My awesome adventure at the Summit of Awesome

Summit of Awesome, Washington, DC, May 1-3, 2009

By Christy Petterson
Published: May 15th, 2009 | 3:15pm

Day 1—Friday:

After the ten-hour drive from Atlanta and an excellent Washington, DC dinner Thursday evening, I was ready to hit the Summit of Awesome Friday morning. The day started out with bagels and coffee at Miss Pixie’s, a vintage furniture shop in DC’s MidCity business district. The lovely ladies of Hello Craft – Kim Dorn, Sara Dick, Kelly Rand and Tina Seamonster – welcomed everyone and the festivities officially began.

After breakfast, I headed to the Crafting a Green Craft session with Jamie Chan and Blas Herrera of Urban Fauna Studio, Liz Grotyohann and Jeff Fein-Worton of Cosa Verde, and Becky Striepe of Glue and Glitter.

As was the case the entire weekend, it was really difficult to choose which sessions to go to. There were four to six amazing options during each time slot. Frustrating, yes, but a good problem to have.

At the green craft session, it was exciting to hear of the success that other people have had with greening their business, and the panelists encouraged us to start small. During lunch Maria Thomas, Etsy’s CEO, talked to the group about her fascinating career. She declared that now is a time when we all need to be connected. Etsy, she said, connects people and their stories.

After lunch, I listened to a lawyer from Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts talk about establishing your craft as a business Each session took place in a different establishment in MidCity, and I loved getting to know the neighborhood as the day continued. It was also great getting to know the other attendees. By the time we were half way through the first day, I had already talked to crafters from Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Brooklyn, DC, and even San Francisco.

The last activity of the day was a screening of Handmade Nation at the DC Jewish Community Center. This was my third time seeing the film, and, once again, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The clapping and hollering that filled the auditorium at the end of the viewing validated my feelings!

After dinner with family friends, it was time for the first day to come to a close.

Day 2—Saturday

Saturday morning started off with great information from the "Selling in a Brick and Mortar” panel discussionwith Jamie and Blas of Urban Fauna Studio and Deb Dormody and Margaret Carleton of Craftland. Expanding my list of brick and mortar’s is on my list of things-to-do in 2009, so this was perfect. They talked a lot about presenting yourself professionally, communicating your needs to the storeowner, and having terms set up with shops so that both parties are happy.

Lunch was quite a treat. The keynote speaker was Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, who has been one of my heroes since 2003. It was from reading about her in several magazines that I discovered our indie craft community. Jenny’s work ethic, business savvy, and sincerity were evident from her talk. Her mom was in the audience and even reminded her to mention a new project

After lunch I led a discussion with Al Hoff and Jessica Manack of Handmade Arcade and Kathy Malone of the Brooklyn Indie Market called "Organizing a Craft Fair." The presentation evolved into a casual conversation with the attendees, and we were able to brainstorm on issues that specific shows have had.

I learned a lot at each session, and Sara Dick, Hello Craft’s Marketing Director, explained to me that the organizers designed them with four different curriculum in mind: people who are just starting out ("Branding and Identity” and “Selling Successfully Online”), the more experienced crafter (“The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows” and “Crafting a Green Craft”), show organizers (“Organizing a Craft Fair") and ("Event Sponsorship”), and those who want to learn new techniques (“Sewing Demo” and “Embroidery Demo”). “The whole idea is to provide practical information that attendees can apply to their own business,” said Sara.

The day ended with the Show of Awesome, a party that included a wine tasting, crafting, a silent auction, a craft market, snacks, and live music by Jason Hutto and Shelby Cinca. They closed out the evening with an improvised ditty with excellent lyrics, “Do you know the best thing to do? Craft!” Talk about knowing your audience!

Day 3—Sunday

I started Sunday by giving a screen-printing demonstration, while others learned how to make a hand-bound book, how to set up a craft fair booth, the ins and outs of trade shows, and all about copyright and trademarks.

After a casual lunch, the weekend ended with the White Elephant. Everyone participating brought a wrapped hand-crafted item and with much hilarity and drama each gift ended up in the hands of a well-deserving hard-working crafter at the end. There was much giggling and yelling from the lively bunch.

Becky of Glue and Glitter told me late in the day on Sunday,"between discussions, questions and the amazing crafters I met all weekend, I’m I left with a confident feeling that not only can crafters make the world a better place, we will.”

Awesome.