Breakfast with the Creatives

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CreativeMornings Milwaukee chapter organizer Paul Oemig

CreativeMornings was started in 2008 by designer Tina Roth Eisenberg who wanted to create an event that would foster open conversation among New York’s creative community. It began as a small breakfast paired with discussion on a Friday morning each month, free of charge and open to anyone regardless of discipline or background. Since then, the program has spread across the globe. Off the Cuff spoke with the Milwaukee chapter organizer Paul Oemig to learn more about CreativeMornings.

What is CreativeMornings?

It’s a monthly breakfast-lecture series for the creative community that’s now hosted in about 190 cities around the world, from Mexico City to Singapore to Stockholm and everywhere in between, with a global monthly attendance of over 20,000 creative minds. Each monthly event is themed and consists of a 20-minute talk from someone in the region about their creative process, alongside coffee and breakfast bites. The talks are also recorded and shared online on creativemornings.com, so you can get a global perspective on that month’s theme from a lot of interesting minds and disciplines.

In Milwaukee our mission is to connect, develop and celebrate the creative community here. We strive to shift the definition of “creatives” to anyone who actively engages with problem-solving processes in their work—not just the traditional arts/design/marketing space. We generally host anywhere from 120-150 people from the region’s creative community. Our events are almost always sold out. Registration is free but capped. 


Why mornings?

There’s no shortage of evening events, and that’s great, but if you feel inspired walking away from an evening event, it’s sometimes hard for that enthusiasm to carry to the following day. By hosting events in the morning, you can apply those insights or energies in the day ahead. And because it’s a morning event and there’s rarely alcohol in the mix, people are there for the presentation and for the other people attending, rather than to have a drink. I’m not a morning person by nature, but I always leave with more energy than I put in, even when it means waking up at 5 a.m. to set up with our team. Mornings are full of promise.

Why are face-to-face connections so powerful?

The average American spends seven to 10 hours a day consuming media on devices, according to recent Nielsen reports. With the time spent interacting face-to-face decreasing, face-to-face interaction only becomes more valuable—most of all because when you communicate with someone face-to-face, you are vulnerable, and if that interaction is sincere, you build deep trust. A community can form that you simply can’t have in a digital context. Nothing replaces a handshake, a hug or a high five.

What’s the best thing you’ve learned from a lecture?

It has been so refreshing curating a public classroom of sorts each month. There is so much to be learned from people who may be using a different toolbox than you but are engaging with the same problem-solving process. In my professional practice, I work in a variety of spaces and utilize a variety of tools, primarily photography. Surrounding myself with a group of people of different skill sets and diverse professional and personal backgrounds has really helped me round out my own. Recently, Mark Fairbanks of Islands of Brilliance spoke on the theme of “Pioneer” and gave a great reminder that “the greater the amount of fear that exists, the greater the opportunity for growth that exists.” Growth is a choice. It’s one that has to be made again and again, and fear is something to be overcome again and again.

Past venues have included the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace museums, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum, Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery, Ward 4 and the Back Room at Colectivo, to name just a few. To learn about CreativeMornings’ next session on Friday, Aug. 17, visit creativemornings.com/cities/mke.