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TRANSCRIPT
Around 200 people are packed into the ornate, 17th Century Posthoornkerk basilica in Amsterdam.
It might be a historic church, but those crowded around three long tables as a young woman plays a grand piano aren't here for a service.
They're peacefully focused- bent over paper, pens, paints, coloured pencils and scissors.
Not one person in the room is looking at their phone - they handed them in at the door before heading into the two-hour creative session.
It's the latest event by the Offline Club, which began in 2024 as a small initiative by three students in Amsterdam.
Ilya Kneppelhout is one of its co-founders.
“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.”
Originally launched as a casual meetup in a café, the club has developed into a growing network of offline events across Europe.
Facilitators now organize sessions in 18 cities and the club has built a following of around 600,000 on Instagram.
The session in Amsterdam opens with a live piano performance by composer and pianist Cécile Schulte, before participants engage in various offline activities, including crafting and writing exercises, such as preparing a speech for their future 80th birthday.
Bernard Kappele, a 27-year-old user experience researcher, has become a regular attendee.
“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.”
Tickets to the Amsterdam session cost around AU$49, and its popularity has prompted the club to plan eight additional events in Amsterdam in April.
Some events focus on individual activities like reading, writing, or puzzles, while others are more social, involving board games or group walks.
For 29-year-old marketing specialist Penny Steenbeek, it's this social element she finds especially inspiring.
“What I just really love is that you can unwind but also with other people. So when you're at home, it's just by yourself and you're like, okay, I cannot use my phone right now or I should just chill, and then it's a bit harder than when you're actually going somewhere, someplace like here and then you're surrounded by all these people who are kind of in the same vibe and then, it's just a special feeling.”
41 year old consultant Nicola Cloherty says joining the Offline Club sessions reminds her about life before constant digital access.
“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.”
The growth of the Offline Club reflects a wider trend, particularly among younger people, to spend less time on digital platforms.
This trend is also visible online, with many social media users sharing plans to reduce or stop their usage in the coming years.
But Surya Gayet, assistant professor of experimental psychology at Utrecht University, says the way apps are designed makes it difficult to break habitual use.
“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.”
Brian Hermeljin, a 31-year old artist, says the Offline Club has offered him a refreshing change in pace.
“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.”
