creativemorningsedinburgh

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Volunteer with us!

CreativeMornings/ Edinburgh events are entirely run by volunteers. Our team is always growing and changing, and we are always looking for fresh faces and new ideas. If you are interested in getting involved, let us know!

CreativeMornings/ Edinburgh run monthly breakfast events for the creative-minded. Our events are free and open to all, and include free breakfast and coffee (at least when we are able to hold in-person events), as well as a speaker giving a short talk.Behind the scenes, CMEdi is entirely run by volunteers. Our small team each give up a few hours each month to make sure our events happen, and that they are as successful, as vibrant and as useful for our attendees as possible. 

We are always in need of team members with a wide range of skills and experiences, from event planning and logistics, to speaker coaching, to marketing and publicity. We are also always on the lookout for folk who can bring something fresh and new to the team.

As well as working to keep our events happening and our chapter going, being part of the CMEdi team offers an opportunity to be plugged into one of Edinburgh’s largest and most successful creative communities. Volunteers get to be part of an enthusiastic and welcoming team, with regular team social meet-ups and an annual retreat. Volunteering is also a great chance to pick up new skills and experiences. Team members have a lot of scope to shape their role, and are encouraged to try out new tasks and take on different responsibilities. 

If you are interested in getting involved, we’d love to hear from you! 

You can use this form to tell us about yourself and what you could bring to our team, or alternatively you can just drop us a line at [email protected] - let us know about why you would like to join the team, your skills and experiences, and what makes you tick! And feel free to use any medium you feel like - video, voice note, poem, song, whatever!

We are particularly in need of volunteers with skills and experience in the following areas:

Event planning/ event management

Finance and accounting

Social media + content-based marketing

Account management / partnerships/ sponsor relations

Event photography

Event videography/ video editing

Live-streaming

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We didn’t win, but we came away feeling humbled and truly inspired

Creative Edinburgh Awards 2020

After a year of comfy trousers and isolation, we had the absolute joy of getting our gladrags on to celebrate the fresh ideas and truly inspiring creative work done right here in our hometown of Edinburgh. 

The Creative Edinburgh Award ceremony is a big deal but, as you can imagine, this year was a little different. Instead of boogying down on the dancefloor together, we piled into a Zoom room. Zoom dress-up was the order of the day – snazzy shirts, lipstick and earrings up top, comfies down below – and we had the chance to sit on our own cosy sofas and make our own favourite drinks. There was wine, there was G&Ts, and even the odd Aperol Spritz.

We were obviously excited to find out whether we'd be getting a prize – having been nominated for The City Award – but, more importantly (we kept reminding ourselves), to get a rundown of some of the fabulous local creatives and collectives being celebrated.

We didn't win in our category. Not going to lie, it would've been a triumphant send off for the team members who have recently moved onto other creative pastures, having dedicated so much time and passion to CreativeMornings/Edinburgh, and of course a brilliant way for the team remaining to start with a bang! However, it was a fantastic opportunity to get together one last time, break out the bubbly and feel truly humbled and inspired by the creative brilliance going on around us.

We just want to take this opportunity to highlight the entries that got us revved up to reach further. That's what CreativeMornings is all about, after all...

Kat's pick – The Flock (The Start-up Award Winner)

The Flock does an amazing job of rolling style and ethics into one kick-ass package – an online space to find interviews and insightful articles on style, culture and entertainment, curated for 'smart, enquiring women who want to lead a good life'. They believe that good media shouldn't have to rely on advertising – i.e. spots sold to the highest bidder – and instead keep themselves free from the sway of advertising revenue in order to promote what's good, not who has the biggest budget:

"I launched The Flock because, after 18 years working in the media, I wanted to do things differently, to genuinely engage with modern, smart, ethically-minded women about the decisions which impact upon their lives... the stories and people that we feature always have one thing in common – their work aims to lead us towards a kinder climate for all." – Jennifer Crichten, Founder of Flock

Empowering women? Check. Saying Flock off to capitalist ideals? Check. Sexy typography, authentic journalism and lush photography? Check, check, check! Truly a winner.

Molly's pick – Fold (The Start-Up Award Nominee)

Now, we didn't want to just write about the winners.

