The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all,

So as not to distract from your end-of-summer activity and your relishing the last few days of time before school or summer Fridays end (or whatever the case is), here’s the Breakfast Club calendar for the week.

Hope to see you out there for eggs, coffee, conversation, and whatever else may come.

And if not this week, another time soon.

Ben

Week of Aug 31st: BC is ON in PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, CDMX, SF, London, DTBK, Cincy and SOMa

TUESDAY (9/1)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (9/2)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

Mexico City

• Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant

• 8:30am @ Mendl

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (9/3)

London

• Co-hosted by Ramona Daniel and Victoria Gates-Fleming

• 9:30am @ Foyle’s Cafe, Charing Cross

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

FRIDAY (9/4)

Sydney

• Co-Hosted by Elisha Akhtar

• 8a @ Ace Hotel Sydney

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in Philly, PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, CPH, DC, DTBK, Cincy, Boston, Denver and SOMa

Breakfast Club Williamsburg Report 8.26.26

This morning at my table we talked the yogurt game, CPG strategy, trial runs at new jobs, three train trips, the vicissitudes of alternate side, vintage tees, the StarChefs food trade show, doing laundry in NYC, live-streaming concepts, magnet fishing (is not a crime), buying seafood on Whatnot, the origins of small business, Sailor and Siren, the Blue Runner food truck in Miami, opening a spa in Jerusalem, wellness programming, Senator Amy Klobuchar, working at VIRTUE Worldwide, Spike Jonze and his origins, incorporating AI into Breakfast Club Intlst Club, GPTs trying to count to 100 and failing, BC LA West, following threads of conversation, Midjourney to Runway AI to whatever’s next, AI workflows, preaching the gospel, Departures magazine, American Express, brokering data, the obselescence of the agency model, women-led businesses, studying at Elon University being a finder/capturer/collater, the state of the event biz, doing one too many things, adult education, IVERSON, unhinged UI, the Venmo redesign, breakfast club as a solution to never being invited to dinner parties, Brands&Culture NY, Astorians at meet ups, forst lady of New York Rama Duwaji , 100 trillion views, Doug Aitken at The Shed (NY), being a tourist in New York, bring a wolf pup on a plane, The Wolf of Front Street (DUMBO), wolf rescue agencies, Lurchers as the new hot dog in Williamsburg, Lurch-a-doodles, dealing with properties in receivership and lots more.

The crew this AM was Joel Linkewer, Eliane Oser, Todd Sines, Sundi Brewer-Griffin, Kurt Reckziegel, Sofia Negron, Ian Edgar, Aydan Sarikaya, allie dietzek, James Outlaw, Dan Burt, Anita Schillhorn van Veen, Nick Bodor, Ben Jenkins, Marissa Dubin, Eric Korsh, Leann Abad and me.

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone pays their own way. And everyone's invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the "company"
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
Breakfastindustries.substack.com is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

BC SF Report 8.26.26

Per Chris’s post: “Overheard at SF breakfast club—where all are welcome, especially you:

"It feeds you the emotions you're already in,"
Speculative everything,
Smell-preneurs,
and,

Is silence a luxury? The power of being non-vocal. Presence. Who gets to have a voice. Austin is laaaazy. Antimemetics. Dark Forest Internet Theory. Tumblr. The new Friendster, you have to tap phones IRL. Niches as riches of personal discovery. "Interest media." Participation as anti-consumption. Preference for the natural. Fan of all things slow and line of sight. Nothing ever gets redacted because ... antimemetics?

With the redoubtable Rolando Tirado, Ocean MacAdams, Uzodinma M., Arno Hesse, Magali Charmot, and Eve Eden”

BC CPH 8.27.26 Report

Breakfast Club recap by Daniél Andreasen

Topics included:
Danish pronunciation - forget about it.
Design appreciation - Røsé, Japanese letters/signs, etc
Dumpling tattoos
Gen Z is weird

Thank you to Sarah Ariel Aftergood, Federico Tomasoni, Jordan Young, Natasha Wahid, Hana Matsumoto, and Marcin Niedziałek.

See you all in 2 weeks!

BC DC Report 8.27.26

BC DC is back to school.
🥐
This morning we talked about mini wins and Arsenal. Big groups, small groups and Tigres de la Noche. Debbie Millman. Union Market and little free libraries. Companies being egalitarian to a fault. Throwing chalk. Community gardens, SVA and Blockbuster. The Brown Street Maker Cooperative. Door handles, touching grass and touching concrete. Pratt Institute and battledecks. Anecdata. Women’s Pro Baseball League. Love is Blind and faces for radio. Paper crafting and FRESHFARM. The fact that everything analogue needn’t be made digital and that the concept of being in a throuple just sounds exhausting.
🥐
We do this every other Thursday at The Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.
The next one is September 10th @ 830am.
Everyone pays their own way, there’s no agenda or RSVP necessary.
Come and go as your schedule allows (aka - there’s no such thing as ‘late’)
Everyone’s invited, especially you!
🥐
The crew today was Natalie Marques Maggie Winters Michael Hastings-Black May Talman Curry Nancy Braton

Breakfast Club Denver Report 8.27.26

Great morning with Breakfast Club Denver today!

We talked about: retail trends, terrible customers, screen time (always!), the recent Meta settlement, buy nothing groups, real estate, and I’m sure many other things I missed. It was a good one!

Join us next time - we’ll be back on October 8th.

Jennifer Cowan Suchitra Madidi Carina Crabbe, MPS Megan Averell David. Hermann Stephen Jaye

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all,

Keeping this one short again. Back to school and all…

I heard the trend analyst and super forecaster Sean Monahan say recently that if you’re trying to build a community it’s because you don’t have one.

It spoke something interesting to me because Breakfast Club has always had community without ever asking, and that’s elemental to its makeup. You go sit with whomever’s at the table and commune.

Which I guess, means we’re doing it right?!

Irrespective, we’re doing things the way that invites everybody. Especially you.

See you soon

Ben

Week of Aug 24th: BC is ON in Philly, PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, CPH, DC, DTBK, Cincy, Boston and SOMa

TUESDAY (8/25)

Philadelphia

• Co-hosted by Julie Gerstein and. Kristina Dechter

• 9a @ Green Eggs Cafe

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (8/26)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (8/27)

Copenhagen

• Co-hosted by Diego Marini, Denize Maaløe, Jeppe Pendrup, Daniél Andreasen

• 8:30am @ Flan

Washington DC

• Co-hosted by Michael Hastings-Black

• 8:30am @ The Line Hotel (Adams Morgan)

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

Boston

• Co-Hosted by Hannah Schon, Elizabeth Millstein, Kevin Johannesen and Cass Andrea Taylor

• 10:00 am at Tradesman Coffee

FRIDAY (8/28)

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in Manila, PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, Perth, Detroit, DTBK, Cincy, Melbourne (Flinders), SOMa and LA (West)

Breakfast Club Manila Report 8/18

As per Katherine’s WhatsApp: “MNL BC showed up yesterday despite torrential monsoon rains the day before! A real leap of faith as the forecast was double the amount of rain and an orange-level rainfall warning.”

To which Carla added: “MNL BC showed up yesterday despite torrential monsoon rains the day before! A real leap of faith as the forecast was double the amount of rain and an orange-level rainfall warning.”

