Limerick Meeting With Etsy Rep

(l-r) Ruth, Rebecca, Bernadette, Helen, Nicola, Orla

On Sunday just gone a few of us team members met up with the lovely Bernadette from the New York office of Etsy. It was kind of a late notice thing, so I contacted as many Limerick based sellers as I could and we met up at the Sunday craft Milk Market in Limerick.

Let me first say how lovely and down to earth Bernadette is, she told us all about her office and the work that they do in the customer care team that she works in. She is part of the 'support' team in Etsy, some of you may have emailed them with questions or reporting abuse etc.

Some of you may have heard the news in the Sunday Business post that Etsy are setting up an office in Ireland, which was part of the reason for her trip here; to scout out the situation. At present they are deciding between Dublin, Galway and Limerick, and are meeting with recruitment agencies and business folk in each of these cities. They will be setting up another customer support team here to deal with all the queries that come through at night in the US. Ireland is a very desirable venue to set up an office because of the tax breaks, because we speak English, and we have a highly skilled workforce. As yet they have not decided on what city they will be based in but Bernadette assured us that she would keep us all informed! She said that they prefer to hire Etsy users/sellers as they have a good knowledge of the site, so that's good news for any of you that are job hunting out there. She estimated that it would take approx. 6 months for this venture to get rolling, but it's still very exciting news.

We went on to discuss some of the new changes in Etsy, most notably the currency conversion and how it's affected us. All in all we were very relieved with being able to list in euro, and Bernadette said at Etsy they were delighted to be able to offer it at long last, saying that 30% of sales are from outside the US. We also chatted about the new 'copy' function for listing items, which has made managing a larger shop so much easier (you'll see this if you click on any of your items, after 'renew'). There was also talk of the new teams section and the discussion threads that are there. I did ask that a group convo tool be granted to team leaders as this can made team co-ordination so much easier and less time consuming; telling her of the days when I was sending 100 individual convos to team members.

There was general other meanderings into topics of the snow, surfing, Irish tourism etc, and it was lovely just to have an aul' natter! Here are some pieces from all the members who were at the meeting. (l-r)

The Letter Box Press,

Nice Day Designs,

Lucky Rainbow Designs,

Stained Glass Fayre,

Farapinalia

Also Bernadette gave us all one of these beautiful letterpress Etsy calenders, it's already hanging on the wall in my studio!

The Etsy Meeting in Dublin, Market Bar, 9 October 2010

And what a great meeting it was! It was a whirlwind of Etsians, craftyness, cups of coffee, dips and Liz, Director, International Business Development at Etsy, who came to meet the Crafty Ireland team.

An exact number of who was there will be published once I get the list from Liz, but there were 25 people on the pic, plus me, so we were at least 26!

The Market Bar was a great place to meet, and most of us were crowded around a long table, asking Liz lots of questions and listening as to what she told us about the latest developments on Etsy. Some of the Etsy info can't go on the blog, because these are only ideas yet and may or may not happen. But here's a summary about all the other things we discussed and what we can do as a team to promote our craft on Etsy.


About Etsy:

• Established five years ago, there are now roughly 6 million people registered on Etsy, and there are more buyers who are not sellers than sellers (who are also buyers, of course).
  
  
• The name has nothing to do with Elephant tusks or the like. It's a made-up word!
  
  
• There are roughly 800 million page views per month.
  
  
• 140 staff in total are working in Etsy, mostly on the technical side. Liz has been working with Etsy since January 2009.
  
  
• Etsy does not do advertisements, but works in partnership with magazines and papers to publish features, profiles, campaigns. They also run programmes with schools and universities/art colleges.
  
  
• Etsy's trade is 28% non-domestic, of which Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France and Skandinavia take the biggest share. However, Ireland is usually in the top 15, so people do buy from Ireland!
  
  
• And you will be pleased to hear that Etsy Ireland team is a very strong team on Etsy. Small island, big team!!!
  
  

Etsy is very keen to develop the European market, so here are some upcoming developments:

• The general information on Etsy will be translated into German and French, so that more people can access information on how to use the site in their own language.
  
  
• The Shop Local function will be fixed so that you can search local sellers for the products you are looking for.
  
  
• There will be a new search tool based on common tags.
  
  
• You will be able to change the shopname and also be able to add your real name if you so wish.
  
  
• Etsy is also looking into the issue of shipping costs, and Liz mentioned u-ship, especially for bulky items.
  
  
• Currency, Etsy is looking into ways to make it easier to pay in your own currency.
  
  
• There will also be a new express checkout function.
  

Liz also asked about the reasons why people don't buy on Etsy, and a lot of people said that people don't like registering.




Liz gave us some tips as to what the Crafty Ireland team can do to raise their profile:

• Add your location, which is really important if people are looking for products from Ireland. So, if you are from Cork, put in as much information as you can about the location, ie Cork, Ireland, Europe.
  
