Breakfast Clubbing #63
Week of July 14th. BC is ON in Burlington, PDX, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, DTBK, Manhattan, Cincy, Sydney, SOMa and LA (West)
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.
Breakfast Crew,
The (very smart and prescient) trend augur
concluded a post last week:As all my friends across various culture industries will tell you: it’s never been a worse time. The art market is down. Hollywood is in crisis. Media has already been subsumed into tech itself as the "creator economy." AI threatens us all. But there may be one skill you truly cannot outsource to AI: knowing how to attend and host an event. Increasingly, that is a rare and coveted skill.
I differ with Sean’s friends; my belief is ‘never been a worse time’ is a complaint born of inexperience. But I certainly acknowledge two elements of his statement: (1) that uncertainty is an uncomfortable bedfellow and (2) [more importantly] there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction as a vehicle for success going forward.
Thusly, Breakfast Club’s raison d’etre. Thanks to everyone who’s underlined this point in the book of my life (and your own) over the past few years. And if you haven’t yet: come hang some time. Might just end up being indispensable.
Ben
Breakfast Club This Week:
Burlington,PDX, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, DTBK, Manhattan, Cincy, Sydney, SOMa and LA (West)
Monday, July 14th
Burlington, VT
Co-hosted by Zach Pollakoff
9a @ Deep City
Tuesday, July 15th
Portland, OR
Co-hosted by Nina Sers
9a @ Proud Mary
Wednesday, July 16th
The Hamptons
Co-hosted by Adam Harris and Ryan Duffy
8:30a @ Tutto Cafe
Williamsburg
Co-Hosted by me and a gang of regulars
8:30am @ Le Crocodile
Mexico City
Co-Hosted by Steve Bryant
8:30am @ Mendl
Thursday, July 117th
Downtown Brooklyn
Co-Hosted by Kat Popiel and Lynn Juang
8:30am @ Ace Hotel Brooklyn (Lobby)
Manhattan
Co-Hosted by Eva McCloskey (standing in for Heidi Hartwig)
9am @ Eva’s Kitchen on Grand
Cincinnati
Co-Hosted by Theo Erasmus and Emmit Jones
8:30am @ Mom and Em Coffee
Friday, June 18th
Sydney
Co-Hosted by Elisha Akhtar
8a @ Ace Hotel Sydney
New Jersey (SOMa)
Co-Hosted by James Friedman
9:15a @ Arties
Los Angeles (West)
Co-Hosted by Anita Schillhorn van Veen, Kirsten Ludwig and Scott Donaton
8:30a @ Zinque (Venice)
Breakfast Clubbing Last Week.
BC was ON last week in PDX, Paris, Milan, Philadelphia, Hamptons, Williamsburg, CDMX, Vienna, DTBK, Manhattan, Cincy, Seattle, Sydney, SOMa and Amsterdam
Breakfast Club Paris Report 8.7.25
Per Karla’s post: The last edition of the hashtag#BreakfastClub 📍Paris, before the summer break, gathered a smaller, more intimate crowd — but the energy stayed high, with mocktails in hand at the newly opened hashtag#LaFondation. 🍹
As always, the conversations were anything but surface-level. We explored career pivots and cross-disciplinary leaps, the power of optionality, and how to stay grounded in an era of “hyper stimulation”.
From brand strategy to mediation, we dove into nonviolent communication as a tool for conflict resolution — and the quiet strength of the mediator as a neutral third party. 🌿
We touched on protecting one’s energy in turbulent times, the art of knowing when to let go (projects, relationships, expectations), and becoming more intentional about the seeds we plant.
Somehow, we also landed on French japonism, Yoko Owawa’s novel the Memory Police; heirloom seeds preservation and mycellium textile innovation in the era of environmental amnesia. Because no good conversation is ever completely linear. Especially when Lisa Ono, Nessim Cohen, Emilie Trampont and Clara M get comfortable.
Deep gratitude for the honesty, curiosity, and shared stories. Until next time. ✨
Breakfast Club Portland Report 7.8.25:
Per Chelsea’s Report: Beautiful turnout! New and familiar faces came together to swap Popeye stories, gripe about our phones, and hold down the fort while Nina Sers is on the road. See you next Tues!
🗓️ Join us every week at 9am at Proud Mary
Everyone is welcome.
No RSVP or agenda.
Just conversations and excellent coffee.