Breakfast Club Williamsburg Report 8/19

Per my post: "as recorded by Leann Abad (since I was on a pitch call in the lobby the whole time):

Capris and Jorts are BACK, True Religions are BACK, Old Girls Club as an antidote to the “boys club”, South Korean pitch meetings at the Wythe, LK99 merch, contemporary retro hip hop, if Souls of Mischief were 20 years old, Trend Report making moves, the BQE has quieted for the summer, interns on loan, schadenfreude against the rich nepos, cookie stuffing, Geese controversy is just marketing, sublingual biochemistry, capturing content at scale at events, living archives, maintaining two apartments, Keith David silver throat, Jim Ranch’s The Descendants, surf lessons in the Rockaways, Polar Bears polar plunge, tiny phone club and lots more.”

The crew this AM was allie dietzek, Eliane Oser, Anika Pivarnik, Todd Sines, Dan Burt, Cheyne Nadeau, Marissa Dubin, Leann Abad, Eric Korsh, Zaira Stefani Vallejo, Zachary Mallard, Marc Weissman, Brad Johnson, RJ Wafer, Kirk Miller, James Outlaw and me (kinda).

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone pays their own way. And everyone's invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the "company"
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
https://lnkd.in/eYVhiuXu is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

Breakfast Club SF Report 8/19

Per Chris’s post: “Every Wed at 9am we gather at the 1 Hotel at Embarcadero with three rules:

1. Everyone's invited especially you
2. Pay your own way
3. No pitching

I know don't know why that combination creates such a pleasant, suspended reality, but the discussions are always lively and cathartic. Today: SF in the 80s, RIP design culture, the collective energy of cities, designers impressing other designers, the parents are not alright, the A-Corp law in Colorado, anxious kids, autism, ADHD, why is everyone is in France, and the romance and luxury of a European summer."

With the incredible Magali Charmot, Roberto (Robi) Sessa, Rolando Tirado, Graeme Lindsay, Ronnie Higgins 👀, Eve Eden, Latefa Redjouh, and Rick (sp) the ceramicist from Cincinatti.”

Breakfast Club Perth Report 8/19

Synergies and stories. These were in abundance at the Perth Breakfast Club today.

Some topics of conversation:
Being part of the sandwich generation
Kids thriving while taking a gap year in the forces
The iterative process of creating a workshop
How our career paths have aligned over the years
World class data centres in downtown West Perth cupboards
Gutsy moves in consultancy
…..and so many more I wasn’t part of.
Feel free to add to the list in the comments Breakfast Club gang!

Lovely to have you along for the first time today Ross Richardson.

Pop it in the diary: next Breakfast Club will be Wednesday 16th September 8am Cloisters.
It’ll also be our 10th one, feels worth marking!

Tracey Nicolson JP, Ian Andrews, Simbarashe Ngwenya, Chloe Summers, Paul Malatzky

Breakfast Club Downtown Brooklyn Report 8/20

As per Lynn’s post: “The only thing worse than making small talk is listening to *other* people make small talk.

Earlier this week I got to see legendary composer and iconic Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi perform at Radio City Music Hall (with his daughter! 🥹), and as my mom and I sat there patiently for the concert to start, and the other guests around us gabbed and giggled in the most painful way possible, I was reminded of how much Breakfast Club Intl is a balm for both my ears and my spirit.

Sometimes it is just shooting the shit, but more often than not, we just dive right in. Like a cold plunge for your brain. I LOVED the conversation I had this morning with Lorraine D. Glover Rachel Horlick ari levine about the evolution of the creative process, specifically around image research, discovery, and how the internet (and now AI) has forever changed it, for better or worse. The hours upon hours we would spend physically scanning books and magazines, now whittled down to a matter of minutes thanks to the Pinterests and Cosmos of the world - more efficient, yes, but is it more *effective*? (I touched on this yesterday) At what point does the end justify the means, and does it even matter anymore?

What do we lose in the creative process when we’re able to collapse the effort to get from Point A to Point B, or when we’re able to fall down *too* many rabbit holes too quickly, eliminating the precious liminal time where most new ideas tend to pop up?

What else did y’all get into this morning?

Thanks to the crew this morning and last week (who’d I miss??): Donalee Curtis Michael Barth Ryan Paul Eric Korsh Berton Ridley Amelia Robinson Hilda Ngan Anna Sian BRANDON SOLIS Adam David Joseph Holly Decker Jevaun Howell Peter Gaston Andy Outis Andy Rah plus special cameo today by the godfather Ben Dietz.

Kat Popiel and I are here every week: Thursdays 8:30-10:00am in the lobby of the Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn. No agenda, no pitches, no RSVP necessary.

Breakfast Club Melbourne Report 8/21

Per Celeste’s post: “Melbourne is starting to come to life after a grey winter, and Melbourne BC (Flinders) was a great way to lean into the start of the weekend on Friday.

We talked grey nomads escaping the southern winter for the warmer climates, what is a grey nomad, a day in the life at Harvard, how Melbourne BCs came to life, what’s in a quote, and more (the more being that I can’t quite recall given we were all caught in great conversations).

Josh Gardiner and I host this every month at Liminal on a Friday morning 9am-10am, with everyone welcome, the aim being to connect and have a coffee, share stories on the latest cultural topics of the day. Breakfast Club started by Ben Dietz in New York at Le Crocodile at The Wythe and has grown to more than 52 countries globally, so wherever you are, there’s a BC to visit.

Our next BC is Friday 18th September at Liminal, 161 Collins St, 9am - 10am.

For updates:
Website: https://lnkd.in/g4HCnzdN
LinkedIn: Breakfast Club Intl
Substack: https://lnkd.in/gCvvZBZ6

Those who joined: Cat Drysdale, Chloe McCormick, Chaz Mee, Sarah McLellan Mee, Ellen Gonda, sandro serio

All are welcome, see you at the next, or somewhere at a BC in the world!

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all,

I’m really late with this one, so I’m going to forego the updates from last week, but please take a look back at last week’s events for recaps from Melbourne, from Seattle, from Torquay, Williamsburg and beyond. My sincere thanks to all of the hosts who took the time to gather notes, make posts, and circulate them to their LinkedIn audiences. We’re really going to have to do something with all the meta data that gets collected at Breakfast Club: the weak signals and trends that conversation meanders between and highlights. If anybody’s got any bright ideas about that, raise your hand.

Meantime, this week we’re back in Manila. Detroit returns. Perth is on the calendar, and Melbourne’s other Breakfast Club makes its monthly appearance as well. A few of our regulars are still off for the summer, but there’s plenty of breakfast to go around.

So hope I’ll see you this week, either in Williamsburg, where I’ll be hosting (when I’m not actively on a pitch during breakfast hour), or in one of the other locations elsewhere around the world.