We're obsessed with stationery, as I'm sure a lot of you CM/edites are too... Fold make stand-out, one-of-a-kind luxury paper goods for weddings, events and individuals. And my goodness, they have good taste. From the paper (did you say G.F.Smith?) to the colour palettes, cuts, folds and foiling, they have everything to make a paper craft-obsessed creative weak at the knees:

"...we marry contemporary design with thoughtfully crafted materials to deliver print collateral with provenance and originality. We believe that both process and outcome should be tangible, enlightening and always beautiful." – Hannah and Sarah, founders of Fold.

You can go the whole hog and get a consultation and custom-crafted invites for your event (bookmarked in the imaginary 'wedding' folder as we speak...) or pick yourself up a gorgeous notebook or set of cards. You can even get involved in the process through their workshops (perfect for the 'control freak' creative type!). Plus, what a cool name. Truly winners in our eyes.

Rebecca's pick – The Leith Collective (The Commercial Award Nominee)

We love the ethos of The Leith Collective. Their championing of creativity and community really rings true with what CreativeMornings is all about too.

Based in Ocean Terminal, The Leith Collective is a creative retail space showcasing the work of over 100 artists. They are huge advocates of re-use, recycle, re-claim and re-sell, seeking out artists and makers who create unique pieces from items that would otherwise end up in landfill.

People are truly at the heart of the Collective. Not only do their profits go towards supporting their community, their members also offer free workshops to local schools and charities, host clothes swaps and operate as a donation point for local food banks. They support the mental health and wellbeing of their members, giving them opportunities to gain workplace experience and develop their businesses, no matter what their situation in life is. Rebecca has loved watching them grow, and is especially inspired by how they're space at Ocean Terminal has developed over the past year.

Congratulations to The Leith Collective for their incredible work and their nomination at this year’s Creative Edinburgh Awards!

Clare's pick – SPLINTR (The Commercial Award Winner)

From super fluoro flowers shops, to your favourite reading nook or coffee spot, SPLINTR have made a name for themselves in Edinburgh for fitting out shops, cafes and offices across the city:

"Our ethos is grounded in a passion for uncomplicated, thoughtful and contemporary design. With a background in product design and architecture, our design team ensure a space is not only beautiful, but truly functional too.

"We pride ourselves on our involvement throughout every process of a project... This keeps things simple, efficient and economical for our clients." – SPLINTR

We feel they should win prizes galore for their innovation and craftsmanship alone, but the award they won at the CE Awards 2020 was actually for their Safe Server. Many businesses have had to pivot and reassess due to COVID and Splintr's solution was simple, beautifully built and adaptable. Utilising their classic, on-brand low-cost materials they produced a solution that was easy to implement and simple to brand up. They know their audience, they know their brand, and they did a fabulous job adapting to the current situation and helping their community of business owners.

Genius is often grounded in simplicity – well deserving of the win!

Isobel's pick – CinemaAttic (The 2020 Award Nominee)

Looking to add some Spanish flavour to your cinema-going? Then CinemaAttic is here to help.

Established in 2008, CinemaAttic have been showcasing the very best and brightest emerging filmmakers from Spain, Portugal and Latin America for over a decade. Their partnerships with venues like the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the National Galleries have helped raise the profile of Spanish cinema in Scotland.

With six film and arts festivals behind them and even more in the pipeline, CinemaAttic have established themselves as an incredible platform for entertainment, learning and innovative industry development.

"The crisis of Covid-19 and the following lockdown found CinemaAttic at a truly pivotal moment in the film collective’s history: we were about to celebrate our 10th anniversary as advocates of Ibero-American independent cinema in Scotland, with a number of events in the making to commemorate the occasion and our small team growing and evolving.

While many festivals and film exhibitors were paralysed by the unknown with the introduction of lockdown, we took ownership of the situation and re-oriented our entire programme of the 10th anniversary celebrations to a digital format." – CinemaAttic

Why not escape to the Mediterranean this week with CinemaAttics Catalan Film Festival? Opening on Thursday 19th November, the festival features the best new films from Spain and Catalonia, classic cinema, shorts, Q&As and panel conversations. And don't worry if your Spanish isn't up to scratch – everything will be subtitled in English!

Matt's pick – Lyra (The 2020 Award Winner)

Of course, the year being what it has been, Creative Edinburgh created a whole category in homage to the struggles we've all been feeling. The 2020 Award was created to recognise a project that went above and beyond to deliver despite the setbacks of the year.

