A mechanic needs a garage, creative people need a Creativity Gym

Published on Aug 23, 2013

July and August typically mean vacation for those of us working as educators. I teach about web development and Linux server management in a three year professional bachelor degree called Interactive Multimedia Design and for me, summer is typically not spent on school work.

This year though, I decided to spend as much time as possible in school. Not to teach, since I would probably be talking to an empty classroom anyway. While school was closed for summer, me and two other highly motivated colleagues decided to spend time creating an inspirational work environment for our students where they will be able to design, code, brainstorm, hang out, invent, build, network or simply have a good time while they're studying to become developers / designers in the digital space.

Just like an car mechanic needs a garage, we believe that creative people like web developers and designers need a stimulating work environment. In order to create the best possible products, we all need a place where we feel motivated and inspired. For some that's home, for others that might be a coffee bar downtown.

If you're studying Interactive Multimedia Design at Thomas More, school can be that place where you enjoy working most. The space we are creating is actually an old gym that was gathering dust at our campus. We're keeping some pieces of the gym intact deliberately and will call the space the Creativity Gym.

Our goal is to create an environment where designers, developers and entrepreneurs can feel at home and can be free to work on whatever they desire. The Creativity Gym will be a place where we can easily host events that bring together people in the creative industry [shoot me a message if you're interested]. Off the top of my head I'd say the Gym would be ideal for workshops, hackatons, CoderDojo's, meetups, ...

Creativity Gym Mechelen

The Creativity Gym will open in September and we're happy to host a CoderDojo that day, where a bunch of young people will be introduced to programming, probably one of the most useful skills to have in life, no? Tell us, what other events should we organise at the Gym in order to bring coders, designers and entrepreneurs together? Leave a comment below, or join us for a drink in September.

We're lucky to have great people around us

There's no way we can finish all work by September with just the three of us. Thanks to some of our fantastic and helpful students [Robin, Thomas, Nils, Flor, Stephano, Robbe, ... ], co-workers and management, we'll be able to get everything up and running in time.

Don't miss a Creativity Gym session, stay in shape and up to date

Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter for details about the official opening and upcoming events. Website + newsletter Facebook @GymWithUs on Twitter You can find us at Lange Ridderstraat 44, 2800 Mechelen.

No comments? But that’s like a Gin & Tonic without the ice?

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