After all, everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

Week of Aug 17th: BC is ON in Manila, PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, Perth, Detroit, DTBK, Cincy, Melbourne (Flinders), SOMa and LA (West)

TUESDAY (8/18)

Manila

• Co-Hosted by Carla Laus and Mels Timan

• 10am @ June Eatery

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (8/19)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (8/20)

Perth

• Co-hosted by Fran McCormack and Sue Bush

• 8am @ Cloisters, Perth CBD

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

Detroit

• Co-hosted by Ce Ce Chin

• 9am @ The Congregation

FRIDAY (8/21)

Melbourne (Flinders)

• Co-Hosted by Josh Gardiner and Celeste Blewitt

• 9a @ Liminal

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Los Angeles (West Side)

• Co-Hosted by Scott Donaton, Anita Schillhorn van Veen and Kirsten Ludwig

• 8:30a @ Zinque

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in: Ellenville, Burlington, PDX, Cambridge, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, Copenhagen, DTBK, Washington DC, Cincy, Seattle, Paris, Torquay, Melbourne, Amsterdam, SOMa and Silverlake

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all,

We’re not even in the second half of August, and already the pendulum is swinging back to gatherings and mass. There are 19 breakfast clubs this week all over the world.

Silver Lake is back. as is Melbourne’s Richmond chapter. Cambridge Mass, too. Copenhagen and DC’s biweeklies. Seattle! Torquay!

Not to be outdone, Paris is having a happy hour.

We had two Monday breakfast clubs in Ellenville, New York, and Burlington, Vermont, this morning, which allows this update to have its first-ever invite and recap in the same week. (I gotta work on my timing ha).

And even though regulars in Mexico City, Vienna, and LES New York are off this week, All the other standbys are in effect. I’ll be in Williamsburg on Wednesday. Maybe you can join me. If not, find a breakfast club near you.

Because everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

Week of August 10th. BC is ON in: Ellenville, Burlington, PDX, Cambridge, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, Copenhagen, DTBK, Washington DC, Cincy, Seattle, Paris, Torquay, Melbourne, Amsterdam, SOMa and Silverlake

MONDAY (8/10)

Ellenville, NY

• Co-hosted by Albert Covelli

• 9a @ Morning Sunshine

Burlington

• Co-Hosted by Zach Pollakoff

• 9a @ Deep City

TUESDAY (8/11)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (8/12)

Cambridge MA

• Co-hosted by Greg Stahovec & Anne-Marie Kline

• 8:30a @ Shy Bird

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (8/13)

Copenhagen

• Co-hosted by Diego Marini, Denize Maaløe, Jeppe Pendrup, Daniél Andreasen

• 8:30am @ Flan

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

Washington DC

• Co-Hosted by Michael Hastings-Black

• 8:30am @ The Line (Adams Morgan)

Seattle

• Co-hosted by Mike Burlin and David Rosenberg

• 8:00am @ Oddfellows Cafe

Paris (Apero)

• Co-hosted by Lisa Ono and Karla Rodriguez C

• 16:30 @ Zinque Paris

  ---

FRIDAY (8/14)

Torquay

• Co-Hosted by Steph Clarke

• 8a @ Ocean Grind

Melbourne (Richmond)

• Co-Hosted by Jess Price, Caitlin Guilfoyle and Penelope Barr

• 8:30a @ Pillar of Salt

Amsterdam

• Co-hosted by Sheila Guo and Amy Brown.

• 8:30am @ Uncommon Cafe - Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat 63H (not the Bar across the street)

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

LA (Silverlake)

• Co-hosted by Freddie Linder, Jasmine Abdel-Sayed, Thea Raskin and Trevor Foley

• 8:30am @ LAMILL Silverlake

  ---

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, Manila, DTBK, Cincy, Biarritz and SOMa

Portland OR (PDX) Report 8/4

Per Chelsea’s Post: Every Tuesday morning we hang out for Breakfast Club. No agenda, just coffee. Come join us. ☕

🗓️ 9-10am
📍It’s Just a Feeling

Nina Sers
Jovany Guillen Castillo
Nicole Fitzhugh
Zoe Cope
Michelle, Kris, Josh

Williamsburg Report 8/5:

Summertime traffic means whole-table convos. This morning we talked journaling, systems, consistency, senatorial breakfasts, succumbing to haircuts, the documentary ‘I like killing flies’, dealing with the evil within yourself, Bourdain, La Bonbonierre, pregaming breakfast, not having WiFi at home, the [SIC] newsletter, origin stories, the masculine tendency to breakfast, rituales de lo habitual, being the only friend who gets up in the morning, night creatures, hanging with corgis, Corgi.AI, showing a little skin on Instagram (and a little thought leadership on LinkedIn), being human (or being dancer), downtown Detroit on the weekend, making an annual Detroit pilgrimage to the D, John K. King Books, the viability of the modern bookstore model, Barnes & Noble, Inc.’s turnaround, the ratio of convenience shoppers to enthusiast shoppers, algohomogeneity, the alleged return of Myspace, seed oils, the old days when you could learn things from the internet, the state of trust, RFK Jr and the Beef lobby, salmon milk, the Big Fish conspiracy, the ethics of working in habit forming industries, Quit With Jones, sick lip pillow flavors, fruit flavors as indicators of moral peril, adult flavors, AG1, bourbon, Negroni and Bellini flavored Zyn, keeping candy cigarettes around the house, the cow nose rays returning to newtorn Creek, magnet fishing, a putative museum of lost sunglasses, “My Octopus Teacher,” OnlyWoms, “Love on the Spectrum,” “X Men 97” (and the LinkedIn posts it inspired), action figures in the ‘90s, throwing gang signs, naming a hotel in Wisconsin, being morally opposed to Wisconsin, Butter Burgers and Spotted Cow beer, gravel biking in Wassau, vibe coding an app to help you talk to your family, being rude (Gen Alpha style), bridging neurodiversity traits and lots more.

The crew this AM was me, Sundi Brewer-Griffin, Brad Johnson, Zeina Muna, James Outlaw, Leann Abad, allie dietzek, Eliane Oser, Marc Weissman and Charles Bane III.

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone plays their own way. And everyone’s invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the “company”
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
https://lnkd.in/eYVhiuXu is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

Manila Report 8/6:

Huge turnout at the Breakfast Club MNL at June Eatery BGC with Guest Co-Host Vicky Herrera. Lots of lovely people. With topics ranging from energy science, world food expo, experience design, plant science, AI & ethics, flood control, impeachment, uncharted leadership, conscience in entrepreneurship, Alex Eala among others. Grateful for this BC morning 🙏

Downtown Brooklyn Report 8/6:

Per Donalee’s post: This week Adam David Joseph and I were delighted to co-host Breakfast Club DTBK (w/ Kat Popiel & i.l.o Lynn Juang) which featured a small but mighty showing of OGs, plus newcomer Amelia Robinson.

On the docket: summer travel (Japan, Croatia), which led to the eternal debate: what’s the minimum trip length to actually count, and which month is the best summer month. June and September ranked top, but can June really be counted? Additionally, we chatted about making travel memories with kids in contrast to summers away from your little ones because they are living it up at camp.

We also got into office vs. remote: the connected environment of working in-office vs flexibility of remote, what’s the right balance for you? Career talk followed, including the gap between “working” LinkedIn and actually working your personal network.

Rounding it out: the betrayal of book cover redesigns, author talks and merch, the yearning for network and cable TV, and, in a swerve nobody expected, the importance of annual checkups. Don’t forget to schedule yours!

