Many of you creative folks who stop by my blog are in the craft industry—designers, teachers, authors; you might create product or write for magazines or demo at stores. If you do any of these things (especially in the United Kingdom or Europe) I want to invite you to a very special weekend event coming up the 18-20 of April, 2015.
Last summer, Carolyn Schulz, Sarah Hurley and I were chatting at a UK trade event called The One Big Show. We are all designers with varying kinds of businesses—Carolyn focuses on beading and jewelry with an emphasis on teaching and writing books, while Sarah’s business encompasses paper, craft kits, jewelry, stamps, embellishments and more. As we discussed experiences, lessons learned, resources and ideas in our casual conversation, we all realized one thing: Our creative exchange had been so useful, we figured other designers and teachers in our craft industry could benefit from the same thing. In fact, we could broaden the conversation to include topics we didn’t know about—to create a weekend event packed with seminars and networking opportunities for designers and teachers.
Creative Exchanges is for both experienced businesspeople and newbies. Seminars will range from Strategic Planning (that’s me!) to topics like teaching, videos, contracts, licensing, photography, social media and more. You can see the complete Creative Exchanges schedule on the site. I think it’s pretty amazing—it’s all stuff I wish I had access to when I got started, plus information I can use now!
I believe Creative Exchanges is going to be a game-changer for people. The educational information and networking will spark ideas, sharpen your focus, inspire and inform you. The chance to connect with magazines and manufacturers and other like-minded designers can open new doors, forge new relationships and take your business in a new direction.
I do hope I’ll see you there. For more info, pop by the Creative Exchanges website or contact Craig at 01206 364 977 or enquiries@cha-uk.co.uk.
