Any New Yorker would attest to the fact that there are very few things that will persuade us to wake up any earlier than necessary. One of the few exceptions to this is CreativeMornings. Recently, a few members of VPM’s creative team attended the January edition of this breakfast lecture series in NYC, where co-founder Tina Roth-Eisenberg (who you may know as swissmiss) expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the 100+ of us sitting in a Parsons lecture hall at 8:00am because, as a Brooklynite herself, she too is well aware of how difficult it is to gather a group of New Yorkers together in the early hours of the morning. While we were also impressed with ourselves, it was evident from the moment that we walked in that it was well worth refraining from hitting the snooze button.
For those of you who don’t know, CreativeMornings is a monthly breakfast lecture series that brings creative communities together by means of different speakers on various themes. Founded here in New York City in 2008, CreativeMornings now has chapters in 137 cities worldwide. All you have to do is sign up and show up. Everything from the registration to the coffee and croissants is free.
Language was the global theme for the lectures that took place this past January, and the New York City event was lead by William Ury. His lecture focused on how to creatively use language in order to communicate with others and accomplish specific goals ranging from bargaining with a small child to world leaders. At the end of the lecture, Ury asked the audience to team up with one another for an arm wrestle. The team that collectively had the most points would win. While many of us struggled to muster up enough strength to play, the winners of the game used hardly an ounce of energy. How so? By coming up with a creative solution to win: the winning team spoke amongst themselves about how each could benefit from the game and still gain the most points overall. Therefore, each teammate took turns letting one another win until time was up. By then, this team had accumulated thousands of points and won the game. The winners demonstrated a creative way to use language, leading to a solution that was beneficial for all parties involved. As you can imagine, the rest of us were left thinking, “seriously, why did I not think of that?”
All in all, our first experience with CreativeMornings was enjoyable, informative, and in many respects, eye-opening. This lecture series is certainly one of the best resources for creatives living in and near major cities worldwide to connect with like-minded individuals and celebrate creative talent.
Check out where in the world CreativeMornings is headed to next here.