Big thanks to these tried and true clubbers: Katherine Danesi, Allison Roman, Rachel Horlick, BRANDON SOLIS, and Ryan Paul.

See you next week. And remember everyone is invited, especially you!

Follow Breakfast Club Intl on Linkedin, get on Ben Dietz Substack, find a Breakfast Club near you
https://Inkd.in/exjSwBvQ
https://Inkd.in/ehPukmJm

Downtown Brooklyn Report 8/6:

Per James’s post:

Breakfast Club SOMa was great last Friday. We had a bunch of diehards and regulars, including Brad Abelle Alan Friedman Scott Anthony Rachel Butera Matthew Abate David Berkwitz and Phil Siegel. And we also had some less-frequent flyers like Brooks Wood and Ian Friedman. Plus new blood like James Boehmer.

The conversation roamed far and wide, from Mass MOCA to Into Another, with pitstops along the way involving Laurie Anderson, oral history, Freelman’s Alley, delicatessens, fancy fried chicken, K Town, white noise, chasing leads, breaches, food trucks, horny tweens, hardcore dads, and how good help is still hard to find.

We do this every Friday at Artie’s in Maplewood NJ.
Everyone is invited.
Especially you.

Ellenville Report 8/10:

Per Albert’s Post: Breakfast Club-Ellenville is growing!

This morning's conversations included — how to balance a manic Monday morning with a monthly Breakfast Club obligation 😅, the value of small town brick and mortar shops, freelance life outside of the city, why we love random acts of public art, and the simple sentiment that...coffee is the best.

Our next Breakfast Club will be on Monday, Sept 14th. Stop by and supercharge your brain with a quick social gathering. The BC party runs for at least 90mins.

The fine print: Everyone is invited — especially you. Pay your own way. No agenda.

See you at the next one!

Hi all,

The headlines are stark:

Nevermind Gen Z; $200 for a social outing is extra for just about anybody.

One of the reasons Breakfast Club has always had a “everyone pays their own way” policy is to allow people to show up and participate the way that they want to, with just a cup of coffee or a full meal.

Another reason is to make it clear that people of all extractions, experience levels, and backgrounds are welcome. And because there is no right way to socialize

Sometimes people don’t even order anything, although we do encourage BC’ers to support the restaurants that host us.

The point is really to just get people out and socialize, and exchange ideas and spark serendipitous connections. There’s no dating per se, although I’m pretty sure we’ve jumpstarted some love connections at BCs around the world. Particularly the happy hours…

Anyway, just to say that this summer may be breakfast is the place to meet that special someone. Or just your next intellectual partner. Because everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

Week of August 3rd. BC is ON in: PDX, Williamsburg, Miami, Hamptons, SF, DTBK, Cincy, Biarritz and SOMa

TUESDAY (8/4)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (8/5)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (8/6)

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel. Lynn Juang, Donalee Curtis and Adam David Joseph

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

FRIDAY (8/7)

Biarritz

• Co-Hosted by Maggie Spicer

• 9a @ Hino Cafe

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in PDX, Toronto, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, SF, DC, Downtown Brooklyn, Cincy, SOMa and Kingston, NY (on Aug 3rd).

Breakfast Club Williamsburg Report 7.29.26:

It was a slow-roller today, so we talk what if nobody shows up to BC, regulating NYC temps, this weird summer, LA kind of sucking right now, the ‘other side’ of Williamsburg, the Ornithology Jazz Club, saying ‘Wooder’, “Mare of Easttown” and “Task” and ‘DelCo shows’, LA’s current slump, “The Odyssey” and the insane waits, 6am movies, getting blocked as a bot, resale tix, bringing your own chair to the theater, “Parthenope,” Saint Laurent and experiments in brand-funded content, vacationing in LA, reverse migration, ongoing COVID hangover trend, the incremental return or IRL, Fauci’s diaries, private matters as public record, shared computers, having ‘computer’ or not, AI as reason to have ‘computer’, trying to use Midjourney on phone, automatic purchases, not memorizing credit card numbers, hopping the train, watch thieves, fare evasion deterrence, the touchless entry at TSA, the miracle of Long Beach airport, becoming a Million Miler, the Delta Air Lines Delta One lounge, companion passes, level z tickets, the length of IMAX film reels, the premium mediocrity of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema , popping corn techniques, Big Popcorn, the Colonel Sanders auction, @Doyle Auction, the proliferation of auction houses, collections and nostalgia business, Jalen Brunson at FanFest, ThriftCon, Portland, Kennebunkport, Wrexham AFC’s kit reveal, Mozilla Firefox, the value of kit sponsorship, the regional nature of stadium naming college jersey sponsorship, market expansion through pricing increases and lots more.

This morning the gang was Marc Weissman, Zaira Stefani Vallejo, Brad Johnson, Randy Paul, Nicholas Adler, Eric Korsh, Charles Bane III, Sebastian Ibarra, Mickey Mayo and me.

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone plays their own way. And everyone’s invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the “company”
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
https://lnkd.in/eYVhiuXu is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

BC SF Report 7.29.26

Good things this week at SF breakfast club:

“We’re too broke to be cheap.” AB Fits where you can feel the intentionality in merchandising. Look up the SF Formula Retail Ban. Stonestown is luck / time / place. The India blanket effect. Takes an hour outdoors to reset. “Reacquaint yourself with less.” Reprogram your brain to watch old movies. Goldeneye is now unplayable. When costume veers offensive. More techy than Frankfurt. Tasing salts.

What’d I miss?

With the remarkable Dava Guthmiller, Eve Eden, Rolando Tirado, Roberto (Robi) Sessa, Megan Natt, Hope Bykova, and friend.

Breakfast Club Intl

Reporting live from BC DC 7.30.26

This morning we talked about going back to full-time, in-person work after freelancing. Weak (or nonexistent) onboarding processes. The BCDC (villain) origin story. CreativeMornings. Baltimore’s creative scene. Airplane fights mid-flight. Umbrella vs. Artomatic. Tours by The American Institute of Architects (AIA). Learning the history of your surroundings. Wine harvesting. The world’s largest ball of twine in Kansas, and the legendary Michael Hastings-Black!

We do this every other Thursday at The LINE Hotel in Adams Morgan.
The next one is August 13th @ 8:30 a.m.
Everyone pays their own way, there’s no agenda, and no RSVP is necessary.
Everyone’s invited, especially you!

Today’s crew: Dr. Leigh George, Jim Luetkemeyer, Robyn Swirling, Natalie Marques, Ted Steyer, M.M.C., Nikki Fraser, Atin Moridian, Kimberly Arias, Quinnton Harris, Sarah Duarte, Eric Shutt, Estefania Borges

See you in 2 weeks. Stay classy, DC!

BC SOMa Report 7.31.26

After several weeks of absence I returned to the long table at Artie’s for Breakfast Club SOMa last Friday. A good crew of stalwarts and regulars were already there when I arrived and it was clear this thing has taken on a life of its own. I may be the official host, but Breakfast Club is self-organizing...

Thanks to Phil Siegel, Ian Friedman, Alan Friedman Brad Abelle Scott Anthony Rachel Butera David Berkwitz Frank Verderosa and Ken Stanek for the hangs.

