CreativeMornings/Amsterdam

To celebrate another year of CreativeMornings Amsterdam, we’re bringing back one of our favorite traditions: Audience Takes the Stage. It’s a chance for our community members—designers, dreamers, rebels, and rule-breakers—to share the spotlight.

The theme? PUNK.

Not just safety pins and mohawks (though we love those too), but the bold spirit behind it. PUNK is about challenging the status quo, speaking your truth, making noise when silence isn’t an option. It’s about DIY ethos, radical honesty, and the messy beauty of doing things your own way.

We’re inviting 3 brave voices from our community to take the stage for 7 minutes each to share a story, idea, performance, or perspective that reflects the spirit of PUNK. You don’t need to be a polished speaker—you just need something real to say.

Got something to share?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Sunday, June 8:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know someone in the Amsterdam creative community who might have a great story on the theme of PUNK, please pass it on! 

CreativeMornings Amsterdam is turning 12! And to celebrate this special occasion, we’re hosting another edition of ‘Audience Takes the Stage’.

We are looking for 3 individuals from our community to each give a 7-minute talk on the theme of ‘PATTERN’. If you have a personal story that explores the beauty of repeating motifs, the significance of patterns in nature, the role of routines in shaping our lives, or you're passionate about uncovering the hidden patterns in everything – we want to hear from you!

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Sunday, June 2:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know someone in the Amsterdam creative community who might have a great story on the theme of ‘PATTERN’, please pass it on! 

CreativeMornings Amsterdam is turning 11! And to celebrate this special occasion, we’re hosting another edition of ‘Audience Takes the Stage’.

We are looking for 3 individuals from our community to each give a 7-minute talk on the theme of ‘REVERIE’. If you have a personal story that relates to the power of daydreams, the magic of the subconscious, the wonder of the imagination, or you just want to tell us which parallel universe your mind lives in while at work, we want to hear from you!

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Sunday, June 4:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know someone in the Amsterdam creative community who might have a great story on the theme of ‘REVERIE’, please pass it on! 

In June, CreativeMornings Amsterdam will celebrate its 9th birthday! And in keeping with the tradition, we’ll be hosting another edition of ‘Audience Takes the Stage’.

We are looking for 3 individuals from our community to each share their personal story with us. And for the first time, we’re giving you not one, not two, but nine different themes to choose from. We’ve been away for way too long and thought it’d be fun to explore some of the different themes last year had to offer. These are: MATRIARCHY, RESILIENT, PROCRASTINATE, DIVERGENT, PROMISE, RADICAL, SPECTRUM, STRESS and UNDERDOG.

Do you want to share your take on one of these themes? Then send us the following information to [email protected] by Monday, June 7th:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

The theme of your choice. Bonus points if you choose June’s official theme, MATRIARCHY.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about. Keep in mind that on the event day, talks will be 7 minutes long.

If this is not for you, but you know someone in the Amsterdam creative community who might have a great story to share, please pass it on!

At CreativeMornings we’re committed to continuing to grapple with racial inequality. We’ve been fortunate to hear from some amazing speakers at the Amsterdam chapter on the topic of race, community and the need for change. We’ve compiled a collection of the talks that feel particularly pertinent for the present moment:

1. Anousha Nzume, the author of the book ‘Hallo Witte Mensen’ (Hello White People), discusses her career advocating for racial equality in The Netherlands. 

2. Awura Abena Simpe talks about the importance of love and belonging as a basis for community and shares the often untold stories of her life. Stories that made her who she is today and helped create a community of her own: Creative Women Collective.

3. Kevin Groen’s talk dives into the underlying issues of inclusivity, explaining why we all need to stop assuming expertise and instead acknowledge ignorance, challenge our privileges, nurture curiosity and listen, listen, listen.

4. Cené Hale teaches us all how to be more courageous, creating environments that allows us all to be more open.

In June, CreativeMornings Amsterdam will celebrate its 8th birthday! And in keeping with the tradition, we’ll be hosting another edition of ‘Audience Takes the Stage’.

We are looking for 3 individuals from our community to each give a 7-minute talk on the theme of ‘INSECURE’. These are strange and uncertain times, so this theme couldn’t come at a more important moment. We have all struggled with insecurity at one point or another — insecurity about our abilities and talents, work, relationships, or life in general. But we can all learn from these moments, grow from them, and help others along the way. We’d love to hear your personal take on ‘INSECURE’.

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Monday, June 1st:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know someone in the Amsterdam creative community who might have a great story on the theme of ‘INSECURE’, please pass it on!