The deserving winners were Lyra, an arts organisation based in Greater Craigmillar (Edinburgh) that makes art and creative projects for children and young people. They believe that watching plays and attending theatre workshops can help build confidence, develop social skills and create a sense of worth and belonging:

"We work in creative partnership with our children and young people, and our approach aims to raise aspirations through world-class provision, improve confidence by developing new skills and increase self-esteem by nurturing creative expression."

A truly noble cause and we have to say – their workshops look so fun! If only we weren't a little too old ourselves...

Finally, it would be totally remiss of us not give a great big warm round of applause to Creative Bridge and the team at CodeBase for picking up first prize in our category. A huge congratulations to all of the prize-winners and nominees – keep pushing the boundaries, exploring both possibilities and impossibilities and inspiring us. We could not be prouder of our small but mighty creative city. 

#creativeedinburgh #creativemornings #creative #creativity #awards #creativeawards #edinburgh #creativemorningsedinburgh #inspiration

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Submitting a Community Minutes Video

Until it is safe and responsible to meet up in person, the Community Minute segment of our virtual events will consist of pre-recorded videos which will be streamed live to all the attendees. We also share these videos on our social media after the event.

Anyone in our community is free to submit a video for a Community Minute. Video files should be sent to [email protected], with ‘Community Minute’ in the subject line. Please use a file transfer service to send larger files (we recommend wetransfer.com or Dropbox). 

Please note:

Videos must be a maximum 60 seconds long. 

One video file per person/ business only. Unfortunately we can’t edit anything for you.

Keep it PG please!

Videos should be received by the Wednesday before the event to be included. 

Time at our events is often limited, so we can’t guarantee all submitted videos will be shown. We do our best to ensure time is allocated on a first come, first served basis.

A few tips: ideally film in widescreen/ landscape format, and try to record somewhere with minimal background noise and a decent amount of light. Also remember to include social media accounts, hashtags, and web links (if you’re feeling fancy you could add these to your video as graphics, or you can just hold up a piece of paper!)  

If you have any questions, get in touch with us via [email protected]

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Chapter Update - November 2020

This month marks a new chapter in the story of CreativeMornings/ Edinburgh. 

As previously announced, our October event was the last as host for Alex Duressel-Baker, who set up CreativeMornings in Edinburgh six years ago, and has now stepped down from the team of volunteers that run the event. Alex has been the driving force and powerhouse behind CreativeMornings/ Edinburgh. We want to thank her so much for building such a brilliant event and attracting the strong and vibrant community which has come together around it. Alex has written an open letter to that community, with her thoughts on her time with the chapter and on stepping down.

We also want to say thank you to everyone who has given their time and energy to CreativeMornings over the six years, and it. Special thanks go to Ellie, Chloe and Kristian, who also stepped away from the team in October. 

We are taking this big change as an opportunity to reset, change things up and move forward. Without Alex to fearlessly lead the team, we’re going to be more of a collective, sharing responsibility between us. There isn’t really any one person who could fill Alex’s shoes - It’s going to take a collective effort from all the remaining volunteers. Luckily we’ve got a really strong and enthusiastic team: Matt, Clare, Molly, Kat and newcomers Isobel and Rebecca (and we’ll be recruiting more folk soon!)

The changes are largely backstage, so the most noticeable difference over the next few months will be that we are going to start sharing hosting duties, so the MC role at events will be rotating through the team, and you’ll get a bit more of a chance to meet everyone! Beyond that we have loads of exciting things in the pipeline - great speakers pencilled in for the next few months, and some cool ideas to try to mix up the format a bit and maybe combat a bit of that Zoom fatigue! We are definitely committed to getting everyone back in the same room for in-person events, but it’s obviously going to be quite a while before it’s possible to do that safely and responsibly, so until then we’re going to do our best to keep everything fresh and engaging! 

Our next event is happening on Friday November 27th, with the theme Radical! We’ll have more details appearing on our socials and in the newsletter over the next few weeks - we’d love to see you there!

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Join our team - we’d love to have you be part of CreativeMornings/Edinburgh!

