[Amsterdam church Posthoornkerk towers]
[“The Offline Club” poster]
[Woman handing a smartphone to a staff member who places the phone in the deposit box]
[Attendee handing in her smartphone]
[Staff member placing phone in the deposit box]
[Attendees handing in their smartphones]
[Staff member placing phone in the deposit box]
[Phones in the deposit box]
[Intricate ceiling architecture of Posthoornkerk church]
[Cécile Schulte playing the piano during the Offline session]
[Attendees engaged in crafting and writing activities]
[Schulte playing the piano]
[Attendees doing crafts]
Ilya Kneppelhout (interview): “We create our events and gatherings with different themes, one of them is connecting with yourself through creative activities, or reading or writing, or puzzling, so really something that makes you slow down and reflect, go inwards. And then also more connection-focused events where you talk to others, you play board games, you go on offline walks in nature, for example, and meet people in a dynamic, natural way.”
[People engaging in creative activities]
[Participant]
[Drawing]
Bernard Kappele (interview): “I think it’s nice to touch that pen and paper, like that physical element, it just grounds you, I think. And for sure, looking back, as a child, I would always be drawing and things like that. So it definitely also is a bit of an inner child, who doesn’t want to be behind the screen and be online all the time.”
[Participants]
Surya Gayet (interview): “And those apps are developed to have you sort of stay as long as possible by having short-term rewards, right? So I move to the next image, and oh, that’s nice, and then you have a 10-second reward rush, and then oh, but what’s the next image? And then it really works by sort of having you cling on to this app, sort of by short-term rewards or by giving you the feeling that you’re missing out when you’re not on the app.”
[Attendees engaged in creative activities]
Nicola Cloherty (interview): “Being nearly 42 and having had both sides of technology and device life and not, this just returns me to a simpler way of being and the joys that I experienced as a kid.”
[Participant writing a letter]
[Participants]
Brian Hermelijn (interview): “I think it’s important to disconnect. For me personally, I find myself being quite often on the internet, also scrolling. So these kinds of activities just allow me to really understand what it means to be present and also slow down in your mind because it’s always going, it continues to go until you have time for yourself.”
[Cécile Schulte’s hands playing the piano during the Offline session]
[Penny Steenbeek, marketing specialist]
[Session]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.