We are excited to be part of  I Heart Art: Portland’s Ready? Set? Launch! event happening this Friday, February 25th at PNCA.  The event starts at 7pm and we hope you can join us! You can find out more about I Heart Art: Portland over at their blog.

We’ll be offering personalized, private Etsy shop critiques at our booth…you’ll be able to spend five minutes with a local superstar Etsy seller and get some tips for improving your shop!

There will be food, drinks, creative activities, prizes and much more.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet other artists and crafters in the Portland community.

You can RSVP for the event on Facebook and tell your friends!

Ready? Set? Launch!

Friday, February 25th @ 7pm

Please log into the forum to nominate leadership or volunteer by the end of May. We all want to take this team to the next level, and believe that in order to provide the most benefit to our 700+ members, we need to establish structure, organization and set very clear goals for what we want to achieve. We know that the Portland Etsy Team has enormous untapped potential, and we know that Etsy wants to see us rise from our slumber and become a role model for other teams to follow. But it will take many able-bodied sleeve-roller-uppers to make it happen!

If you feel the amazing potential for our team and are ready to dig your hands in, then we encourage you to volunteer or nominate fellow members to lead our team into the future. Please do so no later than May 30. Positions in the Executive Committee (Co-Chairs, Secretary, Treasurer) will be voted on by the entire team at the beginning of June.

If you were unable to attend the Town Hall Meeting back in April, you can check out the notes to get a sense of what was discussed with regard to organization and creating a sustainable, successful team structure. Many people volunteered to help with eight different committees that night, but they would love some guiding direction.

So lend a hand! Step up to the plate! Let’s put some shine on this team and maximize its potential!!

Nominations can be made in the appropriate thread on the PDX Etsy Forum. If you nominate yourself, please include a short paragraph explaining why you think you are a good candidate for the position. If you are nominating someone else, please include a paragraph explaining why you think they are a good candidate, and we will contact them to confirm acceptance of the nomination.

Here are the responsibilities associated with each of the positions:

Co-Chairs (2 positions)

• oversees committee activity
• outlines team goals/actions
• leads meetings
• writes Etsy grant applications

Secretary

• manages meeting agendas/notes
• keeps meetings on track
• keeps records
• assists in grant-writing

Treasurer

• manages team funds/accounts
• maintains team budget
• assists in grant-writing
• manages paid-outs/reimbursements

How Social Media Affects Your Business

Saturday, May 15, 11am–1pm in The Lab at Museum of Contemporary Craft
Instructor: To be announced
Class Size: 40

Description: This class will focus on the benefits of and tactics used in establishing a presence in social media and engaging with your audience. We will outline the importance of the social experience and give tips and tricks on how to effectively use Twitter, Facebook, blogs and more to increase business and connect to your customers in a way that is valuable and rewarding.

Registration is now open here. Please note that the registration site automatically tracks the number of seats available and the spots on the waiting list, and will also tell you when it is full. And remember that all of our Professional Development Workshops are free of charge!

The Professional Development Workshops are part of the Portland Etsy Team’s partnership in the I Heart Art: Portland project. Over the course of six months, six free classes will be taught for Etsy sellers, artists, artisans, and students who are interested in developing their entrepreneurial skills. Each workshop is taught by a local specialist in the subject matter, and the series has been very well received in the community.

In the meantime, make sure you have a working login to the PDXEtsy forum, because we’ll be holding votes for the proposed leadership structure and committee sign-ups in the near future! If you can’t log in or aren’t sure if you’ve registered on the forum, send Shannon a convo through Etsy and she’ll get you squared away!

Here are some quick details about the upcoming meeting this Wednesday, April 7th that you should know. We’re blasting this information pretty loud and through as many avenues as possible, so please ignore the message’s redundancy.

First, if you haven’t already registered for the meeting, please do so here: pdxetsytownhall.eventbrite.com

This will give us an accurate head count and be able to track who was present. There is no need to actually print the “tickets” in order to attend, so don’t worry about that part!

Second, please note that the venue has changed to Room 101 of the PNCA Main Campus Building, 1241 NW Johnson St. It’s located just off the Commons (where the I Heart Art: Portland event was held), behind the Feldman Gallery. We’ll have signs up pointing you to the right place, and there should be someone at the reception desk to help if you get lost. Also, we will not be providing any refreshments, but you are welcome to bring a plate of something to share with the group at the end of the meeting if you feel so inclined.

Third, let’s explain why we want you to be there. We’re riding off the heels of the I Heart Art: Portland project, and we want to make sure the Portland Etsy Team is an important, valuable part of your Etsy and community experience. That said, we recognize that we can’t do it all by ourselves, so we need your help. This will be your opportunity to give some feedback, ask some questions, and contribute to the future success of the team.

We want to give you a little history about the team, outline some community goals that the team can focus on, and set up a more sustainable leadership model that will help us move forward.

So come down to PNCA on Wednesday and take part in a crucial stage in the life of the Portland Etsy Team! Bring your enthusiasm, some great ideas, and that DIY spirit that Portland has become so famous for and let’s craft something amazing!

See you there!

The Portland Etsy Team has been a long-standing group of stellar Etsy sellers in a city where DIY culture thrives. Its membership has exploded, and in order to be beneficial to its 650+ members, we need to establish structure, organization, and set very clear goals for what we want to achieve. We want to gather as many members of the team under one roof as possible to maximize our potential!

We want to gauge the expectations of the members at large, both those that have been around since the team’s inception and those that have joined more recently. What support do the team members need from each other? How can the team aid the success of its members? What can we do locally? How can we work with other organizations? And who is going to help us do it?

The answers to all these questions and more are crucial to our ongoing success. But in order to help us guide the evening in an effective way, we’ve put together an online survey for everyone to fill out beforehand. Call it the Portland Etsy Team Census! It won’t take you long, and you’ll be thrilled you contributed! You can access the survey here. All we ask is that you complete it before March 26th. We’d also love it if you could RSVP here for the meeting so we know how many chairs to set up!

You may ask yourself, “Who is putting all this together?” or “Is there someone in charge here?”

We are Isaac (ibwatson), Shannon (rubygirl), Leah (leahpellegrini), Rebecca (slumptown), Cheryl (holdentees), Kirsten (piperewan), and Judi (curlygirlglass). We want to help make the team everything it hopes and dreams for. So help us help you!

To recapitulate:

Portland Etsy Team
Town Hall Meeting

April 7, 2010
7:30–9:30pm

Swigert Commons at PNCA
1241 NW Johnson Street
Portland, OR 97209

Town Hall Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LYBQGXK
Event page with RSVP: http://pdxetsytownhall.eventbrite.com

Workshops 1/2: “Selling on Etsy” and “What Is It?!”

We need volunteers to help out at the party at PNCA on Feb 26th.  Are you interested?  A volunteer shift would only last 1 hour or so, everyone will be able to have fun and mingle this way.

please let us know – comment here – leave your email address!