Greyt Big Talk
Explore. Meet. Create. Big!
Greyt Big Talk is a live audience podcast series for artists & entrepreneurs. Events explore creative process and projects with a community of leaders gathering live in person to learn, share, and inspire others to create.
The film
Coffee, arrivals, music, speakers, and a different Cleveland room every month.
The opposite of small talk.
We’re here for those three magic words that bring people in every corner of the world together: “Let’s get coffee!”
It’s not the coffee itself with some mystical power, but the intention made by people to break the small talk and get to know one another, to lean across their differences, and find out if there’s an opportunity to share a future.
90 minutes, eight times a year.
Greyt Big Talk is a 90 minute commitment to have coffee with Cleveland’s creative community, just 8 times a year. This is lightning fast in the context of creative conferences, which typically can span days, cost thousands of dollars to attend, and make grandiose promises to inspire the best work you’ve ever made in your life. Instead, we want our attendees to wake up roughly once a month, and do something a little bit different.
We provide breakfast, coffee, original artwork, live music, pitches for projects people are working on in the community, and a keynote from a successful artist or entrepreneur living in the city. By 10 am the detour from your routine is over and you can be off to work.
In that short time you very well may make a new friend or business connection. You could hear a talk that will inspire you to start a business or go back to art school. You might even meet your spouse, or learn about a problem in society that will become your obsession, your life’s work! At the very least, it’s a cup of coffee and a view of Cleveland from a different perspective.
The regular morning
8:30a
Check-In
9:00a
Music + Community Features
9:25a
Big Talk
9:45a
Q&A
10:00a
Get to Work!
Next Big Talk
All eventsJoin us for the next one.
The next Big Talk hasn’t been announced yet. Leave your email and we’ll send the date, the speaker, and the room.
Origin and evolution
Since January 2015
Cleveland’s creative communities began gathering for monthly peer learning sessions in January 2015. The first event featured Nikki Villagomez, a typography designer, who spoke to a sold-out crowd at Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
The program was branded as part of an international series, presented by Greyt Culture in Cleveland, before an independent relaunch as GREYT BIG TALK in 2021, resuming live in-person events after the pandemic.
“Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
The Big Talkers
The main event of each Greyt Big Talk is a presentation from an outstanding creative person living, working, or connected to the greater Cleveland community. Consistent with the rest of the Greyt Culture platform, we toe the line of casual, accessible connectivity, and world-class prestige.
Through a massive annual community outreach campaign, between 200–300 candidates are evaluated by the Greyt Culture team each year. 8 candidates are ultimately selected to speak. Speaker messages must be non-promotional in nature with a focus on educating the community about their work, their journey, or their most impactful lessons learned.
Speakers are chosen for many reasons, chief among them being that they are awesome people. The second criterion is diversity in creative discipline — cross-disciplinary education is by design. The third criterion is that they relate to a monthly theme chosen by our community.
Every Big Talker since 2015 (102)
Ariel Vergez
Artist TAF Grant Recipient
Michael Barakiva
Theatre Director
Maya Madison
Architect
Jean Angus
CEO Global Manufacturing
Patrick Shepherd
CIFF
Craig Hassel
CEO Playhouse Square
Ben Lachman
Space Journalist
John B. Johnson
UX Designer
Jackie Watcher
Fashion Entrepreneur
Anna Cerveny
Choreographer
Dale Heinen
Theatre Director
Denis Polverine
Publisher
Paul Roetzer
AI Marketing Institute
Justin Reynolds
Writer
Sam Skelton
Film Maker
Aimon Ali
Fashion Entreprenuer
Doris Korda
Educator
Brandi Larsen
Author & Editor
Michael Fox
ETA Operator & Investor
Nwaka Onwusa
Museum Curator
Theron Brown
Jazz Pianist
Rick Simmons
Executive Coach
Baiju Shah
CEO GCP
Howard Washington
Choreographer
Candy Mashmoor
Textiles Entrepreneur
Karen Small
Chef
Katie Spotz
Endurance Athlete
Chris Bobko
CTO Hyperloop TT
Melissa Armstrong-Brine
MD
Eliza Wing
Writer, CEO
Justin Bibb
Tech Civic Leader
Siaara Freeman
Slam Poet
Randy McShepard
Civic Developer
Tracy Lind
Retired Pastor
Daniel Ortiz
Census Outreach
Marko Zlatic
Finance Youtuber
Patricia Princehouse
Paleontologist
William Morgan
Deaf Theatre Director
Douglas Tratner
Food Critic
Floco Torres
Hip Hop Artist
Lisa Quine
Mural & Lettering Artist
Christopher Feran
Coffee Buyer
Jim Kukral