This June, CreativeMornings Amsterdam will celebrate its seventh birthday! As we do every year, it means it’s time for another edition of ‘Audience Takes The Stage’. 

Wonder what the theme is? That's right, you guessed it: 'WONDER'! We would like you to share your sense of wonder. Whether you are an astronomer, a magician, an archaeologist or a taxidermist, or you are all about showcasing someone else’s beautiful and detailed work, we would love for you to share your story with us. We are curious to hear your interpretation of the theme 'WONDER'.

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Friday, May 31st:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know of someone in the Amsterdam creative community who wonders away day by day, who loves to make other people wonder, or does wonderful things in another way — Pass it on! We’ll be selecting 3 wonderful speakers to each give a 7-minute talk.

CreativeMornings Amsterdam is run by volunteers who love to bring the local creative community together. And we are looking for fresh new faces to join the team and help us take our local events to a whole new level.

We have three openings in total: Speaker Liaison, Online Marketing, and Content Creation. Does any of them sound like something you’d kick ass at? Then send your application our way by following the links below. 

Are you a social butterfly, a network ninja, guilty of making friends wherever you go? Can we find you grinning in the audience of all the tip top talks in Amsterdam Creative scene? If so you’re going to want to check this out. We’re looking for someone awesome just like you to join our CreativeMornings Amsterdam team to help us scout out and connect with the very best Speakers and support them in contributing to our events. You’ll be reaching out to inspirational folks, doing some email gymnastics to get them booked in ready to go before being their right hand (wo)man at the main event.

In this role you will:

Find speakers that compliment the theme. 

Reach out to potential speakers. 

Confirm speakers including dates, agreeing expectations, FAQ’s. 

Offer feedback and support during the speech preparation. 

Support the speaker at the event. 

Follow up with all the thanks.

Join our monthly team meeting (also known as CreativeEvenings).

APPLY

Are you someone who loves to connect with people online? Do you find it hard to switch off your phone, always checking your social media feeds? Read on as we might just need your superpowers! We’re looking for a social media champion who keeps our audience up to date on all things CreativeMornings. You’ll share the latest updates about our events, speakers and venues. If our community has a question, you will give them the kindest answer. At our monthly event you go all out with Instagram stories - there is no limit to the gifs, stickers and hashtags you can use. If you can type at lighting speed you could also capture quotes from the speaker live on Twitter.

In this role you will:

Schedule monthly announcement for our social media channels.

Collaborate with the team to create the latest copy and visuals.

Reach out to the community - think polls, stories, q&a posts.

Answer any questions that our audience asks us online in the nicest way you can.

Share the highlights of the event while it is happening on Instagram & Twitter.

Join our monthly team meeting (also known as CreativeEvenings).

APPLY

Do you see short stories happening all around you? Can’t remember how you survived without an online thesaurus? Then we might have the perfect gig for you. Our community is filled with engaging stories and we are looking for someone to put them into fabulous words. You’ll write the perfect punchy summary of our monthly talks so that people can decide if they should watch the video. You’ll ask our speakers the funniest questions as well as find their unique take on our monthly theme. Our blog has been feeling neglected and we would love it if you can bring it back to life. A series starring our superstar community members would be a great place to start.

In this role you will:

Put together a compelling summary of our monthly talks.

Interview our speakers, asking smart and silly questions they haven’t been asked before.

Start a new blog post series starring our community members.

Help the team out whenever they need a dose of strong words.

Join our monthly team meeting (also known as CreativeEvenings).

Our 6th birthday is fast approaching, and that means it’s time for another edition of ‘Audience Takes The Stage’. We want you to share your craft with us. Whether you are a chef, a musician, an architect or you are all about showcasing someone else’s beautiful and detailed work, we want you to share your story with us. We want to hear your interpretation of the theme CRAFT.

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Friday, June 8:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about.

If this is not for you, but you know of someone in the Amsterdam creative community who is all about craft - Pass it on! We’ll be selecting 3 speakers to each give a 7-minute talk.

Do know know someone that just might be the most ‘OnBrand’ person in the city? And is this ‘branding fanatic’ also known to express his/her OnBrandness in creative ways? Well, that just might earn you two tickets to OnBrand ‘17, on Thursday, October 12th in SugarCity! 

So basically, all you have to do is share the giveaway social post (see below) and tag someone who is totally on top of their brand. Whether it’s their very own brand that he/she is running quite obsessively, or the brand they’re working for, or maybe a brand that hasn’t even been launched yet —but will be in the near future. As long as it’s expressed in a (very) creative way, anything goes.

