This past month I attended Creative Morning San Diego for the first time. To give you a bit of a background, Creative Morning is a monthly global breakfast lecture series for the creative community in your neighborhood. The event is filled with coffee, snacks, inspiration, and creatives of all walks.
This wonderful community started as one chapter in NYC and has grown to over 100 cities around the world including Nashville, Amsterdam, Dubai, Sydney, and Mexico City. Thanks to the volunteers, sponsors, and partners, Creative Morning is able to provide an open space to connect and network with like-minded individuals as well as provide takeaways relevant to your industry. Although the chapters are geographically dispersed, the speakers follow the same monthly theme.
The best part? It’s free of charge and open to the public. This means that even the startup, recent college grad, or portfolio building freelancer is able to attend without worrying about dropping $50 on a swanky networking event. However, just because the event is free doesn’t mean it’s sub-par. Past speakers include agency CEOs, philanthropists, best-selling authors, and even the highly acclaimed marketing guru Seth Godin.
My Experience
After discovering this magical event I immediately signed up for their newsletter and gave them a follow on Instagram. Of course I wanted to go immediately but I waited it out to find a speaker whose background was most interesting to me. (After all, you will get into the office late the day of the event so it’s important to attend the lecture you feel will be the most impactful.)
Coming from a film and storytelling background, I chose to attend Scott Lewis’s lecture on engaging others through sharing the nitty gritty. As the CEO of a non-profit news organization, Scott explained how harnessing vulnerability helps in sharing our stories.
The event took place on a Friday morning at San Diego Central Library downtown (if you’re local to San Diego this library is definitely worth a visit). I took the elevator up to the highest level which had a large indoor conference style room and a breathtaking skyline view of San Diego on the patio. Being my first stop of the morning, first on my agenda (and everyone else’s) was hopping in the line for coffee. Thanks to the local sponsors I enjoyed a tasty brew from the Bean Barand a chocolate donut with coconut flakes. Hey, I made it through the week, I deserved it! 😉
The beginning of the event consisted of mingling with fellow creatives from designers to photographers, to filmmakers, musicians, surfers, artists, entrepreneurs and fellow agency folk like myself. Once the check in line had died down and everyone was feeling the cup of joe and sugar high hit their system, we congregated in the main room and claimed our seats.
Scott gave us insights to his own story and shared what he’s learned through the good, the bad, and the ugly of running an investigative news organization. In today’s society we are inclined to share surface level feedback or simply respond “I’m good, how about you?” by instinct when someone sparks a conversation.
He challenged us to dig deeper in our investigations as well as to knock down our own walls and embrace the beauty in vulnerability.
- How can someone know to offer their help if you’re too prideful to tell them you need it?
- How can you form genuine connections based off society’s ‘highlight reel’ mentality?
According to Scott the greatest opportunity is in what’s difficult, and not being scared to tell your own story is where it begins. By sharing all of your story, not simply the most glamorous aspects, you’ll experience deeper and more meaningful interactions. In return, by diving head first into your conversations with friends, clients, or interviewees and asking secondary questions you’ll find valuable insights, underlying emotions, and stories waiting to be shared.
I’m someone who lives for storytelling, talking to strangers, and embracing things outside of my comfort zone, so naturally this topic was right up my alley. As a content marketer, I’m constantly helping clients tell their story and shape their brand through a variety of mediums. This event was a friendly reminder about just how impactful forming deep rooted connections and taking an investigative approach can be.
My experience was a huge success and I’m eager to spread the word to my network and continue attending in the months to come. I’ve even contacted my local chapter to ask how both myself and Power Digital can get involved in supporting such an amazing cause.
Do you have questions about Creative Morning? Have suggestions of another networking event I should attend? Wanna talk storytelling?
Shoot me an email – let’s chat! 🙂