We covered a lot of ground, including video game mechanics, rain, Cooperstown NY, a ramen joint called Instaclaw, Raising Cane’s, chinese groceries, LES in the 80’s and 90’s, standing on line at Katz’s Deli, the good bad and ugly of mayonnaise, wondering just what the H’s in H&H Bagels stands for (is it really Hernandez?!), Frank Zappa, Rachel Kushner’s The Mars Room, old dogs, unread magazines, professional bragging, the epidemic of near instantaneous expertise in every industry, Zuppardi’s Pizza in West Haven, statins, useless inventions, ISDN, Jerry Lewis, Phineas & Ferb, screentime, and much more.

We do this every week.
Everyone is invited.
Especially you.
9:15 Friday mornings
Artie’s
Maplewood NJ

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all.

Well, we’re truly in the dog days of summer, and so it’s a light week for breakfast. Only twelve cities around the world this week, haha. A few of the regulars (Mexico City, Copenhagen) are taking a well-earned summer break, but most of the perennials are on the calendar, so there’ll be plenty of places for you to come and join.

And for what it’s worth, sometimes these quieter days are the most interesting conversations and most sublime connections.

So come out and join. We’ll be there with coffee and pastries and eggs and provocations. And as always. everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

PS: here’s the article I mentioned being interviewed for last week, which gets a little bit of Breakfast Club shine, gives me more credit than I’m owed, and generally charts the rise of the kind of informal gathering we love so much.

Week of July 27. BC is ON in: PDX, Toronto, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, SF, DC, Downtown Brooklyn, Cincy, SOMa and Kingston, NY (on Aug 3rd).

TUESDAY (7/28)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (7/29)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (7/30)

Washington DC

• Co-hosted by Michael Hastings-Black

• 8:30am @ The Line Hotel (Adams Morgan)

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

FRIDAY (7/31)

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

MONDAY (8/3)

Kingston, New York

• Co-hosted by Kate Urcioli

• 8:30a @ Camp Kingston

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in Paris, PDX, Philly, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Manila, Downtown Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincy, SOMa and Honolulu

Williamsburg Report 7.22.26

We talked plenty: How much Europe can you take in one go, arriving home and going again this weekend, Barcelona, Marseille, Paris and the Costa Brava, driving in the Costa Brava, Montenegro, the Slavic coasts, Trieste, Thomas Pynchon’s “Shadow Ticket, European feudal states post treaty of Versailles, golden passports and foreign buyers, how Hungary got skipped, planning property acquisition around the absence of Soho House & Co, the modern time share, Duck, NC, curating a houseful of guests, ‘Stan’ touris

m, AI bot content, ‘Kazahkstan USA’, hapless tourists in unstable nations, cloudy with a chance of kidnapping, the Hells Angels of 3rd Street, freshly butchered ‘ingredients’, bow hunting as the ultimate reaction to automated cultured, MeatEater, Inc., still needing pizza at 1am, our lord and Savior Stan, having ‘horse rider’ hair, the song ‘Gengis Khan’, The Walt Disney Company‘s 1997 comedy “Jungle 2 Jungle,” Downtown membership clubs, Stefan, what we brought our trainer from Japan, Carvaggio on chemicals, drawing Italy from memory, Christopher Nolan’s effect on the box office, the Callicoon Theater, Quonset huts, visualizing concepts, misgendering Corsica, salsa lessons, expanding your social circle, avoiding the office, moving to the Empire State Building, midtown as a future nightlife district, converting commercial buildings to residential, zoning regs, Hillstone Restaurant Group and Houston’s, the new coke package design, slim cans, GLP1s and their effect on Big Gulp sales, Butter Burgers at Sollys in Milwaukee, the kids are drinking again, cigarettes are aura farming, being anti disco ball, Emily Dawn Long, SpongeBob disco parties, Sandy Cheeks, the artist Geoff McFetridge, art-grade styrofoam, Mark Gonzales Apparel, the Everson Museum Of Art, premiumization strategies, Carhartt, Ralph Lauren, Dickies® and the lesbians who love them, UNIQLO U, JW Anderson, Stella McCartney x H&M and lots more,

Eight was enough for our midsummer lull edition; the group today was me, Nick Bodor, Brad Johnson, Kunal Punjabi, Leann Abad, Charles Bane III, Alexa Lombardo and Julie Stein

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone plays their own way. And everyone’s invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the “company”
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
https://lnkd.in/eYVhiuXu is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

SF Report 7.22.26

At SF Breakfast Club Intl today:

Twin cities potamophobia. How much were you paid in your first job? First salary? “My boss just wanted to socialize.” Proletarian Yosemite. People who go three layers deeper. Geographic barriers. NY Tech Week. Stonefruit and chiles. SF Book Festival. A World Appears. Xenomorphs. Caterpillars retain memories through metamorphosis. Fortune telling as a pecuniary decision.

With the dazzling Heavenly Johnson, Hope Bykova, Ethan, Ocean MacAdams, Dava Guthmiller, Eve Eden, Rolando Tirado

Manila Report 7.23.26

At the BC MNL yesterday.. an amazing mix of Breakfast Clubbers in jewellery, cybersecurity, legal, tech, logistics, higher education, fuel, skincare, aviation.. Great convo to start the day! Word is spreading, we’re now getting inquiries how to get invited and we say, “Everyone’s invited — especially you!” ;-). Oh and we celebrated another Birthday Breakfast too!

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi y’all,

I just got off the phone with a journalist writing about the new prevalence of breakfast as a social movement. I was flattered to be asked, of course, and pleased to talk about Breakfast Club, but the thing that struck me in chatting with her was mainly how much this whole movement comes out of a collective effort.

Toronto, Philly, Chicago, Manila, Honolulu, this week! Along with all of our regular occurring events. There were even cocktails in Paris last night.

People around the world give up time, energy, and commune in a way that is selfless and altruistic. Why? Because it’s fun and it works.

That’s not news to anybody who’s been to a BC event or, even better, who’s hosted one. But maybe it is a reminder to you, the reader, today that inspiration, serendipity, and maybe some spontaneous connection are as close as you want to make them.

So come see us sometime, have coffee, maybe some eggs, meet a few people, bring a few friends, because everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

Week of July 20. BC is ON in: Paris, PDX, Toronto, Philly, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Manila, Downtown Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincy, SOMa and Honolulu

Monday (7/22)

Paris (Apero)

• Co-hosted by Lisa Ono and Karla Rodriguez C with special guest Michael Kilcoyne

• 18:30 @ ZInque

TUESDAY (7/21)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (7/22)

Philadelphia

• Co-hosted by Julie Gerstein and. Kristina Dechter

• 9a @ Green Eggs Cafe

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

Mexico City

• Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant

• 8:30am @ Mendl

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (7/23)

Manila

• Co-Hosted by Carla Laus and Mels Timan

• 10am @ Mechanika Coffee/Bar, 104 Aguirre Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

Chicago

• Co-Hosted by Brian Caffarello

• 8:00am @ Beatrix

FRIDAY (7/24)

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Honolulu

• Co-Hosted by Amanda Suga

• 8:30a @ Morning Brew @ SALT

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in Burlington, PDX, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Copenhagen Portland Maine, Downtown Brooklyn, DC, Cincy, Melbourne, SOMa and LA (West)

Williamsburg 7.16 Report

Attendees: Leann Abad, Kayode Thomas, Eva McCloskey, Eric Korsh, Marissa Dubin, Lori Hamilton, Ben Jenkins, Dan Burt, PJ Jasienski, Marc Weissman, Conner Monday. allie dietzek, James Outlaw, Charles Bane III, Joel Linkewer and Todd Sines

Copenhagen Report 7.16

Summer is official here, and everyone has left the building!