How it works Take these two simple steps to enter the giveaway:

Share this tweet and/or this Facebook post about the giveaway.

Tag someone who is as ‘OnBrand’ as they get.

Pics or it didn’t happen Fancy increasing your chances of winning? If the person you tagged replies with proof of the pudding, being a picture or link to an amazing branding feat), this just might contribute to earning the title of his/her royal OnBrandness! 👑 Ready, set... GO!

After last year’s success, we have decided to celebrate our 5th birthday by giving you the opportunity to share your story with us.

We’re on the hunt for 3 speakers from our audience to each give a 6-minute talk during our June event. The theme will be SURVIVAL, so get ready to push your boundaries and show us what you are made of.

Interested?

Send us the following information to [email protected] by Tuesday, May 30:

A few words about yourself, including name and occupation.

A short video (of less than 2 minutes) about why you think you would make a good speaker and what you would talk about (hint: this should be related somehow to survival).

If this is not for you, but you know of someone in the Amsterdam creative community who is a true survivor and would be great for it - Pass it on!

It's (almost) our birthday! We're turning 5 this year, so that means it’s time for cake and gifts. This year we'd like to give you a gift that celebrates the creative talent in our community. We're inviting you to design an A5 print that expresses what CreativeMornings means to you. We'd love it if you can make it festive too! You can for example use illustration, typography, hand lettering or collage. We will select 5 designs to be printed by our partner Zwaan Printmedia and handed out to the community on our 5th anniversary event in June.

Here are the details:

Please use only black, grey, white and / or blue (CMYK 49, 12, 0, 7).

Set up the document as A5 (portrait), with 3 mm bleed at a 300 dpi resolution (if you don't know how to do this, don't hesitate to reach out for help!).

Send your design to us as a pdf of jpg for now, we'll contact you about prepping the file for print once selected.

Inform us which name, website and (max. 1) social channel you would like us to include in the credits on the back of the print.

If selected, you give CreativeMornings a non-exclusive license to use the artwork for non-commercial purposes only, such as printing the artwork to hand out at the event and sharing it on our social channels

If selected, you will receive a set of 5 prints of your own artwork.

Interested? Submit your artwork before May 30 to [email protected]

For our April event we have invited journalist Rob Alderson to talk about this month’s global theme ‘Beyond’. But before he takes the stage at OBA, we’ve asked Rob to tell us a bit about himself and what we can expect from his talk on Friday: What is your creative profession?

I am the Editor-in-Chief and VP Content at WeTransfer. But basically, I’m a journalist.  What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 21 April? 

I will be talking about some of the things I have learned interviewing artists and designers and how difficult it can be to write about the creative process. I will also talk about how both WeTransfer and It’s Nice That (where I used to be EIC) look to push themselves beyond (hello!) what they might be known for. How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

London has this sprawling creative energy which can either be exhilarating or overwhelming. I like that Amsterdam has all these talented creative minds, but with less mad intensity.   If stuck in a creative rut, what’s your trick to get free and let loose?

For our November event we have invited freelance director and all-round paper craft master Mandy Smith to talk about this month’s global theme ‘Fantasy’. But before we all get to meet her at TQ, we’ve asked Mandy to answer a few questions about herself and what we can expect from her talk on Friday, November 25th:

What is your creative profession?

I suppose the clearest answer is “I’m an artist” for it covers a lot! However, I work a lot in film and stop motion so I am also an art director and director. I execute most of my work with one material - paper!

What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 25 November?

I work with a material that everybody knows, or thinks they do, and this is where I like to have some fun. By taking something so ordinary and everyday as your starting point you can surprise people by the structures it forms or the stories you tell with it.

I’ve been lucky enough to constantly keep learning through new collaborations. From submerging a paper sculpture into fluid, to sending a sculpture off into space, paper has lead to some interesting adventures and so I hope to share some tales of what i’ve seen along the way. Things that I didn’t even think were possible!

How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

Amsterdam is special to me for it was the first place that inspired the creative journey I am on now. When I moved here I was initially work for an advertising agency and I loved how so many people had other interests and passions outside of work, like creating their own artwork, so they inspired me to find my passion. I think as this city has creative people from so many different countries you can always learn a new way of thinking or opinion by talking to people and that’s very inspiring. 

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

I’ve learnt that being busy on something else sparks creativity for future projects. So when I am on a job I use these creative thoughts to try and trigger new ideas for personal projects I can move on to after.