For more info check out: https://lnkd.in/eyvtRq7Z
📩 DM me if you have questions
Breakfast Club Williamsburg Report 7.9.25
Per my post: At my end we talked coming back from vacation, being a Dietz protege, Pitchmania, women’s sports, the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) breaking into the mainstream, the new Brooklyn Football Club, being an athlete in a past life, the @AVP in Central Park, shipping sand into NYC, flexing your courtside access, the NY LIBERTY, the podcast "Strange Coordinates", deep dives into brands, having a ‘Warren G’ background, the history of Chiquita bananas, Dole Food Company, the United Fruit Company, Cuisinart, New Balance, Garcia Marquez’s book "Leaf Storm," the summer doldrums (at Breakfast Club and otherwise), the AI paydays, the marketing of salaries, the coming rationalist reveal, whether AI is Soylent Green, CZ and his controversies, the defense industry, the tiers of the surveillance state, The Wall Street Journal hiring analysts who hire the journalists, mining helium 3 (on the moon), AI software cutting through bureaucracy, deep sea mining, the 10x’ing of underwater biomass, the water erosion crisis in Kentucky, “geriatric millennials”, the Woolworths building, the new Lean Luxe proposition, the grey market for paywalled PDFs, Printemps and retail as experience, the bag brand TAMPICOBAGS, the fragrance maker Xinu (in CDMX) the origin of the term ‘tank top’, bootleg Chrome Hearts, Gen Z retail arbitrage, the proper use of ‘tendies’, 3D printing food, taking wagers on what ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ is about, AI summaries, dog beds everywhere, the Roomba vacuum proposition and lots more.
It was me (back after three weeks away) Zaira Stefani Vallejo, Leann Abad,
Carlos Chiossone, Moose Huerta, Piers Fawkes, Peter Droste, Randy Scott Slavin, Nick Bodor, Ben Jenkins, Aydan Sarikaya and Zachary Mallard.
We do this every Wednesday at 8:30a at Le Crocodile Restaurant in the Wythe Hotel. Everybody pays their own way. And everyone's welcome, especially you!
Everyone's welcome in the LinkedIn group too: https://lnkd.in/eHAWrG6n
And the Monday newsletter has details about all the breakfast clubs around the world: https://lnkd.in/eZi3f42n
Hope to see you for breakfast sometime soon.
Breakfast Club Vienna Report 10.7.25
Per Laura’s Post: What a beautiful crowd at the Breakfast Club Vienna today, the July edition!
As usual, a big joy to start the day with good coffee, meeting new people, seeing old faces, and being part of such a diverse group and inspiring conversations. Today we touched upon the joy of travelling and discovering the world, moving between countries and how it affects various aspects of life, Austrian and German reality shows, how we relate to our bodies as we age, the sauna culture in Austria, the struggle to stay consistent with working out, our relationship with the many languages we speak, the yearning for a slower life, retiring plans, the beauty and challenges of being in a constant process of change and evolution and much more.
Thanks for joining on this surprisingly autumnal summer day: Paula M. Astrid Reiter Leticia Luna Tlatelpa Linda Poláková Sabrina Kusternik Jo-Ann Bishop Aurelia Albrecht Henning Bauschulte Alexandre Isnenghi Olga Bratsun Mahtab Beikpour Sanja Cancar
In Vienna, we meet every second Thursday of the month and the next one will be announced soon. Thank you Carla Moss for doing this together, we missed you today! And many thanks to Ben Dietz for creating this concept and spreading it around the world. If you can't make it in Vienna, there are chapters in other places too: https://lnkd.in/dAirjEvS
See you soon! Everyone is invited, especially you! 💫
Breakfast Club Downtown Brooklyn Report 7.10.25
Per Lynn’s Post: Breakfast Club, DTBK, July 10. It was not business as usual today, because after 6 months of being a proud co-host but decidedly not a morning person, I’m thrilled to report that I finally beat Kat Popiel to the Ace Hotel 😆
Today's post-holiday chatter covered the important stuff: Labubu, Labubu, Labubu; collectible toy culture; plastic surgery and the endless pursuit of youth; adding MASS MoCA to our summer hit list; how to leverage AI for podcast production; listening to live jazz while doing a cold plunge; job search accountability cohorts; the irony of how living upstate or in small towns can actually be socially claustrophobic; the scentscape that is the Gowanus Canal in summertime.
Our conversationalists today were Jennifer Rusk Gavon O. Broomfield Jaz Garner Nicole Nejati Joy Martinez Peter Gaston Jefferson Finch Heather Myers and Jenny Montgomery plus a special last minute appearance by Nadia Nascimento. (Marina Garcia-Vasquez we miss you already!)