Our current team vacancies are listed below. Apply for these roles here

Ideally team members are able to commit to approximately 10 hours a month, including 4 hours for the event day and monthly team meetings. However this isn’t an absolute requirement, roles can always be shared or reconfigured to fit around you.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION

CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers and help keep us in touch with our beautiful and growing community of attendees, spreading the word about our events and shouting about our sponsors and partners. More details

PARTNERSHIPS/ OPS

CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers and help us build meaningful and lasting partnerships with the outside organisations that support us as we continue to deliver and develop our monthly events. More details

SPEAKER GURU

Finding great speakers makes for great talks. CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers to help us find amazing guest speakers. Once they’re onboard, your job will then be to give them creative guidance and support in the run up to their talk. More details

WILDCARD ENTRY!

If you don’t fit any of the vacancies listed here but are still interested in joining our team of volunteers, we want to know about it. If you feel you have some unique knowledge, experience or skills that would help us in our mission, please don’t hesitate to let us know. More details

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Team Vacancy: Wildcard entry!

CreativeMornings/Edinburgh put on our monthly events to celebrate Edinburgh as a dynamic and inclusive city whilst promoting creativity for all of us who live here. If you don’t fit any of our current vacancies but are still interested in joining our team of volunteers, we want to know about it. If you feel you have some unique knowledge, experience or skills that would help us in our mission, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

We’d love to hear from anyone with experience managing any of Edinburgh’s world class events (especially hybrid in-person/ virtual events) or financial/ accounting skills. We will also be looking to recruit event photographers and videographers once in-person events are possible again. 

Ideally team members are able to commit to approximately 10 hours a month, including 4 hours for the event day and monthly team meetings. However this isn’t an absolute requirement, roles can always be shared or reconfigured to fit around you.

Please apply here for this role or any of our other current team vacancies!

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Team Vacancy: Community Champion

CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers and help keep us in touch with our beautiful and growing community of attendees, spreading the word about our events and shouting about our sponsors and partners.

You will work within our Content & Comms team to run the day-to-day on our social media and other communication channels, shape our website and event pages, and be first contact for enquiries and queries. You will work closely with our Content Coordinator and collaborate with our wider content team to plan content and campaigns that will engage our community, broaden the reach of our events and amplify the voices of our speakers.

We are looking for someone who has a way with words. Copywriting and/or marketing experience (especially around social media and analytics) would be a big plus!

We will encourage and welcome your input on how you want to shape and steer this role within our overall mission of celebrating Edinburgh as a dynamic and inclusive city whilst promoting creativity for all of us who live here. We would love for you to join our motivated and enthusiastic team, and help our long-running event continue into a bright future.

Ideally team members are able to commit to approximately 10 hours a month, including 4 hours for the event day and monthly team meetings. However this isn’t an absolute requirement, roles can always be shared or reconfigured to fit around you.

Please apply here for this role or any of our other current team vacancies.

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Team vacancy: Partnerships/ Ops

CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers and help us build meaningful and lasting partnerships with the outside organisations that support us as we continue to deliver and develop our monthly events. 

Our monthly events are free for all attendees, and always will be, so we depend on the support of the sponsors, venues and breakfast/coffee providers that help us through their sponsorship and in-kind partnerships.

You will work within our Operations team to maintain the positive relationships we have with our current partners while also seeking out and building new ties with potential partner organisations that share our values and vision.

We will encourage and welcome your input on how you want to shape and steer this role within our overall mission of celebrating Edinburgh as a dynamic and inclusive city whilst promoting creativity for all of us who live here. We would love for you to join our motivated and enthusiastic team, and help our long-running event continue into a bright future.

Ideally team members are able to commit to approximately 10 hours a month, including 4 hours for the event day and monthly team meetings. However this isn’t an absolute requirement, roles can always be shared or reconfigured to fit around you.

Apply here for this role or any of our other current team vacancies.

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Team Vacancy: Speaker Guru

Finding great speakers makes for great talks. CreativeMornings/Edinburgh is looking for someone to join our team of volunteers to help us find amazing guest speakers. Once they’re onboard, your job will then be to give them creative guidance and support in the run up to their talk. 

You will work alongside our Operations team, finding and reaching out to potential speakers to make sure our monthly events continue to be vibrant, diverse and challenging. You’ll then work with each monthly speaker to ensure that their time as part of our community runs smoothly, that they feel looked after and loved, and that their talk is as brilliant and engaging as possible.

