CraftCon 08: Wrap Ups

debra roby — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:14:10 -0500

Yes, my CraftCon wrap up is a week late. A whole weekend hanging with inspiring crafty folk took its toll on me, and Monday I barely managed to get out of bed and let the dogs out. Writing anything didn't happen until Wednesday.

But I did finally get a write up some of the inspiring folks I met last Thursday. For me the important themes of the weekend was:

TRUTH STORY MAKER DO

Everything in the weekend seemed to inform these ideas if they were worthwhile.

i was not alone in my slow wrap up.

PeptoGirl took until Thursday to write her experience, too. She covered the about the part of the conference I missed: the tour, the party, the dinner. Let me just say that depending on a weekend BART schedule is NOT the way to give yourself a chance to party in the city. My trains all stopped running by 7 pm, meaning I had to be out of the city well before 6. Next year, I'm driving in (parking be darned!):

Before long, we headed over to the official Craft Con tour through the Hayes Valley and then over to Lower Haight for cocktails and dinner. Cocktail hour was hosted by Readymade so I got to chat it up with some of the talented individuals that make Readymade happen. I also picked up a couple extra issues of the magazine to share with friends. After dinner, Kelly and I called it a night early. She was on a 3-hour time difference, being from D.C. I don't really have an excuse!

I also met so many amazing people! I wish I had time to write about all of them right now, but I promise I'll continue to "name-drop" in the coming weeks!

On Saturday, Kelly and I enjoyed dinner with Kim Dorn and Sara Dick of Crafty Bastards. Those two were not only fun to hang out with but they were super-sweet, sharing with me everything they could about putting on a successful craft show. I also really enjoyed their session on Sponsorship - so much so that I missed out on another session because I stayed behind to ask questions.

I was also excited to hear a presentation by Jackie Ortega of Craft Gym. I love the concept of Craft Gym. We SO need one in Sacramento!

PeptoGirl also shared some photos, including the table full of our BEST PROGRAMS EVER!

Willotoons shared the inside flap of our BEST PROGRAMS EVER! But, she, too needs time to process and live her real life; her wrap-up is still to come.

The best blogging about the sessions (so far) comes from Vanessa, who represents Etsy Storque. Yes, she live blogged my session, and shared this lessons from one session:

I attended a talk on real-life networking, moderated by Lorraine Sanders of SF Inide Fashion blog. Sherry Huss from O'Reilly (CRAFT and MAKE Magazine) recommends sending a short, direct follow-up email after you meet a person you want to network with. Betsy Greer of Craftivism.com urges crafters to just keep it real and be nice when approaching people whether it's face-to-face or online, and refuses to buy into the idea that there’s a hierarchy in the craft world.

Confession: I love Betsy Greer!

For those who want to feel like they were there, a Flickr pool has photos of the weekend and additional photos found here.

Rachel is collecting all the blog posts and CraftCon wrap ups as we finally get them up. You can check back for more goodies at the CraftCon website.

What I can suggest for any craft-fair organizer, online shop owner, serious crafty blogger is to save a little money and make sure to head to the next CraftCon. The ability to hang with folks who "get you" and your passion is a reward in itself. Add great discussions and fun presentations and the weekend is completely worthwhile.

Debra Roby blogs her creative life at A Stitch in Time and her mundane life at Deb's Daily Distractions .

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CraftCon 08: Wrap Ups