Tech Marketer
Stormy Sweitzer
Behavioral Researcher
Ann Klotz
Principal Laurel School
Jenice Contreras
Business Leader
Doug Paige
Biomimickry Design
Lukas Kronawitter
Biomimickry Design
Jesty Beatz
Music Producer
Ivan Schwarz
Film Commision
Laura DeMarco
Culture Writer
Graham Veysey
CEO, Builder, Producer
Marika Clark
Design, Urban Planning
Mai Moore
Non-Profit Leader
Margo Hudson
Seeds of Literacy
Liz Maugans
Artist
Megan Reich
MOCA Cleveland Curator
Jill Vedaa
Chef
Alex Sheen
Non-Profit Founder
Jarryd Huntley
Video Game Designer
Doc Harrill
Youth Program Founder
Brian Zimmerman
CEO Cle Metroparks
Claire Campbell
Clinical Counselor
Mr. Soul
Graphic Artist
Daniel Gray-Kontar
Educator
Aimee Crane
Designer NASA
Patrick Walker
Business Coach
Mano Singham
Physicist
Alana Jochum
Non-Profit Leader
Stephanie Sheldon
Market-Builder
David Jurca
Urban Planner
Robin VanLear
Community Arts Leader
Dan Moulthrop
CEO City Club
Robert Banks
Film Maker
Annie Zaleski
Music Journalist
Kauser Razvi
Arts Leader
Michael Ryan
Judge & Author
James Renner
True-Crime Author
Danielle Drake
Refugee Advocaate
Kumar Aurora
Entrepreneur
Anila Rubiku
Fine Artist
Dave Rigo
Distillery Founder
Greg Lehman
Distillery Founder
Kay Shames
Arts Administrator
Jeremy Bendik-Keymer
Philosopher
Philip Metres
Poet
Al Wasco
Design Educator
Zachariah Durr
Comedian
Ariel Clayton Karas
Violinist
Scott Ashley
Workplace Designer
Dennis Barrie
Museum Curator
Kathy Barrie
Museum Curator
Kate Snow
Mixed Media Artist
Bob Ruggeri
Film Producer
Chris Ryniak
Ilustrator
Amanda Louise Spayd
Sculptor
RA Washington
Writer/Musician
Steve Tamasi
Robotics League Leader
Mike Belsito
Tech Entrepreneur
Joseph Makkos
Print Archivalist
Jeremy Umansky
Chef
Nikki Villagomez
Graphic Designer
“The space within becomes the reality of the building.”
Greyt Big Spaces
Do we shape our environment, or does our environment shape us? We’d argue that it’s a bit of both, and to get to know a city it’s just as important to explore the physical places as it is to meet the people.
Over 10 years Greyt Culture’s breakfast lecture series has not taken place in the same place twice. This is a lot of extra effort in planning, in logistics, and contingency considerations that are difficult and expensive to execute, but it’s worth doing. By moving the event series to different physical spaces each month, not only do we get to introduce people to places they may have never been before, we also get to connect people to the program who live and work in each location.
Never the same place twice.
Creativity. Is. EVERYWHERE!
Greyt Big Talks are unique among any other public forum in the city by breaking every conceivable boundary to connectivity IRL. (That’s “In Real Life”) Greyt Culture will visit public parks, private offices, residential spaces, art galleries, bars, restaurants, theatres, warehouses, factories, photo studios and retail storefronts, because, for the people in the back, Creativity. Is. EVERYWHERE!
Host a Big Talk
Want to host a future event? Invite Cleveland’s creative community into a place they may not otherwise experience — cultural institutions, businesses, developers, universities, galleries, restaurants, property owners, nonprofits, and unexpected spaces all welcome.
Host a Big Talk“Teaching people and enriching their lives, makes life better for all of us.”
Why it matters.
We believe everyone in our community has something special to offer — whether it’s ideas, skills, experience, or just a fresh perspective. When people connect and share these talents, amazing things happen. Our goal is simple: to help people tap into their creativity and push their ideas forward.
We can’t put a number on how many dreams have turned into businesses, artworks, or life-changing projects because of Greyt Big Talk. And honestly, that’s not the point. We’re not here to take credit — we’re here to keep the momentum going and help creativity flow where it’s needed. These metrics are just a glimpse of what we can measure.
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Cups of Coffee
Attendance records are still being counted.
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Talks in the archive
Counted from event records, not estimated.
102
Big Talkers
Speakers featured since 2015.
25
Spaces visited
Community Features
A Big Talk morning isn’t only the keynote. Artists, entrepreneurs, organizations, and community members get a few minutes at the microphone to share what’s happening in Cleveland: new projects, exhibitions, events, businesses, ideas, initiatives, and opportunities. It’s a peer-learning community, not a lecture series.
“In industries that require constant inspiration, Greyt Big Talk delivers. In professions that are often solitary and self-driven, it offers community, support, and encouragement to keep going.”
Jeremy Johnson, President & CEO Assembly For The Arts