Our speakers come from a broad range of experiences and backgrounds, and often are not experienced public speakers or performers. As the Speaker Guru you will collaborate with them to shape their talk ahead of the event, offering suggestions, advice and tips. We are looking for a confident and calming individual who is highly organised and likes meeting new people. 

We will encourage and welcome your input on how you want to shape and steer this role within our overall mission of celebrating Edinburgh as a dynamic and inclusive city whilst promoting creativity for all of us who live here. We would love for you to join our motivated and enthusiastic team, and help our long-running event continue into a bright future.

Ideally team members are able to commit to approximately 10 hours a month, including 4 hours for the event day and monthly team meetings. However this isn’t an absolute requirement, roles can always be shared or reconfigured to fit around you.

Please apply here for this role, or any of the other current team vacancies!

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Attending CreativeMornings Edinburgh virtual events 

We are excited to be to continuing our remote events while in-person gatherings are not possible. To ensure a smooth-running and secure remote event, we have had to establish a few ground rules: 

Everyone who has signed up for a ticket will receive the Zoom meeting link via email. This email will be sent the night before the event, and will go to the email address registered with your Creativemornings.com account. 

 Please do not share the meeting link or post it anywhere online. 

On the Friday morning, click on the the link to join the event. You can use Zoom in your browser, but the dedicated app does offer more features. Find more on using Zoom here. 

When you first join the Zoom meeting, you will be placed in a waiting room space until the event begins. 

Be prompt - the event will be locked ten minutes after it starts. Once it is locked you will not be able to join the meeting. 

Please have your device's microphone and camera activated. This not only makes it easier for others to chat to you and connect, it also helps us identify any trolls or uninvited attendees. If it is absolutely impossible for you to use your camera, please set Zoom to display a clear profile picture of yourself (find out how here) 

Your microphone will be muted for sections of the event. During these periods, you can continue to join in via Zoom's chat feature. 

Attendees behaving inappropriately on their video, audio and/ or the Zoom chat, or disrupting the event in any way, will be removed from the meeting (just like at a in-person event!). If you need to flag another attendee's behaviour, please let us know either by the chat channel on Zoom, or via our email, [email protected]. 

We hope you enjoy our remote event, and are able to connect with the CMEdi community despite needing to stay socially distanced. We are looking forward to seeing you all there! 

If you have any questions, or experience any issues connecting/ accessing the Zoom meeting, please contact us via [email protected]

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Attending CreativeMornings Edinburgh virtual events

We are excited to be to continuing our remote events while in-person gatherings are not possible. To ensure a smooth-running and secure remote event, we have had to establish a few ground rules: Everyone who has signed up for a ticket will receive the Zoom meeting link via email. This email will be sent the night before the event, and will go to the email address registered with your Creativemornings.com account. Please do not share the meeting link or post it anywhere online. On the Friday morning, click on the the link to join the event. You can use Zoom in your browser, but the dedicated app does offer more features. Find more on using Zoom here.   Be prompt - the event will be locked ten minutes after starting. Once it is locked you will not be able to join the meeting. When you first join the Zoom meeting, you will be placed in a waiting room space until the event begins. Please have your device's microphone and camera activated. This not only makes it easier for others to chat to you and connect, it also helps us identify any trolls or uninvited attendees. If it is absolutely impossible for you to use your camera, please set Zoom to display a clear profile picture of yourself (find out how here) Your microphone will be muted for sections of the event. During these times, you can continue to join in via Zoom's chat feature. Attendees behaving inappropriately on their video, audio and/ or the Zoom chat, or disrupting the event in any way, will be removed from the meeting (just like at a in-person event!). If you need to flag another attendee's behaviour, please let us know either by the chat channel on Zoom, or via our email, [email protected]. We hope you enjoy our remote event, and are able to connect with the CMEdi community despite needing to stay socially distanced. We are looking forward to seeing you all there! If you have any questions, or experience any issues connecting/ accessing the Zoom meeting, please contact us via [email protected]

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Video Community Minutes

Community minutes are the space in all our events for the CMEdi community to make announcements, shout outs and ask for help or support. We are going to keep this going in the new-format virtual events we’ll be running while social distancing rules need to be followed, with pre-recorded videos instead of in-person announcements.