We had a lovely catch-up with Gus Guerrero, Diego Marini, and Denize Maaløe and went to visit our friends at Flan , which will be our new Breakfast Club location when we are back after the holidays on August 13th.

Until then: 🌊 ☀️ 🩵

Portland Maine 7.16 Report

Breakfast Club at Salt Yard was buzzing this morning. Bigger crowd than expected in summer. New faces, familiar ones, and that magic that happens when both show up at the same table.

We covered everything. The World Cup, opinions were strong. Upcoming trips to London. Work travel, the joy of it and the not-so-joyous parts. CPG startups. Side hustles quietly becoming something real.

Someone said “summer maxxing” and the whole table felt seen. Kayaking Casco Bay came up and reminded everyone why we choose to live here. Maine’s connectedness too, that thing that’s hard to explain to people from away but you feel it at a table like this.

Transitions. The exciting and terrifying kind. The group held that well, like it always does.

We are taking a break to max the summer in Maine and will be back at it the first week of October, Thursday, October 1st, 8am at you guessed it, Salt Yard Cafe.

CC the fabulist co-host Michele Martin

And Michael Krishnan Kurt Gundersen Julie Pochepan Alexander Bertoni David Goldberg Colleen Quint Gillian Britt Dana Walsh Jim Hauptman Erin Felton Jonathan Hutter Steve Johnson

PS check out new light molasses syrup product Molassa from a fellow Breakfast Clubber!!

Washington DC 7.16 Report

BC DC is in the finals.
🥐
This morning we talked about the Canadian embassy and summer camp. Handwritten letters and bug bites. Taco Bell. Public pools and public health. Bacteria and 7th grade science projects. The 2027 Women’s World Cup. Being hotter than you and the new BRAT summer (Banana, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). ‘Professional’ shorts. Unlearning. English heartbreak. Women no longer able to laugh while eating salad. Haze. Leaders rejecting data when it’s out of their comfort zones. Baltimore and Georgia. Panini stickers, panini sandwiches and the lunacy of thinking you should just defend a 1-0 lead against Argentina for almost an entire half.
🥐
We do this every other Thursday at The Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.
The next one is July 30th @ 830am.
Everyone pays their own way, there’s no agenda or RSVP necessary.
Come and go as your schedule allows (aka - there’s no such thing as ‘late’)
Everyone’s invited, especially you!
🥐
The crew today was Maggie Winters Ted Steyer, M.M.C. Andrew Hastings Black Atin Moridian Sarah Classen, MPH, PMP, CHES & Michael Hastings-Black

Melbourne 7.17 Report

Proving that Melbournians are not stopped by the wintry July weather, the Melbourne City Breakfast Club (BC) hosted by Josh Gardiner and I was a great conversation starter for a Friday morning.

BC Origin Story was discussed as the starter, and that led onto the wide-ranging conversations from whether suits are back to the World Cup, to the best places in Melbourne for a great meal and the ever present AI.

What is great about BC is that the conversation always leads to many great conversations, and everyone leaves with a spring in their step leading into the weekend.

For the July BC we had Cat Drysdale, Chaz Mee, Sarah McLellan Mee, Thihan C., Helen McKissick, Ethan Alexander and Agi.

Founded by Ben Dietz in Williamsburg, for a weekly BC at Le Crocodile at The Wythe (pop on in if you are in NYC) or stop by a BC at over 52 countries throughout the world!

We next meet on Friday 21st August, 9am at Liminal, 161 Collins St. All are welcome, see you there.

Go to: Breakfast Club Intl to check out where you can join BC

BC Venice Report 7.17

Lovely morning in Venice, CA - summer Friday’s energy. A little quieter than usual, but in my fluttering about, we had many first timers as well as regulars.

We broke down how stunts are doing better than ads this World Cup, how everyone seems to be rooting against Argentina, high carb diets (!!), Kansas City, the joy of last minute trips, and how many people were wearing the same shade of royal blue shirt (3).

Bonus: Thea, a host from the Silver Lake Breakfast Club, joined us. Hosts, unite!

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Hi all.

Another week back on the road, so I’m going to keep this up top short, but even as summer heats up, breakfast rolls on and the vibes remain immaculate.

We’re seeing that amazing spirit of “Everyone’s Invited” permeate culture. Look no further than the most recent Subway Take for evidence.

Or what Albert Covelli has popped up in Ellenville, New York, a small hamlet upstate that nonetheless is looking for the kind of creative community BC is all about. It’s not to say that starting a Breakfast Club in your town is easy, but … it’s pretty easy.

So maybe give it a try, or worst case come to another Breakfast Club near you and get a sense of what this is all about, because like Alex Arthur said, “everyone’s invited” Especially you.

Ben

Week of July 13. BC is ON in: Burlington, PDX, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Copenhagen Portland Maine, Downtown Brooklyn, DC, Cincy, Melbourne, SOMa and LA (West)

MONDAY (7/13)

Burlington

• Co-Hosted by Zach Pollakoff

• 9a @ Deep City

TUESDAY (7/14)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (7/15)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

Mexico City

• Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant

• 8:30am @ Mendl

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (7/16)

Copenhagen

• Co-hosted by Diego Marini, Denize Maaløe, Jeppe Pendrup, Daniél Andreasen

• 8:30am @ Granola

Portland, ME

• Co-hosted by Michele Martin & Lydia Wagner

• 8am @ Salt Yard

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Washington DC

• Co-hosted by Michael Hastings-Black

• 8:30am @ Line Hotel, Adams Morgan

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am @ Swell Art Cafe

FRIDAY (7/17)

Melbourne (Flinders)

• Co-Hosted by Josh Gardiner and Celeste Blewitt

• 9a @ Liminal

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

Los Angeles (West)

• Co-hosted by Scott Donaton, Kirsten Ludwig and Anita Schillhorn van Veen

• 8:30a @ Zinque, Venice

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in Ellenville, Kingston, PDX, Vienna, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Manila, Downtown Brooklyn, Cincy, Seattle, Denver, Torquay, SOMa and Silverlake

Ellenville 7.6 Report

Our first Breakfast Club Ellenville, New York!

We are just getting started 🙌🏻.

Our next Breakfast Club will be on Monday, August 10th. Stop by and supercharge your brain with a quick social gathering.

Hope to see you at the next one!

Vienna 7.8 Report

Today the Vienna Breakfast Club met again in the lovely setting of Cafe Salzi.

Over fluffy omelettes and multi-seed porridges we discussed about the state of the world, welcoming rain after the heat wave, futures & foresight, life in Bavaria, biodegradable socks, school holidays, local swimming spots, living in famously dangerous cities, finding your niche vs being a ‘generalist’, neighbourhood vibes, how to spot a German tourist, reinventing yourself every few years, the start-up scene, swimming techniques, running your own business, train travels, meet-ups and networking clubs and so much more.

