Wednesday, March 11, 2009

AltCraft, ACC and Amtextiles



Whew! I think I am finally recovered from the American Craft Council Show. What a great experience. Overall, the show was successful and totally worthwhile. Here's some highlights and lowlights:

The set-up was relatively easy. The layout was easy to understand, most things were taken care of beforehand and my specific needs were taken care of. Thanks Erika for your help with that !! One downfall was that exhibitors in this space had their backs turned to the main flow of traffic, or had their booths really close to smelly food. People also had a hard time knowing what we were doing in our own section since the signage was poor and, I think, no one really knows what AltCraft is. Even those of us in the section! More on that in another post.

There were plenty of great people to meet and great conversations to be had! I met several internationally known curators (one of whom bought a piece from me!), Wendy Rosen who is the author of one of my favorite How to run a Craft Business books and producer of the Buyers Market, other great artists and crafters who make glorious and creative work...the list goes on and on! I needed cough drops to make sure I could keep talking!

I got to spend so much quality time with my friend Jenn. She is my model as well as my friend (she's in the photo above), so every time I left the table she thought everyone must have thought she was so vain since her image is on all my promo materials! Really, it's just that she looks divine and is so cool to let me photograph her all the time.

The feedback about my work was really helpful. Actually, this was the first time I had unveiled amtextiles Bubble Wraps as its own line of work so I really needed to hear from potential and actual clients. Playful, colorful, funky, diva, formal, bridal, beautiful, fun...

I also had a wonderful time wandering through the rest of the show when I had time. I'll write a post about some of my finds a little later this month.

Thanks to all of those who helped me: Adam, Jenn, Josh, the entire Shreckhise and Coppings families, Daiga, Joan, Erika, Lou, Yoshiko, Erin, Lisa...you are my loves!

3 comments:

Audrey said...

Glad to hear the show went well. They didn't have a survey at the end of the show where you could right down suggestions or "complaints"? Many shows do that.

Amber Coppings Designs said...

Not this time, but I will make sure to send a little feedback their way. Thanks for your well-wishes!

the 6 o'clock stitch said...

I've never done a craft show but I imagine it is both rewarding and exhausting! So nice to meet you.

Warm wishes,
The 6 O'Clock Stitch