While our events have to be held online, pre-recorded community minute videos will be streamed to everyone attending the event, and then also posted to our social media channels (our first virtual event, in March, had more than 100 attendees, and our instagram and twitter both have more than 2.5k followers).

Anyone is free to submit a video. We’d love to hear about your business and how you’re coping in this challenging time and any events or services you’re providing (especially ones that can be accessed remotely!). If you are in need of additional help or support please let our community step up! If you’d like to give a shout-out to the rest of us while we’re all self-distancing, or highlight someone doing amazing work, please feel free. 

Videos must be a maximum 60 seconds long. 

One video file per person. Unfortunately we can’t edit anything for you 

Video files should be sent to [email protected] (we recommend using wetransfer.com to send larger files), with ‘Community Minute’ in the subject line. Videos should be received by 3pm on Wednesday before the event to be included.

Keep it PG please! (We aren’t going to broadcast any inappropriate content)

A few tips: ideally film in widescreen/ landscape format, and try to record somewhere with minimal background noise and a decent amount of light. Also remember to include social media accounts, hashtags, and web links (if you’re feeling fancy you could add these to your video as graphics, or you can just hold up a piece of paper!)  

Beyond that, feel free to go as simple & straight-forward or as wildly creative as you like - you could use a swanky 4K camera, but something shot on your phone will work just as well. Film selfie-style, prop your phone up on a bookshelf, or get someone else to hold the camera. Edit together multiple shots and add graphics or effects, or just film a single take. 

We can’t wait to hear your news and share it with everyone else. 

Find details of our next event at https://creativemornings.com/cities/edi

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Call for remote community minutes

We are moving our events online for March and April. And we asking for you to be involved by sending us your updates, news and advice, in video form!

We're going to share them at our live-stream event on Friday March 27th, and on our social media channels.

Community minutes have always been an important part of our events - they are a space where anyone can speak to the whole #CMEdi community. We feel that in this time of isolation and self-distancing, the community minutes are more important than ever, so it is going to be a central segment of the remote events.

We’d love to hear about your business and how you’re coping in this challenging time and any events or services you’re providing (especially ones that can be accessed remotely!). If you are in need of additional help or support please let our community step up! Want just give a shout-out to the rest of us also self-distancing (or some Netflix recommendations)? That is cool too!

Videos must be a maximum 60 seconds long. 

One video file per person (unfortunately we can’t edit anything for you)

Video files should be sent to [email protected] (we recommend using wetransfer.com to send larger files) by 3pm on Weds March 25th.

A few tips: ideally film in widescreen/ landscape format, and try to record somewhere with minimal background noise and a decent amount of light. Also remember to include social media accounts, hashtags, and web links (if you’re feeling fancy you could add these to your video as graphics, or you can just hold up a piece of paper!) And try to keep it PG please! (We aren’t going to broadcast any adult or inappropriate content)

Beyond that, feel free to go as simple & straight-forward or as wildly creative as you like - you could use a swanky 4K camera, but something shot on your phone will be work just as well. Film selfie-style, prop your phone up on a bookshelf, or get someone else to hold the camera. Edit together multiple shots and add graphics or effects, or just film a single take. You don’t have to go mad, but we’d love to hear some music performed from your couch, or see any animation skills. (And absolutely do get the dog involved please!)

Our first remote live-streamed event will be happening 08.30-10.00am on Friday March 27th. Along with everyone’s community minute videos, we’re going to have Phil Adams’ talk on the theme of ‘identity’, including a remote q&a, and lots of other remote fun! We’ll have more on how to join us once we’ve ironed out all the details!

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We’re looking for someone with the imagination and skills to hear, grow, and inspire our CreativeMornings/Edinburgh audiences. You’ll work with our content team to create campaign strategies in order to produce newsletters and articles celebrating our events and partners.

We encourage and welcome your steering on how you want to shape this role with the overall mission being to grow our impact in terms of celebrating Edinburgh as a dynamic and inclusive city, to work live and play.

Dedicated time: approx 10h a month, including 4h for event day and monthly team meeting.

If you’re interested in joining our team, let us know via this form!