Is fantasy important to you?

Totally, when I first started to build my twisted paper buildings I watched so many fantasy movies  and pretty much only fantasy movies to keep inspiring myself that if other people are making a living off creating weird and wonderful things then maybe I can one day do so too. I think, when I left advertising to follow my paper dreams, if I hadn’t kept brainwashing myself with these dream big movies I might not have had the energy to do so.

How would you describe your ideal fantasy world?

I’d say I like fantasy worlds that play around with the world we’re in now and create a version of it where gravity isn’t the same or doesn’t exist like we know it. The most recent example of this being the production design of Dr Strange. I love seeing our world bend and distort to become something unbelievable.

Venue update! 

As you may or may not know, CreativeMornings is all about finding new ways to spark creativity. Whether it’s by examining weirdness with Ramin Bahari or through personal development with Petra Benach, helping us find our glitter.

After these two very inspiring events (and our two biggest so far!) at Zoku, it’s time for this creative caravan to move forward. Luckily, we’ve found a wonderful next destination to set up our camp!

A new curated tech space For our next set of events, CreativeMornings/AMS will be held at TQ, Amsterdam’s newest kid on the block. Founded by The Next Web, this new curated tech space is located right in the heart of the city centre. 

Inspiring surroundings TQ aims to provide startups not only with the space to grow, but also with all the inspiration they need to build great products: an incredible location, being surrounded by passionate talent, insightful events to attend and an amazing community to tap into. CreativeMornings x TQ We’re overly excited to have CreativeMornings be a part of this movement, hosting our next couple of events at this brand new creative epicenter. If you want to stay in the loop regarding our events, sign up for our newsletter and keep an eye on our social channels!

This month we’ve invited self-taught artist and arts consultant Petra Benach to talk about the global theme ‘Magic’. But before she takes the stage at Zoku, we asked Petra to answer a few questions about herself and what we can expect from her talk on Thursday, September 29th:

What is your creative profession?

I am an artist and arts consultant here in Amsterdam.​

What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Thursday 29 September?

This month's talk is about Magic, which makes me really excited because I love Unicorns, fairies and Minerva McGonagall.​ I am going to share we can use magic to increase wonder and creativity in our lives.

How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

I wasn't until ​I moved to Amsterdam ​that I really committed myself to the arts​. I've been able to meet and engage with a lot of artists and professionals here that have been incredibly supportive to my creative process. I consider it to be a very open environment in that way, which makes it very special.

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

When I get stuck I do something completely unstructured and messy. Another great trick I like is singing - singing really seems to help me re-center and move through sticky moments.

And lastly, do you believe in magic?

​Oh absolutely! I think life is all about magic.

Independent creative Ramin Bahari will be taking the stage to talk all things weird during this month’s talk at Zoku. But before we all get the chance to meet him, we asked Ramin to answer a few questions about himself and what we can expect from his talk:

What is your creative profession?

Wikipedia calls me "a person who is employed for the extraction of skills in creative endeavours”. Basically I’m an advertising creative & art director. I spend about 70% of my time on commissioned work and 70% on personal projects.

What will you be sharing with the CreativeMornings community on Friday 2 September?  

We’re going to practice the fun of discovering our discomforts. I know, it sounds kinda sexual, but it’s not (per se).

How is Amsterdam and its creative scene special to you?

Everyone speaks the same language - figuratively. Amsterdam is the city with the most nationalities in the world and well on it’s way to becoming the creative capital of Europe. But because of it’s small size and relaxed culture it’s effortless to connect to different minded people.

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

Stop working, start playing. Life is a game, not a task. If you approach anything like that, you won’t mind if something is ‘hard’ and see it as a challenge.

What's the weirdest place you've ever worked from?

A few weeks ago I caught myself emailing about some upcoming projects on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. We had just got our passport stamps and were trying to cross the road while dodging ‘Tuk-Tuks’ and scooters that we’re dragging carts about 200x their size. Everyones face was covered with masks as dust was everywhere. We jumped on a 60 year old bus - that would take us to the next city. When I told my girlfriend “I still have 4G here!” And then we ordered some tickets to an upcoming Little Dicky show in Paradiso. Isn’t the future amazing?

What's the weirdest proposal you've ever sent to a client?

Me: -“Hey, here is a crazy idea we made up. We thought about it while watching youtube videos, playing ping-pong and cracking jokes for 3 days. What do you think?”

Client: “Awesome, here is a million dollars!”

We really do work in an amazing industry.