Archive for Events
September 29, 2008 at 3:40 am · Filed under Events, Miscellaneous · By JB
On Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 2pm EDT, Etsy will have representatives from the United States Postal Service (USPS) join then in a seminar to answer questions about holiday shipping options.
Some of the areas they will cover:
Time saving techniques
Overnight and expedited shipping options
How to save on international shipping online
Where to order eco-friendly boxes
How to print postage online
Walk through the USPS shipping assistant product
The seminar will be conducted via an off-etsy web-based conferencing site, meetingplace.net. It won’t be in the virtual labs. The conference has a capacity of 100 people. If you want to participate, register at shippingrsvp@etsy.com. Etsy will then send a confirmation to the first 100 emails and send their regrets to the rest. If you aren’t included in the first session, don’t worry, USPS has offered to conduct an additional seminar (date TBD).
Please see this Storque article for more details.
August 28, 2008 at 6:01 pm · Filed under Contests, Events · By JB
Source:http://www.etsy.com/contest/kids2.php
Vote for your favorite items from the Handmade Kids Challenge and win one of fourteen $350 Etsy Shopping Sprees!
From August 25 through September 8, 2008, your vote is your chance to win! Check out the Challenge finalists and choose your top pick in each category.
There are two separate contests;
One is for the crafts themselves:
Rules for the craft entries
Only US residents were eligible to enter the craft contest
There are 7 categories.
Furniture
Toys
Home Decor
Eco-Friendly
Clothing
Accessories
Art
The Prizes are:
Seven Best in category winners (one in each category) will receive a $200.00 Etsy shopping spree- this is judged by The Expert Panel Judges
The other prizes are judged by user votes:
Seven first place winners (one in each category) will receive a $150.00 Etsy shopping spree
Seven second place winners (one in each category) will receive a $100.00 Etsy shopping spree
Seven third place winners (one in each category) will receive a $50.00 Etsy shopping spree
One artist may win more than one prize, if they have entered multiple categories.
_____________________________________________
The second contest is the sweepstakes.
The sweepstakes winners are chosen at random from the users who vote. There will be 14 winners of $350 shopping sprees.
The Etsy Handmade Kids Sweepstakes is open to US residents only.
Official rules here
Limit one entry per category per username. There are seven categories so each username has seven chances to win. Limit one Prize per person. (for the sweepstakes)
A list of the winners will be posted on or around September 25, 2008 on the Storque and the Handmade Kids Challenge page.
August 10, 2008 at 5:07 pm · Filed under Events, Street Teams · By GreenMamba
Hurray! for happy endings!* And many thanks to Heather, of palleikodesigns, for sharing this wonderful and inspiring success story with us!
(First published here: http://www.socalbenchproject.com )
The SoCal Bench Project Nails It!
The SoCal Bench Project Artisan Fair is met with outstanding support from it’s local community.
August 10, 2008
On Saturday, August 9th, 2008 the small grassroots organization The SoCal Bench Project held it’s first annual SoCal Bench Project Artisan Fair in Culver City, CA, west of Los Angeles. Over 25 artists from across California gathered together selling their artwork to help raise awareness and funds for New Directions Inc., a local non-profit organization that provides a variety of services for our homeless military veterans community.
Supporters from the Los Angeles community shopped for fine art, photography, lithographs, clothing, contemporary craft, jewelry and a variety of other gift items from candles and soap products, to stuffed animals with crazy personalities and beautiful art dolls.
Incredible items from local businesses and artists were raffled off to an excited crowd. ABC, Benefit Cosmetics, Kreation Cafe, The Factory and Color Me Mine were among local businesses that supported this years raffle held to benefit New Directions. Participating vendors as well as numerous members of the group California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE) also provided artwork as well as monetary donations.
Sandy Collins, Amanda Lockrow and Heather Palleiko, (founders of The SoCal Bench Project), met through the website Etsy.com in early 2008 where the three are members of CCCOE, the largest street team on the indie craft site Etsy.com with over two hundred - fifty members. What originally started as an idea to have a small home show quickly grew into an annual event of California artisans coming together to create positive change in our local community.
This year The SoCal Bench Project and it’s supporters raised close to $2,000 for New Directions Inc.
If you are interested in more information about The SoCal Bench Project and it’s founders or vendors please email info [!at] socalbenchproject.com. For information on New Directions Inc. and it’s programs please go to www.ndvets.org.
http://www.socalbenchproject.com
http://sandysimone.etsy.com
http://www.aklockrow.com
http://www.palleikodesigns.com
*See this related UEN thread: http://etsynews.com/724/etsy-withdraws-team-grant/
August 8, 2008 at 4:43 pm · Filed under Events, Street Teams · By JB
On July 18, 2008, Etsy announced the Etsy Team Grant winners for July in this Storque article.
