I knew when I wrote my post that finances would never support the dream I
outlined, but it can't hurt to dream, right?

In the end, I think your idea is a stronger one — to spread things out over
shows, with a theme to connect them, will actually allow people time to
digest things. Time to think, question, experiment, and come back to talk
about it and learn more. One whiz-bang weekend will keep people fired up for
about a week, and then it will fizzle. Keeping the conversation going, and
the learning along with it, is the way to go.

Of course I also agree with you about the incredible value of getting
together in person. I've told every single new designer who's asked me for
advice that the first thing they should do is scrape together the cash to
attend a show. That's where the business gets done. (And the fun. Don't
forget the fun. We work in an industry filled with creative people who are
passionate about the same things we're passionate about. Not every industry
is like that. We're lucky, and we should live it up.)

A lot of very smart things have been suggested in this thread. I'm sure most
of us participating in it would love nothing more than to talk more with
folks at TNNA about these topics.

You know, just sayin'. :)

I've found myself saying a lot, over the last few weeks, that using social
media doesn't require any skills (besides typing) that businesspeople don't
already use in their brick and mortar stores. Friendliness, sharing of
knowledge, expertise, humility, good aesthetic sense, good humour. The rest
is just learning where to click to get that stuff across (by which I don't
intend to dismiss people's very real concerns about learning this stuff).

I know some folks at TNNA are following this discussion, and I'm very glad
to hear it.

There are many people who work in the industry and who are active TNNA
members who have a stunning breadth of experience and knowledge in this
area. And quite a lot of us can teach and speak and write.

I'm hopeful.

Your second point nearly gave me a headache with all the nodding I was doing
as I read it. A constant stream of inspiration! That's what we have here
online.

Now, constancy of inspiration can be a very intimidating thing to present to
someone. That's a lot of inspiration. It's a lot of information to sift
through, absorb, consume. So perhaps an approach to this would be to talk
about filtering and finding the most meaningful information. Certainly I
don't find crappy photographs, bad writing and same-old-same-old crafts
inspiring, and I'm sure most people are with me on that. There's a lot of
those things to sift through. We old-hat surfers aren't even aware anymore
of the ways we filter information online. I'm going to give this more
thought.

Having had a blog since 2002, I've sen this whole social media thing fly and grow, and I'm with Vashti. The yarn shops I see growing and blooming are ones that use EVERY tool in the arsenal, and few tools are as convenient for consumers to access than a blog post or a tweet from a favorite yarn shop.

Sometimes I get confused by shorthand abbreviations (btw, Mercedes, what's “noob-friendly”) and at those moments the non-internet savvy shop owner inhabits my brain. I can see, briefly, how frightening it would be to have a whole alternate universe happening right under my nose, and not knowing how to dive in. It would be easier, at those moments, to find reasons to dismiss the whole thing and stay in a comfort zone.

I love your idea, Kim, and I think the focus should be – initially – HOW can the average PC-based non-computer-savvy shop owner comprehend the breadth and depth of social media, in a non-threatening way.

And, further, how can that same shop owner use the looking-glass of their computer screen to walk into this world, and network with designers, teachers, other shop owners and – most important – paying customers.

I'm in. I want to speak, too!

I knew when I wrote my post that finances would never support the dream I
outlined, but it can't hurt to dream, right?

In the end, I think your idea is a stronger one — to spread things out over
shows, with a theme to connect them, will actually allow people time to
digest things. Time to think, question, experiment, and come back to talk
about it and learn more. One whiz-bang weekend will keep people fired up for
about a week, and then it will fizzle. Keeping the conversation going, and
the learning along with it, is the way to go.

Of course I also agree with you about the incredible value of getting
together in person. I've told every single new designer who's asked me for
advice that the first thing they should do is scrape together the cash to
attend a show. That's where the business gets done. (And the fun. Don't
forget the fun. We work in an industry filled with creative people who are
passionate about the same things we're passionate about. Not every industry
is like that. We're lucky, and we should live it up.)

A lot of very smart things have been suggested in this thread. I'm sure most
of us participating in it would love nothing more than to talk more with
folks at TNNA about these topics.

You know, just sayin'. :)

I've found myself saying a lot, over the last few weeks, that using social
media doesn't require any skills (besides typing) that businesspeople don't
already use in their brick and mortar stores. Friendliness, sharing of
knowledge, expertise, humility, good aesthetic sense, good humour. The rest
is just learning where to click to get that stuff across (by which I don't
intend to dismiss people's very real concerns about learning this stuff).

I know some folks at TNNA are following this discussion, and I'm very glad
to hear it.

There are many people who work in the industry and who are active TNNA
members who have a stunning breadth of experience and knowledge in this
area. And quite a lot of us can teach and speak and write.

I'm hopeful.

Your second point nearly gave me a headache with all the nodding I was doing
as I read it. A constant stream of inspiration! That's what we have here
online.

Now, constancy of inspiration can be a very intimidating thing to present to
someone. That's a lot of inspiration. It's a lot of information to sift
through, absorb, consume. So perhaps an approach to this would be to talk
about filtering and finding the most meaningful information. Certainly I
don't find crappy photographs, bad writing and same-old-same-old crafts
inspiring, and I'm sure most people are with me on that. There's a lot of
those things to sift through. We old-hat surfers aren't even aware anymore
of the ways we filter information online. I'm going to give this more
thought.

Having had a blog since 2002, I've sen this whole social media thing fly and grow, and I'm with Vashti. The yarn shops I see growing and blooming are ones that use EVERY tool in the arsenal, and few tools are as convenient for consumers to access than a blog post or a tweet from a favorite yarn shop.

Sometimes I get confused by shorthand abbreviations (btw, Mercedes, what's “noob-friendly”) and at those moments the non-internet savvy shop owner inhabits my brain. I can see, briefly, how frightening it would be to have a whole alternate universe happening right under my nose, and not knowing how to dive in. It would be easier, at those moments, to find reasons to dismiss the whole thing and stay in a comfort zone.

I love your idea, Kim, and I think the focus should be – initially – HOW can the average PC-based non-computer-savvy shop owner comprehend the breadth and depth of social media, in a non-threatening way.

And, further, how can that same shop owner use the looking-glass of their computer screen to walk into this world, and network with designers, teachers, other shop owners and – most important – paying customers.

I'm in. I want to speak, too!