CREATIVE MORNINGS
Always craving more inspiration in my life, I volunteered for 2 years for Creative Mornings, an international monthly breakfast lecture series aimed at drawing together the local creative community. Alongside my partner in crime, Eric Liu, we designed engaging experiences for our Ottawa chapter.
MY ROLE:
Created thematic activities that provoke thought. They needed to be quick turnaround projects devised with little to no budget
Facilitated a good social environment for our attendees to get to know one other
Every month, our team of 10 sought new speakers, new venues, new sponsors, organized, set up and tore down each event
March 2017 theme : Taboo
ANTI-SHAMING AND SHEDDING TABOOS
Activity 1 : I created a jar full of truths and dares to help strangers push the boundaries of social and cultural taboos.
Activity 2 : We constructed a "confession booth" where attendees could speak about the topic they pulled from the jar. The intent was to upload their thoughts online to further push them out of their comfort zone and encourage others to do the same; however, attendees preferred to talk to each other face-to-face rather than use the helmet.
April 2017 theme : Beyond
OVERCOMING MENTAL HURDLES OF PERFORMANCE
Activity 1 : Push yourself to go beyond. Wanting to empower people to achieve, newsprint was taped to the walls where attendees were asked to write down one thing they've been meaning to do for a long time but haven't successfully pushed themselves to do. By writing their goals in an active voice, they committed to accomplishing that task that same day.
Activity 2 : Overcome physical limitations. We constructed a fake barbell from foam core and copper, and a sign that said "You've done a ton today!" for the social media station. Attendees were encouraged to pump themselves up before the lecture. (Inspiration: Usopp's 10-ton hammer from One Piece)
May 2017 : Serendipity / 5-year anniversary!
BALLOON BRANDING
For our 5-year anniversary, I was asked to make a Creative Mornings logo bubble. Using balsam wood, drawing film, lights, and coloured paper, I created a semi-translucent prop that helped brand us at each of our events.
June 2017 theme : Survival
WELCOME TO CANADA!
This month, our speaker Louisa Taylor shared stories of Refugee613's resettlement efforts. We created a life-sized card to welcome the refugees, and we invited the attendees to write messages of strength, share their own stories of survival, and to give tips on how to survive Canada. The card was constructed from a Canadian map, and stylized into a winter jacket to symbolize warmth, comfort, and many winters to come.
July 2017 theme : Equality
COLLABORATION STATION 2.0
Equality progresses through power of community. We created boards for our attendees to use as an open platform to connect with people of different backgrounds and experiences. They were free to reach out however they liked. It didn't need to be job related. If they were looking to share an obscure skill, for someone to hang out with that day, a partner for chess, a babysitter, etc, they could post it with a post-it.
August 2017 theme: Genius
EXPLORING YOUR MUSICAL GENIUS
Sometimes, we don't know what we're capable of due to lack of accessibility or exposure. So this month, we decided to talk about the hidden creative resources available to us from the Ottawa Public Library (i.e. Arduinos, 3D printers, laser cutters, etc). We borrowed some of their equipment and used them to introduce our attendees to the world of digital musical instruments. We created paper turntables using the library's Arduinos and our own homemade conductive ink (see the tutorial).
At the event, because I lacked Arduino knowledge, it ended up sounding like “human music”. Next time, I would aim to make the music much more complex.