The original article contained this paragraph:
The So-Cal Bench Project Team will receive a grant to organize their artisan fair to benefit New Direction, Inc, a local non-profit in the Southern California community. The event takes place on August 9, 2008, from 9:30am-3pm in Culver City, California. For more information, visit the SoCal Bench Project website.
The Socal Bench Project team leader was notified by Etsy they would not be receiving their promised grant on August 6, only three days before the event.
The article has now been edited and this is the current version:
UPDATE 8/8/08: Unfortunately, we are no longer able to offer a grant to the So-Cal Bench Project Team at this time. The reality is that there are protocols we must follow. In this case, deadlines for submitting required materials were not met by the applying party and we were not able to process the payment. We wish all involved the very best of luck with this event , and encourage any and all to reapply next month.
Please go support this worthy cause on August 9, 2008, from 9:30am-3pm in Culver City, California. For more information, visit the SoCal Bench Project website.
The Etsy Team Coordinator has also commented in the Storque article comments:
sarawearsskirts says:
We love the opportunity to support Etsy Teams through the Team Grants program. Since we award several Grants each month, it is very important that Teams submit all the necessary information by the deadlines given when receiving a grant.
Unfortunately, we did not receive the information we needed in time to fulfill this grant. This change has been reflected in the article above.
If you have questions about this process or a grant, please contact me at teams@etsy.com.
Etsy claims the team did not send in their documents by the due dates, and that is why the grant was withdrawn. The leader of the Socal Bench Project team says in her blog that they did meet every deadline, and the documents were sent on time.
We know for sure that we emailed a copy of the proofs to you by the due date of July 24th; and subsequently the receipts by July 31st (though that may have been received on Aug 1st by you as we are on the west coast and it was sent after your office hours.). In addition to that, we never received any further communication from Etsy after we sent our information to you. We also did not receive any email last week regarding the status of the grant. Perhaps there was a problem with email?
This appears to be an issue of time zones and of unclear due dates. Etsy only said the documents had to be sent “by July 24th”. The Socal Bench Project team interpreted that to mean by midnight (local time, which is Pacific time in this case), while Etsy now says the deadline is the end of the business day, in the Eastern U.S. time zone. Those specifics were apparently not stated to the Team until after the deadline was allegedly “missed”.
This communication problem has resulted in the team losing it’s grant which was going to benefit New Directions, a non-profit organization that provides services for homeless veterans.
The Socal Bench Project is also part of the biggest street team on Etsy (CCCOE), and has done much work to promote Etsy and the handmade pledge.
After some public outcry on the Etsy Storque article and the team leader’s blog, Etsy admin Matt has announced that Etsy will donate $250 directly to New Directions.
matt says:
In recognition of a worthy cause, Etsy today donated $250 directly to the New Directions charity
(http://www.ndvets.com/ ). The SoCal Bench Project Etsy Team is holding an event this weekend to
support veterans through this organization.
Etsy previously announced that the SoCal Bench Project Etsy team would receive a $200 grant to help offset the printing costs associated with this event. The Grant was not ultimately funded because deadlines were missed. We apologize for the poor timing of these announcements.
Etsy Grants is a new program designed to help Etsy Teams hold events and promote their shops
and Etsy. It’s important that Etsy diligently adhere to the rules and deadlines associated with the Grants Program so that we can be responsible stewards of our funds and so that we can offer monies in a timely way.
We understand that our communication around this specific Grant could have been better. And, while we remain committed to enforcing the rules and deadlines associated with the Grants Program, we don’t want the New Directions charity to miss out on this opportunity to positively interact with Etsy sellers and Etsy.
To avoid this type of confusion in the future, Team Grant winners will now be announced
after the Grant funds have been submitted to the Team.
Thank you.
August 6, 2008 at 6:03 pm · Filed under Events, Gift Guide, Marketing, Showcase · By JB
Back to School Fashion Showcase: On Sale Thursday, August 7, 2008
Etsy are looking to feature back to school fashion items in their newest showcase, such as dresses, shirts, skirts, pants — or that special first day of school outfit. Think clothing staples for all ages.
In order to keep the Showcase on point thematically, the tool will only pull in items placed in the Clothing Category (i.e. top-level tag being “clothing”).
* The Back to School Fashion Front Page Showcase goes on sale Thursday, August 7th at 3:00 pm EDT.
* Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
* Said showcase goes live on Tuesday, August 12 at 12 am (midnight) EDT and will run until 11:59 PM EDT on August 25.
* For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in the The Back to School Fashion Showcase, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy’s homepage.
* Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Shop. Read more about this process here.
source: this Storque article
Also, Etsy has unveiled their Back To School gift guide today, which features a wider variety of items including dorm room decor, books & paper goods, book bags and pencil cases, etc.
May 5, 2008 at 6:03 pm · Filed under Chat, Etsy Communications, Events, The Future · By JB
As reported in this Storque article, Etsy is holding a chat to gather community input on the issue of Etsy sellers having employees. This issue has come up a few times recently in the Etsy forums.