We pause the Breakfast Club for the summer but will be back in September. Want to join? Watch this space or dm me so I can add you to our whatsapp group.

Thanks for joining Anna Schütz, Kinsey Carlson, Michael Dekner passionate about innovation, Johanna Wohlrab, Diana Leitgeb, Jake Moss, Adrien Carnemolla, Prateek Soni, Alexandra Florea, Delia Wieser. Isabella Joech, Katrin Bernreiter, Aleksandra Selivanova and others - sorry if I missed you here!

And thanks Ben Dietz for creating this concept and spreading it around the world!

Williamsburg 7.8 Report

Now that I’m back home, at my end we talk Pedroni spritz, exclusive spirits, imports/exports, visiting from Venice, different styles of Breakfast Club, ducking out early, Santa Barbara vs Santa Monica, east side vs west side, the decline of DTLA, breaking up because of Pasadena, the return of [SIC], the data output of Breakfast Club Intl, the AI startup Soft Machine, profit sharing within communities, publishing a breakfast club zine, converting an anarchosyndicalist commune into a anarchocapitlaist one, breakfast burritos, being over caffeinated, Vans x Fugazi LLC, Fugazi versus Fugazi vs. ‘Fugazi’, the best podcasts, the insouciance of complaint in the heat, the changing complexion of Cannes, youthfulness vs youthiness, feeling old for the first time, tweenage obsessions, Day One Agency, Casey Lewis, skateboard graphics, celebrity style frozen in time, Turtles footwear, growing up in Queens, Teddy Santis, resurrecting dormant brands, Orange Julius - DQ, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the song ‘Turtle Power’, whether you ever stop being a DJ, the skate gaze, seeing the world differently, the Architect’s viewpoint, isomorphic models of problem solving, CIA operatives, asymmetrical operating, Peter Spears ‘That Business of Meeting’ podcast , Sunday Dinner Community, six degrees of separation, Strat Monday at The Brooklyn Circus, Edward Cotton, Chuck Welch, ouigi Theodore, kids at camp, acquired tastes, Nike, adidas and the LEGO Group at the World Cup, ideas that are empty but full, Erling Haaland’s YouTube channel as a prototype for creator media and lots more.

This morning it was me, Piers Fawkes, Ian Edgar, Joel Linkewer, Melissa Rosenfield, Aydan Sarikaya, Kirsten Ludwig, Andrew Essex, Julie Stein, Nick Bodor, Cynthia Clemons, Brad Johnson, Randy Paul, Daron Hollowell
and Cheryl Miller Houser.

We get together every Wednesday at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. No agenda, never a theme, no buy-in necessary, everyone plays their own way. And everyone’s invited. Especially you.

Breakfast Club Intl is the “company”
Breakfastclubbing.com is the site.
https://lnkd.in/ed5j-Dv2 is the newsletter with weekly BC events and updates.

And the LinkedIn group is open to all. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n

CDMX 7.8 Report

“Here take this sugar.”

“Oh thank you!”

“I picked it up with chopsticks.”

“Those are coffee stirrers.”

“They’re chopsticks.”

“Ok.”

***

Today we were an industrious seven, including Liz Jones, Maru M. Iglesias, Ursula Tran, Marcus Ubungen, and some very cute sugar enthusiasts.

Visiting CMDX soon? Come hang! We do this every Wednesday. Everyon’es invited, especially you!

DM or comment for details.

Manila 7.9 Report

Breakfast Club MNL: The new venue Mechanika buzzing with good vibes with Co-Host Mels Timan. Katherine Diaz you were definitely there in spirit.

Seattle 7.9 Report

Lovely Seattle breakfast this morning. Forgot to get that pic! Great convo on a nice summer morning.

Denver

We had a great Breakfast Club happy hour last week! Awesome to see a few new faces. We talked about: screen time, franchising, agency life, Sam’s wedding (!), creative hobbies, travel, and tons more I didn’t catch.

Join us for the next Breakfast Club on 8/13. We’ll be back to our usual morning time at 8am!

Sam Derosier Stephen Jaye Michael Naumann Brendon N. Henderson David. Hermann Jonathan Castner Jodi Holloway

Torquay 7.10 Report

A frosty morning in Torquay featured warming breakfast club conversations about…

Having to buy a bigger car to fit your big dog
Long road trips with an EV
Needing to be rescued by the SES
Ambulance waiting times
The World Cup ticket prices being prohibitive for most fans
That Aussie guy who got his World Cup trip paid for by a stranger on LinkedIn
Going to an energy healer
Starting a new job that you really enjoy
The emotional toll of job searching
People thinking harder about what they really want to do for work
People making big changes in their work / life at the moment
Work cynicism and dissatisfaction being high at the moment
Is blame culture getting worse in organisations?
The heatwave in the UK
People booking into hotels to make the most of the aircon
Getting back into reading
Tactics to avoid scrolling / phone time
Deactivating social apps
The Brick device


Breakfast Club was Born in Brooklyn by Ben Dietz and there’s chapters all over the world. It’s not networking, there’s no pitching, no agenda, just wide-ranging conversation.

We meet every month, everyone pays their own way. There’s no RSVP or links to sign up; put it in your calendar, come if you can, don’t if you can’t, come whenever, stay as long as you want.

If you want to get out and do more ‘IRL’ connection, but struggle to put the time in to gather people yourself, and/or the idea of networking events make you have a little vom, Breakfast Club is for you.

Everyone’s invited, especially you.

Next Torquay: Friday 14 August, 08:00 @ (location tbc)
Next Richmond: Friday 14 August, 08:30 @ Pillar of Salt
Next Melbourne CBD: Friday 17 July, 09:00 @ Liminal

Thanks to today’s crew of Asya E., Claudia Navarro (who left earlier and missed the photo - sorry Claudia!), Lara Stephenson, and extra lovely to have Jo Skipper in town to join us.

Melbourne 7.10 Report

Warm conversations were perfect for a brr 🥶 morning today at Melbourne Breakfast Club - Richmond.

We talked about:
- the mind:body:toxic job connection, how saying goodbye to a horrid environment makes you feel so much better
- is Adelaide having a moment? lovely city, historic architecture, gorgeous beaches that most SA advertising weirdly ignores
- the power of small teams for connection and progress
- are you an innovator or an inventer?
- finding people to do the things you don’t want to do like commercialise all the many mvps you’ve created
- the process and feelings around book writing
- what do publishers actually do?
- audio, kindle, e-book or physical books - pros and cons
- moving away from instagram, linkedin, phone usage, and having to find other sources for news
- Modi’s visit sparked a conversation about politicians-all the sides
- and lots of ai talk this morning around use cases, agencies, tokens, the cost of tokens, ai being taken away, where will it end, when will it end

Ben Dietz founded Breakfast Club in Brooklyn and now it exists all over the world to provide an agenda-less opportunity for IRL conversation. No need to RSVP, just come along, pay your own way and contribute to the conversation.

Everyone’s invited, especially you.