  
• Create more treasuries! That's how you get on the Front Page!
  Try not to include your own items in your treasury, and combine a number of different types of articles across all price ranges. Also, come up with new themes for treasuries, for instance do treasuries from specific cities.
  
  
• We should also do a City Guide for Irish cities - examples are on the German and French Etsy Blogs:
  Berlin
  Lyon
  
  We did start something like this with a map of Ireland a while ago, so it might be worth reviving that.
  
  
• We should get in touch with Amity of the UK blog and suggest more Irish features.
  

Mary asked about Etsy funding, because she explained that it would be great to exhibit at the RDS Christmas craft fair, but the stall fees are too expensive. Liz said that we should apply for a team grant for next year.

Mary also came up with an idea for a challenge, ie if somebody wants something produced but it's not on Etsy, there should be a way of asking for it. This is not the same as just one product on Alchemy though.

After the meeting, we got our group photo taken.



Who is who?



1.) Susan
2.) Naoise
3.)
4.)
5.) Margaret, IrishSeaGlass
6.) Ann, Torran/ Amg-Arts
7.) Angela, Artysmarty
8.) Helen, FashionfromHelen
9.) Fi, Patchworkdelights
10.) Odette, Swannandsmerlin & Packagesandstrings
11.) Judith, Aboxformytreasure
12.) Mary (Mac Neill)
13.) Mandi, Designbirdie
14.) Yvonne, BonzieDesigns
15.) Liz, Director, International Business Development at Etsy
16.) Mary, Awishforyou
17.)
18.)
19.)
20.) Liz, Silkstonedesigns
21.) Alex, Lexrey
22.) Anne-Marie, byAmor
23.)
24.) Mo, Huggleknits
25.)
26.) Brigitte, PurlsofColour (gone to the loo!)

I thought, that it would take at least 10 mintues to get everybody ready for the pic, and dashed to the toilet. When I returned, it was all done and dusted - so that's why Purls is not in the picture! I don't think I've ever seen a group picture done so quickly!!!

Mingling and chat after the meeting:




Liz, Odette and I walked back to O'Connell Street to get our respective public transport. And I got my photo taken with Liz, because I missed out on the group photo! Odette and I ended up in a cafe, talking about the meeting until I had to get my train.



A great meeting was held by all, and I am only sad that I didn't have a chance to talk to everybody who was there!!!

So let's see if we can put some of these ideas into practise. Rachel our Treasury Currator, who was not at the meeting, has already something in the pipeline to encourage more treasuries.

Big thanks go to Letizia for her work in organising the meeting - she was very much missed in Dublin - and Angela for making the reservation at the Market Bar - I loved the venue! Also for Odette for taking most of the pictures!

And thanks to Liz' lovely Etsy lip balms she brought with her, my lips are now nice and kissable - now where is that frog...?

Crafty Getaway to Limerick City

A little while ago we suggested in this post an Etsy Ireland trip to Limerick. We thought we would get more takers for this offer if we finalised some arrangements. We are setting the date for the 17th of July. Just in case you didn't see the last post here is the general idea:

Rebecca from Lucky Rainbow Designs is a student village co-ordinator in the University of Limerick and she has very kindly offered free accommodation for the group to come and have a little getaway. The houses would sleep about 14 people, so we are limited in space so please leave a comment here if you are interested and I'll be in touch. Don't worry the houses have all been cleaned top to toe since the students left!!

The plan would be to meet in the early afternoon, or depending on travel times for people coming from further afar that's flexible for each person. Myself and Rebecca would show you the craft shops and local attractions. Including a couple of our favourite pubs later that evening. Then it's back to campus where you get to stay for free!! The next day if anyone wants to take a gander down town they can come have a look at the crafty market I sell at on Sunday. If you want to check out some more info about Limerick check out ILoveLimerick and The Limerick Co-Ordination website.

For bus times click here, or train times click here. Alternatively if there was someone else from the team driving maybe people could share lifts and petrol costs etc. So if anyone is thinking of driving can you mention it in your comment below and other team members in your area can get in touch.

This trip is open to Etsy Ireland members, or those thinking of joining the team, it's about like minded people coming together and having a bit of fun and getting to see a new city.

Image: Dave Hunt-Limerick City Skyline

Etsy Ireland Cork Meeting

On Saturday just gone a few of us based in Munster met up for the Cork Etsy Ireland meeting. We had a small but productive turnout, myself (Nice Day designs) and Rebecca (lucky Rainbow Designs) traveled down from Limerick, and met up with Beth (Magpie and Button) and Letizia (Ooakie). We also had a few new prospective members Lorna (Lola Dee) and please forgive me when for not knowing the names for the lovely mother daughter team who joined us, it's awful I really should write peoples names down!!