The meeting is Friday May 9
6 pm Central European time zone
5 pm UK time time zone
12 noon eastern USA time zone
11 am central USA time zone
10 am mountain USA time zone
9 am pacific USA time zone
Join us for a discussion and feedback session about employees and your Etsy shop. Rob, aka Rokali, co-founder and CEO of Etsy, will be leading the workshop.
When: Friday, May 9, 12 noon (Eastern US time) times on the Virtual Labs schedule are displayed in your local time
Where: Treehouse Room, Virtual Labs
…
Agenda:
For those selling handmade goods: Are employees necessary for a seller to “make a living making things”? Are the items still “handmade”?
What sort of hired help is needed for handmade sellers? Is *what* potential employees do for the shop relevant?
Does the number of employees that a business has impact whether the shop belongs on Etsy? If so, how many is too many?
Are different rules necessary for sellers of commercial supplies and vintage goods? Are employees acceptable for these types of shops?
What sort of information do you need (for example, links to information about employment law) to grow a business that includes employees?
Should sellers who are outsourcing, involved in collectives, and employing people be approved by Etsy? What sort of approval process would you be interested in?
UPDATE Monday May 12 by JB:
The minutes to the meeting are here
April 11, 2008 at 4:58 pm · Filed under Etsy Communications, Events, Features, Miscellaneous, The Future · By quirke
Today’s Town Hall meeting in the Treehouse of the Virtual Labs was attended by over 130 people. While a transcript will be available later in the Storque, here are a few notes in advance:
General notes:
-Etsy currently has 73,478 shops with at least one item
-There are currently 60 Etsy employees
-Engineering comprises ½ of the company
Rob said that they are developing 2 major changes for the near future and 6 other developments for further down the road.
The 6 future developments are:
-currency conversion
-shop stats for sellers
-dynamic Team sections
-“stuff with video”
-“real-time multi-user stuff” (like the virtual labs)
-an in-house payment system
The 2 upcoming changes are:
Changes to Listing Periods for Renewals – This change will mean that when you renew an item, instead of adding 4 months from the previous expiration date, the additional 4 months will start from the date of renewal.
Changes to Search/Categories – Top level categories will be clarified, and “filters” will be added, such as “who is it for?” and “what is it made of?”.
Other items of interest:
-revamping the forums is being looked at from a database perspective right now and remains under development
-the “first draft” of the separation of supplies/vintage from search is completed
-supplies/vintage will hopefully get their own place by the end of the year
-when shop stats are provided there will be different levels of stats available starting with free, and then more detailed stats costing “a few bucks”
A great many other smaller issues were discussed – we will link to the transcript once it appears in the Storque.
UPDATE April 15 by JB
The transcript of the town hall meeting is posted here
The Storque article summarizing the meeting is here
April 9, 2008 at 9:33 pm · Filed under Etsy Communications, Events, The Future · By JB
The Storque has announced the next Town Hall meeting with Etsy founder Rokali, at 4:00pm EST on Friday, April 11th in the Treehouse room of the Virtual Labs.
A couple caveats:
The room will fill up quickly. We’re working on a Balcony feature, which will increase the capacity greatly. Till then, it’s first come, first served.
Since there’s no single time that everyone in our global community can attend, so each meeting will be recorded and posted in the Storque for your re-viewing pleasure.
editorial- the article says EST (eastern standard time) but I am guessing they actually mean EDT, since New York does observe Daylight Savings time and it is in effect right now. This is important when figuring the time differential from GMT.
Time conversion:
4 PM, EDT Eastern USA
3 PM, CDT Central USA
2 PM, MDT Mountain USA
1 PM, PDT Pacific USA
8 PM GMT/UTC
9 PM United Kingdom (UK is now on Summer / Daylight Saving Time (NOT GMT))
10 PM Central Europe time zone, (+2 GMT), in countries which are currently observing Summer / Daylight Saving Time (which I think is most of them). This covers France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, etc.
October 6, 2007 at 1:35 pm · Filed under Contests, Events, Marketing, Seller Opportunities · By The Janitor
Submit your entries to Etsy’s Costume Contest. There will be six categories:
Pet
Kid & Baby
T-Shirt Costume
Sci-Fi
Green
General Awesomeness
Treehugger.com, Boingboing.net, Craftzine.com, Makezine.com, Babble.com, Threadless.com, and Tcritic.com will be donating some prizes and will join Etsy in the judging. First prize in each category includes a $150 Etsy shopping spree.
Click here for full rules, deadlines and other details.
August 10, 2007 at 10:53 am · Filed under Events, Treasury · By starrydesigns
Due to an overwhelming response of entries, Etsy admin has not been able to finish judging all entries yet.
Check the forums for an update.
Read Jared’s official response here.
Next entries »
