A motivating combination of insight about the importance of relating to people in person and advice on how to develop social skills and habits that enrich life, woven together with amusing stories, built on a double entendre playing on the term OFFLINE—meaning, on the one hand, the opposite of being online, technologically speaking, and on the other hand, stepping out of the straight line people tend to follow in life, their comfort zone, or the mindless rut they get into.

Over many years, he wrote investment reports for private circulation that touched upon issues such as infrastructure, demographics and the vagaries of markets. He broadened his horizons by reflecting too upon aspects of the art market and life in general but, more importantly, started sending articles to friends, clients and associates on subjects that they were interested in or which he felt they should be aware of. The response to this was overwhelmingly positive and led to the genesis of OFFLINE. The fundamental premise behind it was that in a wired world people needed more than ever to engage in physical interaction with one another. The articles were mere props but they reinforced the fact that the simple acts of talking, laughing, eating, thinking and so forth had most impact when widely shared. OFFLINE is designed to be the antithesis of everything online and recognises that veering off road and then back on it is both valuable and necessary. It aims to challenge and provoke, question and answer, stimulate and amuse, nurture and nourish in a delightful and congenial setting.

Be there, be present, be curious.

Howard Lewis brings a multifarious box of tricks to the table. After years of spectacular underachievement in school, he entered the stock market before his interests led him to cofound Thesaurus (now called Invaluable), a pioneer in the provision of electronic information services to the art and collectibles world. He is now the director of the Schorr Collection which, though dominated by old master paintings, includes many diverse categories, and he was instrumental in the evolution of a collection of very early and rare toys, games, and educational material for children.

 

Cultured, creative, and curious, Howard started OFFLINE for people  to engage in conversation without technological distractions.

 

Howard is a member of The Savile Club and The London Library and a long-term season ticket holder at Arsenal FC, true purveyors of the beautiful game.