We talked about the changes that will be happening with the team at the end of the month and Letizia and Beth were fantastic in volunteering to take on the roles of admin and fab 5 respectively, and I will be staying on in the capacity of a blog host(you all know I'm too addicted to give it up entirely!!). We also agreed on joining the regions of Cork and Limerick together and to alternate the meetings between both cities. It makes sense to share out the travel expenses and it's also good to go crafty shopping in a new city (as myself and Rebecca discovered).

One exciting side of this is that we have decided to have an Etsy getaway weekend!! It's open to all members but be warned its on a first come first served basis with limited spaces so get in there quick. Rebecca is lucky enough to work as a student village manager in UL and there is vacant spaces there for the month of July. So we came up with the idea of members taking a crafty overnight trip to Limerick, how exciting does that sound?? We were thinking a Saturday would be best, we could start with a meet up in town, followed by a tour of all our crafty shops and arty attractions. Then later to the pub to show you the best spots in town (my vote is for Tom Collins). After that it's back to the student village for your free accommodation (don't worry it's been cleaned since the students left!!). On Sunday afternoon you can all then come into town to go to our beautiful gourmet food and craft market, where yours truly will be selling lovely things. All we need to do is confirm a date, but a head count of who is interested with a date preference would be handy, just leave them in the comments below please.

Because we had a few prospective members attending we were going through a lot of the ins and outs of Etsy. It was even good for the more established members too as I think we all picked up tips we hadn't heard of before. As we all know there is endless stuff to be learned about selling on Etsy. It was these new members that opened us to the idea of holding some open meetings to encourage crafty people to come along and find out about the website and our team. Maybe not for all of them but certainly it's a good way of raising awareness. Possibly it's something all the regional meetings could look into in the future.

We also had a lovely show and tell and a swap shop of spare supplies, I got some great beads and glue out of it which I'm delighted with!

Chit chat catch up - Dublin meeting round up

It was great to see a swag of people at the Dublin meet-up last Saturday, 22 May at the Snail Bar. We had some of the usual suspects show their support and some newer faces too which is always so lovely to see (thanks TanyaMac, Judith from Aboxformytreasure, Anne-Marie from byAMOR, Angela from ArtySmarty, Natalie from theBlueSylph, Aine from MissAine, HazelDonnelly, Mo from Huggleknits, Margo from Lilabelledesign). And because my brain is mush I hereby apologise because I know I've missed someone's name! Sorry sorry sorry!



After sampling the excellent made-from-scratch-fresh-lemonade which looked quite like this pic (yum) the things we discussed were:

1 - Nominations are now open for the 2 roles of team admin as it is time for Ruth and myself to hang up our hats and fix the hat-hair and move along. As with previous caretakers (thanks Tanya and Sarah!) the role is for a 6 month period and involves managing the blog (ie setting up the schedule for posts, organising people to contribute, keeping it ticking over with Fresh Picks, maintaining the list of members, dealing with Etsy regarding the team admin, pitching ideas to press & journos etc for publicity) and just being a general all round legend of an organiser. Sounds easy peasy huh?!? That list of things gets divvied up between the 2 people so it's not all down to one soul to manage. We're kind like that.

So if you'd like to put up your hand and ask not what your Etsy team can do for you but what you can do for your Etsy team, get in touch with either Alex (me!) or Ruth at Nicedaysupplies and make us proud. There will be a gentle hand over period of a month or so to ease you in and show you the ropes.

And it may be a good idea for the 2 people to come from different areas across this fine land, as that helps prompt more local meet ups etc. But we'll take all applications! Go on, pitch in and help us out.

2 - The Bernard Shaw car boot sale is on June 5th and is a reasonably priced opportunity to display your fine wares at a Dublin market. Have a look-see here for the info and get in touch if you'd like to grab a stall (or a car-boot). Stalls are EUR20. There is also an opportunity for a reduced price (or maybe free) stall space if anyone was willing to do a demonstration or how-to stall. This would be a great opportunity to wave the Crafty Ireland banner as a team event, so if anyone (a few of you joining together to work as representatives of the Crafty Ireland team?) would be up for that, leave a comment, but it will have to be quick as it's obviously not too far away.

3 - The Phisbsboro Phizzfest is in its planning stages for September. Natalie from theBlueSylph has been in touch with them regarding the plans and has feelers out for something we could do together as a team ... the ideas of a pop-up shop, stalls, demonstrations were all discussed. So keep it in mind for September and any more info we get about it will be posted here.

4 - We had an impromptu swap shop at the end of all the chit chat. This was suggested by Natalie from TheBlueSylph and was a great idea. If we do this again at the next meeting, Mo from Huggleknits suggested that we agree beforehand for people to bag up a little package of things to an agreed value (€2 or €5 perhaps) so it evens out the process. Great idea I think.

