself in the mood. If I’m stuck writing then its always good to wait until its dark and quiet and pour myself a single malt scotch.

Thank you Gabriel for this interview. See you all on Friday the 23rd at Rockstart!

Welcome to a new creative year with CreativeMornings Amsterdam! We cannot wait to reveal what we have in store for you this year, but before that… A short introduction to who we are and what we do.

CreativeMornings is a monthly breakfast series for the creative community. Every event is free and would not be possible without our fantastic partners.

Every chapter in more than a 100 cities around the world is run by volunteers. In Amsterdam, we are currently a team of five, supported by our photographers Andres and Joyce and our videographer Luke.

Margot has been our host since March 2014. Agata, Eveliina, Naomi and Tyler work together with Margot with everything related to our speakers, partners and communication.

A CreativeMorning starts with a delicious (and free!) breakfast, continues with an inspirational 20-minute talk on a global theme, and finishes off with just the right amount of networking before everyone heads to work. Sounds too good to be true? Come join us and see for yourself!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with speaker and ticket announcements. January’s date is the 23rd and the global theme is Ugly. We will be announcing our speaker & new location shortly!

Image © on a hazy morning: representatives of our great partner Aquent, our team and our speaker in May 2014, Lucie Pindat, at Pakhuis de Zwijger

Happy Holidays from the whole team - we look forward to many inspiring mornings with you in 2015!

- Margot, Agata, Eveliina, Tyler and Naomi

Our speakers on Chance are Tim Holland & Robbert Wefers Bettink of sustainable sunglasses brand Dick Moby. They will offer you a dose of inspiration with their talk about the chances they had to take in order to get their business off the ground. Join us on Friday at the Volkshotel for the last CreativeMorning of the year!

1. What is your creative profession?

Tim: I’m actually a graphic/web designer - I quit freelancing last summer when Dick Moby began to take off.
Robbert: I studied to become a Fashion Designer and started a womenswear label called Studio Sober. This stopped a year before we started Dick Moby.

2. What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 28 November?

We’ll be talking about how we got Dick Moby off the ground and the chances we took to get there.

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

Very special, we both have lived here for over 10 years and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Creativity can be found in every brick of the city.

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

Our office is located in the Broedplaats of the Volkshotel and there is a bar and a hot tub on the roof… :)

Thank you for your words, Tim and Robbert! We are excited to hear about the chances you took on your way to launching the independent, positive and sustainable sunglasses brand. See you all on Friday the 28th at the Volkshotel - breakfast is served from 08:30 on and the talk will kick off at 09:00. 

CreativeMornings would be nothing without the fantastic community attending our morning moments with inspiring talks, delicious breakfast and just the right amount of networking. We get first-timers, people curious for the third or fourth time and devoted regulars. A true regular is Jokin Zunzunegui (left) - the Product Owner at TomTom who has attended the last 13 (yes!) CreativeMornings in Amsterdam. 

1. Who are you?

My name is Jokin. I was raised by the internet and a bunch of movies. I’m curious about the world and most of what it has to offer, and struggle to find the time to go explore it all.

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

The first time I heard about CreativeMornings was back when I lived in Boston. The idea of hanging out with like-minded people over breakfast, followed by a talk on a different topic each month, always sounded very appealing to me. So when I heard Amsterdam got its own chapter, I knew I had to be there. It took me a while to make it to my first talk, but haven’t missed one ever since. It’s such a great way of breaking out of one’s routine and starting the day with inspiring new ideas! I’m not necessarily a morning person, but I always look forward to these talks.

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

What really amazes me about Amsterdam is how diverse and vibrant it is for its relatively small size, especially if compared to the likes of London or New York. It’s a very culturally rich city and its reduced dimensions make it ever so easier to soak up everything it has to offer. And the fact that it has a pretty close-knit community of young creatives means there is always an opportunity for collaboration.

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

Ólafur Arnalds. For me creativity has a lot to do with challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries of already established personal patterns. And I feel like his work as a composer is a constant exploration of new ways of making and understanding music. His distinctive genre-crossing compositions are not only seen in his solo work, but also in multiple collaborative projects with other musicians.

Personally, I am very much interested in the intersection between art and technology. And because of that, I would love to hear more about his interdisciplinary project ‘Symphonie Cinétique - The Poetry of Motion’ together with media artist Joachim Sauter, where they explored the interplay between music and mechanical motion.

Thank you Jokin for this interview: we look forward to welcoming you at our next event on November 28th!

Image © on a hazy morning

Thank you for a great event at the Volkshotel on Friday! We will be back at the creative hub this month with November’s global theme, Chance. The theme was chosen by the CreativeMornings Sydney team and illustrated by Sydney-based illustrator Jeremy Lord.

Ps. If you missed last month’s talk, keep an eye on our site for the video recording of Daniel Disselkoen's talk!

This month’s speaker is Daniel Disselkoen of Headmade. His latest work is Cucalu, an interactive game on your smartphone. The game asks you to look for shapes in your environment, and the challenge is to not look on your phone. For CreativeMornings, he will share his thoughts on the art of looking. Join us on Friday for yet another inspiring and creative morning!

1. What is your creative profession?

I run a creative agency, called Headmade. We work for clients and on self-initiated projects. Periodically, we focus on a specific theme. Right now that’s “digital behaviour”. 

I’m fascinated by how technology can service people as well as being directive. Take the GPS on your phone, for example. Every time you insert an address into your navigation app, its service is an accurate route from A to B. But before taking that first step towards their chosen destination, you often see people walking back and forth to understand in what direction the app is pointing them. These are the kind of observations that can become part of work.

2. What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 31st of October?

My thoughts on the art of looking.

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

I am part of the grumpy army entering Amsterdam every morning by train. I live in Rotterdam but we work in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the best city I have never lived in. It’s easy to meet people from within and outside our field. That includes often bumping into familiar faces. Maybe that’s also why I don’t live there. 

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

I like to do something unrelated. Like visiting lectures (but definitely not on design or art related topics), talking with friends or read.

Thank you Daniel for this short interview! Tickets are now live for the event on Crossover at the Volkshotel on Friday the 31st of October. See you there from 08:30 onwards - the talk starts at 09:00 as usual.