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Gillian Scott's favourite Craft Design House pieces

Our speaker for January’s Roots event is Gillian Scott, founder and creative director of Craft Design House. Craft Design House is a multidisciplinary sustainable design studio, which aims to nurture up-and-coming designer makers and invest in the preservation of traditional skills.

Gillian was kind enough to share some of her favourite pieces produced by the studio.

Pearl Dish – Designer: Anna Nichols

“I gave this to my daughter, designed to create a physical barrier to your phone, something beautiful and tactile to enhance interiors, which is in stark contrast to our slick touch screens”. 

Isobel Wylie Hutchison Arctic Moon Ring Locket – Designer: Barbara Spence

I always loved secret compartments and little notes and keepsakes. This is inspired by the Arctic Moon and how the moon connects us, looking up it’s the same moon wherever you are in the world.

Leonardo da Vinci Mug – Designer: Ana LM

You need to drink from this mug to really appreciate its strength of character and texture. The organic lines capture Leonardo da Vinci’s beard, it’s playful and also has a biscuit stamp on the bottom.

Reflecting Mackintosh Silk Scarf – Designer: Emily May

It’s the vivid colours and the detail that draws me to this scarf. A stunning piece which was designed to celebrate Charles Rennie Mackintosh 150 years. A very personal collection, it was our first and created before we lost the GSA to fire.

Leonardo da Vinci Last Supper Ties (Jesus & Judas) – Designer: Niki Fulton

It’s the story behind the design and the fusion of colours that I love, using Da Vinci’s technique of sfumato and based around ‘The Last Supper’ they represent the colours worn by Jesus and Judas.

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CMEdi People - Dominika Priehradnikova

After the roaring success of July’s event with Emily Yates, CMEdi is heading back to BoConcept in September for Muse with Topaz Pauls! We had BoConcept interior design Dominika answer some questions about her creative life.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Dominika Priehradnikova, I am an Interior Designer at BoConcept whilst also running my own Nail Business @domi.mani

Have you been to CreativeMornings before?

I have only been to the four years of CMEdi party and had a great time. The atmosphere and venue were amazing and I found all the talks very touching but inspiring at the same time.

Are you working on any projects right now? 

I began domi.mani earlier this year because of my love of art and painting my own nails, so why not do this for other like minded individuals. I am putting in most of my spare time and energy into meeting new clients and artists. So far, I have been lucky enough to be involved with various events with businesses such as WeMake and Qrtrlifecrisis. 

Who inspires you?

I have many inspirations. From everyday objects, people, architecture to influential artists like Yves Klein and Picasso. I don’t think it is so much ‘who’ inspires you, but ‘what’ inspires you. Just look around you and inspiration is everywhere!

Do you have any advice to share?

People don’t really tell you how hard it is to start your own business adventure, so my advice would be to stay with it and you will overcome any obstacles that get in your way. Practice makes perfect! And if you want to be successful, you will - just stick at it.

What is something you love that you think more people should know about? 

I recently read a really good book called ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney. It’s basically a millennial love story, I don’t want to say any more to spoil it.

What do you like to do on a free day in Edinburgh?

I have a dog, so my days off are spent going for long walks together. My favourite place is Arthur’s seat - especially on a foggy day when the visibility is low, there is something magical and mysterious about it. I usually grab a vegan bagel from Bross Bagels before I go, to power up.

Follow Dominika at @domi.mani on Instagram.

BoConcept produce and sell contemporary Danish designed furniture, accessories and lighting, and offer free interior design services. Find out more at www.boconcept.com. 

[creativemorningsedinburgh]

CMEdi People: Q&A with Isla Munro

Photo by Ellie Morag

Who are you, where are you from and what do you do?

My name is Isla Munro and I live and work in Edinburgh. I teach in the Design School at Edinburgh College of Art, primarily undergraduate students, in Product Design. 

I am a designer and consultant, with a background in architecture and furniture design; I earn my crust through graphic design and visual communication and feed my soul through community and participatory art projects, and most recently street art. 

I head up the 100 Days Project Scotland which is a project aimed at encouraging daily creative practice and have great fun arranging the celebratory exhibition in Edinburgh.

Are you working on any projects right now? Tell us about them!  

The project on the forefront (apart from the return of all the university students!) is the 100 Days Project Scotland exhibition, which is opening on the 25th September. This year we have had more than double the amount of participants sign up to be a part of the celebratory show and I am very excited about it. 