And of course lots of general chit chat went on and there were some excellent pancakes and coffee ingested amongst other things. It has to be done.

And did I mention we need 2 hardy souls to take the reins of this crazy Crafty train and guide us into the next 6 months? I did? :o)

Thanks to everyone who took the time out of their valuable weekend to come along, your support is greatly appreciated!

A Cork meeting is pencilled in for June 19th, so leave a comment if you're up for that and Ruth will coordinate the finer details. Cheers!

Team Meeting Update

It looks like there is enough interest to warrent two meetings for the team. It's been confirmed that there will be a meeting this Saturday 22nd in Dublin. It's the usual venue of the Snail Bar on Fade Street in Dublin at 2pm. It's just across from the Market Bar off Georges Street, and there's lovely coffee and cake. If you have any queries just contact Alex as she will be heading the meeting. Click here for a google map, the venue is listed here as the No Name Bar, you'll see it if you zoom in.

In the choice between Cork or Limerick, the greatest response was for Cork. I was trying to look at the dates when people are free, and I was wondering could people make it for this Saturday? I know it's short notice, but otherwise it will be June before we can have the next one. Obviously people only need to attend one meeting, unless they've perfected cloning :) Any suggestions on where is a good place for a large group to meet that isn't too noisey?? Good coffee and cake are an essential too..... or good pints!!

Wanna Meet?

It's been a while since our last team meeting and we talked last time about holding the next one outside of Dublin. At present we are deciding between Cork and Limerick as a venue, so if you can make it to either city leave a comment to vote for your preference. As usual the meeting will be held on a Saturday, early in the afternoon. I'm thinking that the end of May should be lots of time for people to organise things. So who's up for it??

Etsy Ireland Team Meeting

Yesterday the team all met up in Dublin in the fab venue the 'The No Name Bar' on Fade St. There was an excellent turnout, with 13 team members turning up. After ordering some truly scrummy cake we got down to business. First on the list was an over-view of what been going on since the new year.

Alex informed us that we are up to 140 team members, which is a very exciting jump as I think our last count put us at around 100. I think the word is spreading at last and lots of crafters around the country are starting up new shops. So welcome newbies, don't forget to spread the word!

We also talked of the success of the treasure hunt. Members noted lots of extra views and hearts in their shops, and we are definitely getting more daily readers here on the blog, with lots of new followers. It hasn't immediately led to a flood of sales, but it has really brought forward awareness about the team. I know in all then entries that I've been receiving people talked about all the new beautiful shops that they've found. So thanks everyone for all their hard work!

The idea of getting an Etsy Ireland business card was talked about. Tanya suggested putting up a design on flickr that people could download and print themselves. I'll work on that design this week, leaving a space to add your own shop address. This idea means that we don't have to start messing around with paying for these as a group, and it's up to the individual team member if they want to print out the cards.

We talked again about doing a group project, where there is a set theme, and people make items around the idea of this theme. As we mentioned before, there will be no pressure to take part, but it's just a fun project to get the creative juices flowing. I want to get our first one started this week so if there are any suggestions for a theme leave them here in the comments. We came up with the title 'Creatively Challenged' for this on going project.

Lots of people were asking about our Fab 5 section and about treasuries on Etsy so I said I would do some how to's about them over the next week or so. So watch this space if you feel a little in the dark about them.

We also had a great 'show and tell', where people showed there items they had made. Typically I forgot to bring anything with me, but at least I remembered my business cards this time.

The blog was also discussed, I'm looking for lots of contributions at the moment. Whether you want to do an on going article, or a pick one of our set themes. I'd love to hear from you, just convo me at my shop for more info.

Twitter was also mentioned. We feel it would be of great benefit to the team to have an account, but myself and Alex are already really swamped with team duties, so if anyone else wanted to take on the responsibility we would be delighted to hear from you. The same folds true for a Facebook fan page...Any volunteers??

We talked about Etsy team grants but there will be a specific blog post about this during the week.

Bridget Farmer mentioned that she is looking for more contributions for the Eyes Open Ireland series that she is doing. I think this is a great look into our country and it would be fantastic if it continued, so if you are interested in contributing photos just send her a message. You don't have to have an Etsy shop to enter, one of our lovely readers showed their photos this month too.
Hopefully there will be photos posted soon of our merry lunch, I seem to remember a camera being whipped out at some point. Until then here is a list of links of everyone who attended (sorry if I missed anyone I'm working from memory) also the above is a screen grab of the attendees shop items.
Propeller
2boos
HeliDesigns
TanyaMac
ByAmor
BridgetFarmer
DBJewelleryDesigns
LauraCassidyDesigns
ArtySmarty
NiceDaySupplies
PatchworkDelights
PurlsofColour
LillabelleDesigns