Come find me and Kat Popiel here at the Ace Hotel Downtown Brooklyn, every Thursday 8:30am. No agenda, no pitching, just you and old/new friends.
Last but certainly not least, two announcements! 📣
🥳 Today! Happiest of birthdays to the one who started it all Ben Dietz. Thank you for creating this wonderful community, from one little local breakfast to what is now a global convening.
📅 Next Friday July 18! Mark your calendar for BC DTBK regular Peter Gaston's first live event for his non-profit Dads for All. Join him for a live discussion about actually important things, like how Dads can impact positive change for the affordability, opportunity, and safety for all families. Link in comments below ⬇️
Breakfast Club Manhattan Report 7.10.25
Per Heidi’s Post: Starting the day surrounded by good energy is everything.
Big thanks to Eva McCloskey for co-hosting with me! Catch us Thursdays for your weekly dose of positivity.
Irene Baigorri Joshua Teixeira Carlos Chiossone Krussia, Grace Arrese Nick Bodor Wen-Jay Ying Corey Bullough Larissa Rosvaenge Roni Bradley Marlene Bartos Alex Corporan SDJ
Breakfast Club Cincy Report 7.10.25
Per Theo’s post: We talked about art, media, homemade tomato sauce, Hilma af Klint, Michael Coppage, summer treats, mini hot dogs, Kant, zealots, the smell of hay, lost friends, zen gardens, Northside, studios, music platforms and arugula.
Art Hasinski , Ruth Anne Wolfe, Jeff Kobberdahl, Ben Dietz, Emmit Jones and Tina.
Breakfast Club Seattle Report 7.10.25
Per Mike’s WhatsApp Message: “Lovely crowd in Seattle today”
Breakfast Club SOMa Report 7.11.25
Per James’s Post: Breakfast Club SOMa was bananas this morning. No summer slump in effect.
We had a massive turnout gathered out in the cool morning air at Artie's in Maplewood. So many folks that one attendee had to fetch more folding chairs from his car...
Shouts to Robert Haddad Karen Wiessen Justin English E.J. McLeavey-Fisher Jeff Spangler David Berkwitz Wendy Buzzeo Leslie Torre Ruchika Muchhala Gnesin Joel Blanco Abby Strugger Jenifer Steig Lisa Rayman Jedd Levin Ned Borgman Angela Matusik Jeffrey Bauman and more...
We talked about all kinds of stuff including: making boring holidays into major moments because that's when nobody is working, movies (and the lack thereof in Maplewood due to real estate chicanery), the iconic decor of the Elks Lodge and how it must never improve beyond wood paneling and old carpet, dads in punk bands, small town redevelopment scandals, the fight for bikelanes, sneaking new policy into law during the summer when sane people are distracted, teens breaking their noses in the pit at Montclair's legendary Meatlocker, is 4th grade a major change from 3rd grade?, the Cure at 47 years old, going to Vegas to see EMF and Spacehogg, becoming friends with your teenage heroes, the enduring appeal of 90's era "Columbia House music,” male strippers, Grace Jones and aging into excellence, Shilpa Ray, ayahuasca, and the Jersey Shore
We do this every week. Everyone is invited. Especially you.
That’s all for this week. Thanks everyone. See you at Breakfast!
Ben
Breakfast Club Takes Place Around the World In:
Weekly:
Portland, OR [Tuesday]
Mexico City [Wednesday]
Williamsburg Brooklyn [Wednesday]
Miami [Wednesday]- CURRENTLY ON SUMMER BREAK
The Hamptons [Wednesday]
San Francisco [Wednesday]- ON SUMMER BREAK FOR JULY & AUG
Downtown Brooklyn [Thursdays]
Manhattan [Thursdays]
SOMa, NJ [Fridays] Bi-Weekly:
Washington, DC [Thursdays]
Melbourne [Fridays, alternating between Fitzroy and Richmond]
Amsterdam [Saturdays, alternating between locations East and West)
Monthly:
Boulder [First Tuesdays]
Barcelona[First Wednesdays]
London[First Thursday]
Burlington, VT [Second Mondays]
Hudson, NY [Second Wednesdays]
Seattle [Second Thursdays]
LA (West) [Third Fridays]
Vienna
Paris
Milan
Lugano
Portland, Maine
Philadelphia
Boston
Panama City
Denver
Brighton
Singapore
Sydney
Bassano del Grappa
Toronto
Atlanta
Berlin
Ibiza
Vegas
Kingston NY
Cambridge MA