FullBleed

Every year the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington brings you a great variety of events. Last week we concluded 5 days of creative co-working at local coffeeshops and cafes, also known as a ‘Jelly’.

The concept of a Jelly is to provide a specific time and location where telecommuters or freelancers or just those who usually work alone can come together for a work session full of camaraderie, brainstorming, and feedback, or just a change of pace. Anyone is welcome to come, just bring your laptop or your sketchbook or your paperwork or whatever your task for the day is. Meet up at a designated place and time and enjoy a fresh take on your usual work. Maybe you’ll run into an old friend, maybe you’ll make a new friend. Either way, you’ll get out of the house or office, share some time with fellow creatives, and get some work done.

Here are some photos and stories from January’s Jelly Week, hope you can make it out next time to join us!

Busboys and Poets (DC)
with Sean McCormick

While Busboys and Poets is filled with many, many people seeking a place to work and sponge the free wifi, five members of ADCMW ventured out for the first of five Jellys. With temps near 60 we picked the nicest days in quite awhile to get out and meet our ADCMW bretheren, and sisteren for that matter. Everyone had a good time with the creative chats those of us that work in our homes rarely get anymore. It was a great way to kick off the week.

Jammin’ Java (Vienna)
with Corey Greeneltch

I was excited to host a Jelly at one of my favorite local venues, Jammin Java. Known mostly as a great place to catch national and regional music acts, it’s also a spacious coffeeshop with free wi-fi, good food and classic video games. As much as I love little main street Vienna, I was a little concerned that there might not be much of a turnout. The suburbs are more of a haven for giant corporations than freelancers. Luckily there were a few other like-minded folks who stopped by to visit and co-work including Jim Darling, Nick Whitmoyer, John Malhinha and Lisa Greenfield. We were a pretty productive crew but also took time to talk shop and catch up with everyone.

Corner Bakery (Arlington)
with Eric Stewart

On Thursday, Jan. 28, ADCMW members Eric Stewart and Jennifer Brewer held down the Jelly Fort at The Corner Bakery near the Courthouse Metro in Arlington, Va. “In our continuing effort to improve our Jellies,” says Eric, “I’m thinking we may need to create some modest table-top signage to indicate where the Jelly is happening. Even though we were sitting in a prime location, there may have been more Jelly attendees that missed us. Even so, Jennifer and I had a good afternoon break from the routine — and some excellent sandwiches!”

Caribou Coffee (Silver Spring)
with John Foster

Quickly retreating from the cold, into the Bethesda outpost for Caribou Coffee, I was immediately greeted by a familiar smile. Soon we were catching up on our various joys and challenges in our work. Clutching my hot chocolate, we managed to grab the large table and before I could even catch up on e-mail, we had a filled every chair in sight (bringing a power strip with me was officially the smartest move I made last week!) I was quickly taken by the fun mix of longtime club members and fresh faces that surrounded me.

Some stopped in for a short hello and a bit of networking, but most came for long and engaging conversations and it wasn’t long before valuable advice was exchanging hands at every turn. I am pretty sure everyone on twitter left with ten new followers by an hour in as well. I am not sure how much work was completed (I managed to finish off an emergency project before it got too crowded) but I know for certain that old bonds were strengthened and new friendships formed.

One of the things that really struck me, in retrospect. was that many of the attendees were working solo recently – not necessarily by choice. The local economy in our creative community is far from settled, and as most of these talented people are accustomed to the social atmosphere of an office, this chance to see other designers/photographers/vendors in person filled a number of needs: certainly a valued human connection but also gathering the tools for their new career path that lies ahead. It makes me proud to know that this is a place where the Club really excels and I look forward to more events like this where our members get immediate help in furthering their goals and improving their skills.