I Held A Meetup For Creative Professionals (and there was pie)

Working from home, so many of my connections to people are virtual. It’s entirely possible for me to teach 80 writers in my online courses (as I am right now), work with writing clients who live anywhere in the world, and connect with amazing people on a minute by minute basis on social media.

Now, I am not a hermit, I work part of every day from a coffee shop, and I go into NYC once per week for a day full of meetings, meals, and meetups with folks.

But one of my goals this year has been to do more in-person events, and I did just that last week with my first meetup. This was the brainchild of my friend Scott McDowell and myself, a way for us to bring together creative professionals in our area.

The idea was to slow down and learn about others who are building things that matter. We
called it “MOMENTUM,” with this description:

A meetup for creative + tech-savvy + independent + local + curious professionals.
Come to meet like-minded people who are in the trenches and executing ideas.

As part of the event, I did a talk on “building a platform for creative work,” and Scott presented on “getting off the cusp and on to the work that matters.”

Who came? Artists, community minded folks, and entrepreneurs. People who were passionate about their work, and trying to find ways to build momentum in their creative endeavors. For some, they worked a “regular” job and were hoping to make their art primary in their lives. For others, it was about expanding their reach to ensure that they found like-minds who were creating new things.

When Scott and I first decided to do this, one of his friends (amazingly) offered up her cafe for us to use. Andrea from The Artist Baker lent us her space, and did so much to create a wonderful evening. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer atmosphere. Here is Scott speaking to the group:

Momentum meetup

My friend Cali Williams Yost showed up too, and talked a bit about the counterintuitive ways that amazingly productive people view their work and life.

There was a lot of conversation, and it was intriguing to hear about people’s goals and experiences. One attendee talked about how his most successful clients are often the most stressed. It’s intriguing to consider how we measure success and if we even know when we have arrived there.

Overall, it was a wonderful event, and we are planning another for August 8th. If you live in northern New Jersey check out our Facebook Group for updates.

Okay, here are more photos:

The location, The Artist Baker:
Momentum meetup

Our host Andrea:
Momentum meetup

Cali tells a story:
Momentum meetup

Pie!
Momentum meetup

Scott talking…
Momentum meetup

Scott and I…
Momentum meetup

Thanks so much to Scott, Andrea, and everyone who attended!
-Dan