Thankfully I booked a bigger venue for the show this year, the Fire Station Engine House at ECA on Lauriston Place, so we will be able to fit in all the amazing projects.

Another lovely project to be involved with is a community art project where me and my friends Astrid Jaekel and Chris Dobson are delivering cut-metal artwork just off the Cannongate. 

How can people find out more?

Instagram is a good place to see some of what I am up to. The 100 Days Project Scotland website is worth a look, including the 3D tour of the 2018 exhibition. Otherwise get in touch through Creative Mornings, and let’s have a coffee and I can tell you more.

How long have you been attending CreativeMornings? 

I have been attending Creative Mornings since 2016, when I went along to a talk by Morven Cunningham on the global theme of Change. 

CM is one of my favourite things and something I look forward to every month. I love the coffee and don’t even get me started on the bagels but even without those, the chance to hear all the amazing people speak about what is important to them is constantly inspiring. 

What has been your favourite CMEdi event?

It’s very difficult to choose – they are so varied and all good! One I was delighted by most recently would be Mary Johnston on the theme of Preserve. Mary’s Doric poetry was fantastic, and Mary herself was captivating. I also loved the CMEdi in the Meadows where we met under a tree, in the rain, and ate breakfast treats. 

What advice can you share with the CMEdi community? 

I think probably the best bit of advice I could share would be to be yourself, and surround yourself with people you trust. I am lucky enough to have friends and colleagues who appreciate my weird, and I theirs.

What's your favourite thing about Edinburgh? 

There is not one thing; there is a glorious smooshing together of all the wonderful things which make Edinburgh the only city I want to live in. 

I enjoy walking and cycling around it; I love the mix of architecture, it’s geography and geology. I love living in Leith, it is full of character and there are some great independent businesses and community enterprises which have such heart.  

Love it or loathe it we are a festival city, and though I believe there is so much more Edinburgh needs to do to balance the festivals to benefit residents and not simply cater for visitors, I do feel lucky to have so many amazing things going on, on my doorstep.

What do you like to do on a free day in Edinburgh? 

One of my favourite places to go, which is just outside Edinburgh, is Jupiter Artland. It is a lovely place to wander around. It has a programme of exhibitions every year, but the growing art collection in the grounds is fantastic and I see something new every time I visit. If I can’t quite get myself out to Jupiter Artland, then a cycle up to the Botanics for a coffee and then a wander around the grounds is always a good shout. 

Who or what inspires you?

There is no one thing, or one person, so you’re getting a wee list! I am lucky enough to be surrounded by lots of inspiring friends and colleagues. My fellow 100 Days Project participants and the projects they pursue are an inspiration.  Also, I am lucky to be a member of Tribe Women, an Enterprise Community run out of Tribe Porty, which is a fine collection of inspiring women.

image: Isla Munro

What is something you love and think people should know about?

I love taking photos of mundane yet beautiful things; most recently in the south of France it was door knockers, in New York it was water towers. I spell my name with things I find in the world and I have a ‘photo scavenger hunt’ list on my phone which I tick my way through in every place I visit. It means my camera roll is full of cast shadows, zig-zags, textures and colours rather than tourist destinations. 

My most recent book purchase which speaks to that side of me is called “The Art of Noticing” by Rob Walker – it is a guide full of exercises like the ones I already do (like take photos of numbers 1 – 100 in order, or start a collection), and asks readers to take more notice of the world around them… I think more people should do that.

Is there anything else you like to let the CMEdi Community know?

A shameless plug for the opening of the 100 Days Show, but I would love to see the CMEdi community come to the exhibition. If you can’t make the opening, the exhibition is open until the 29th, so it is well worth a visit. Simply search Instagram for #100daysprojectscotland to see some of the amazing projects. 

Follow Isla on instagram, and find more about The 100 Days Project Scotland at www.100daysscotland.co.uk, Instagram, and Facebook . Check out the original 100 Days Project from New Zealand at www.100daysproject.co.nz

Tickets are available now for The 100 Days Project 2019 show opening night on Wednesday 25th September, sponsored by the Cross Borders Brewing Company. 

The show runs at The Fire Station, Edinburgh College of Art, 74 Lauriston Place, from Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th.