Next Richmond: Friday 14 August, 08:30 @ Pillar of Salt
Next Melbourne CBD: Friday 17 July, 09:00 @ Liminal
Next Torquay: Friday 14 August, 08:00 @ (location tbc)

Jess Price Caitlin Guilfoyle Shalini Srikanthan Anthony Despotellis Trevor Brunton Skye Bennett Nosh Darbari - Impactful Speaker Lyndon Treacy Mya Le

SOMa Report 7.10

Frequent BC Soma attendee Frank Verderosa handled hosting today as I’m on vacation.

Here’s what he sent:

“I stepped into the breach once again this morning to handle the write-up, and honestly, the sheer gravitational pull of today’s conversation nearly collapsed the table at Artie’s. We had a full crew, which helped us weaponize the  absurdity.

By 9:15 AM, our corner of Maplewood was officially the most dangerous intellectual airspace in North America.

Today’s many and varied topics included a lighthearted discussion of politics and the immediate viability of powering the tri-state area with a proton drive, before pivoting to an analytical deep dive into nerdy video game shit that left the non-gamers at the table questioning their life choices. We also completely solved journalism and fiction—turns out, you just have to make everything up anyway—and naturally, we figured out the exact, foolproof blueprint for curing cancer. Twice.

But then we entered the true twilight zone.

We spent time dissecting voice actor stuff and the existential dread of voice actor surveys, which naturally led to someone admitting they flew all the way in from LA just to slum it here in Maplewood, New Jersey. From there, we took a nostalgic, tear-soaked trip back to the halcyon days of our youth, only to crash land directly into a hard-hitting investigation into Gilbert Gottfried’s hyper-specific hotel soap addiction.

We even spent time passionately discussing whether the theme song to The Greatest American Hero is the pinnacle of human artistic achievement (it is).

We do this every week.

Everyone is invited.

Especially you.”

Silverlake 7.10 Report

It was another successful Eastside Breakfast Club in Silverlake today!

Check Breakfast Club Int’l for the updates - and Breakfastclubbing.com for all the info!

or… scan here:

The Breakfast Club Esprit de Corps:

* Everyone’s invited - especially you.

* Feel free to share, bring friends, colleagues, family, anyone.

* No agenda, no required buy-in, no need to RSVP. And no pitches.

* Everyone pays their own way

+ breakfastclubbing.com has info and timing for Breakfast Clubs globally

Oh hi y’all.

Vienna’s back. Denver’s doing happy hour. Manila is bi-weekly now. And Silverlake’s back again. Seattle! Torquay! Great week for breakfast. Not to mention all the regulars (except for LES which is taking a couple weeks off for the summer.

Meantime, I’m just back from vacation and lagging big time, so it’s just the listings this week. But I’ll be there at breakfast Wednesday, and I hope you’ll make it too - whichever day of the week and BC chapter is closest to you. A huge thanks to all the hosts in the meantime, and especially to you. Til next week!

Ben

W/c 7.6: BC is ON in Kingston, PDX, Vienna, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Manila, Downtown Brooklyn, Cincy, Seattle, Denver, Torquay, SOMa and Silverlake

MONDAY (7/6)

Kingston, New York

• Co-hosted by Kate Urcioli

• 8:30a @ Camp Kingston

  ---

TUESDAY (7/7)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (7/8)

Vienna

• Co-Hosted by Carla Moss and Laura M. Pana

• 9am @ Cafe Salzi

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

Mexico City

• Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant

• 8:30am @ Mendl

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Chris Eden & Eve Eden

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (7/9)

Manila

• Co-hosted by Carla Laus, Sharon V. Panelo and Katherine Diaz

• 10am @ Treehouse Art Cafe

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Cincinnati

• Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones

• 8:30am ManlyWomen’sWellness

Seattle

• Co-hosted by Mike Burlin and David Rosenberg

• 8:30am @ Glo’s Cafe (Capitol Hill)

Denver (Happy Hour)

• Co-Hosted by Kate Gagnon

• 5pm @ Schoolyard Beer Garden

FRIDAY (7/10)

Torquay / Surf Coast

• Co-Hosted by Steph Clarke

• 8a @ Bomboras

Amsterdam

• Co-Hosted by Sheila Guo and Amy Brown

• 8:30a @ Volkshotel

New Jersey (SOMa)

• Co-Hosted by James Friedman

• 9:15a @ Arties

LA (Silverlake)

• Co-hosted by Freddie Linder, Jasmine Abdel-Sayed, Thea Raskin and Trevor Foley

• 8:30am @ LAMILL Silverlake

Last Week in Breakfast Clubbing:

BC was ON in in PDX, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Copenhagen, Biarritz, Downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan (LES), Washington DC, Cincy, and SOMa

Check Breakfast Club Int’l for the updates - and Breakfastclubbing.com for all the info!

or… scan here:

Oh hi y’all.

Writing from the road again (on holiday this time) so It’s another abbreviated edition with no recaps included; just this week’s breakfast and all the goings-on that this amazing international community is planning. That being said, the recaps are definitely out there and best located by following Breakfast Club International on LinkedIn.

The one from Cannes alone is worth your time (and not just because I wrote it). We had forty-six breakfasters stop by from all over the world. Six continents represented, including a ton of first-timers, a gang of old friends and potential new hosts in Norway and Dubai, among others.

To draw out a crowd like that spontaneously during maybe the busiest week of the year for most of us traveling to Cannes is a testament to how additive this community is.

Even if they only stopped by for a few minutes, everybody’s vibe was amazing. Numbers were exchanged, info passed along, and smiles abounded. And of course, some stayed for hours occupying the space at Napoleon Cafe even after I left.

Hope you’ll come hang sometime.

Because everyone’s invited, especially you.

Ben

Breakfast Clubbing This Week:

W/c 6.29: BC is ON in PDX, Williamsburg, Hamptons, MIA, CDMX, SF, Copenhagen, Biarritz, Downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan (LES), Washington DC, Cincy, and SOMa. And Kingston NY next Mon!

TUESDAY (6/30)

Portland, OR

• Co-hosted by Nina Sers & Chelsea Place

• 9a It’s Just a Feeling

WEDNESDAY (7/1)

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars

• 8:30am @ Le Crocodile

The Hamptons

• Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy

• 8:30a @ Tutto Cafe

Miami

• Co-hosted by Rachelle Elbaz, Jeff Carvalho and Jesse Kirshbaum

• 9a @ Novela Cafe Social

Mexico City

• Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant

• 8:30am @ Mendl

San Francisco

• Co-Hosted by Magali Charmot

• 8:30am @ Tereene at One Hotel

THURSDAY (7/2)

Biarritz (One-morning Pop-Up Version)

• Co-Hosted by Maggie Spicer

• 9a @ 15 Dom de Trois Fontaines

Copenhagen

• Co-hosted by Diego Marini, Denize Maaløe, Jeppe Pendrup, Daniél Andreasen

• 8:30am @ Granola

London

• Co-hosted by Ramona Daniel and Victoria Gates-Fleming

• 9a @ Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Rd (upstairs in the cafeteria)

Washington DC

• Co-hosted by Michael Hastings-Black

• 8:30am @ The Line Hotel (Adams Morgan)

Downtown Brooklyn

• Co-hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang

• 8:30am @ Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn (Lobby)

Manhattan (LES)

• Co-Hosted by Heidi Hartwig

• 9am @ Sunday to Sunday (88 Orchard) - NEW VENUE