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!

Luckily I have LYS's in my area but some people don't. They have no choice but to learn about notable yarns, stitches, patterns etc. from others on the internet. But I go to my LYS *more often* because the internet constantly puts all things fiber in my face, and I want it that way.

I'm thinking that my deep conviction about social media comes from a crochet and CGOA point of view for 2 basic reasons: 1) Knitters are more social locally than crocheters. For many crocheters, finding other crocheters online is a revelation, like stumbling upon a wonderland. Since crocheters are such big yarn consumers (I don't have to go into the hard figures here, right?), everyone in the industry should want them linking up, coming out of the woodwork, cross-fertilizing, and yeah, squeeing. If someone wants to jump in to say, “yeah but crocheters don't buy the good stuff”, please think this through in light of social media….

2) Crochet is only alive as long as people's hands keep doing it, because there are no machines to generate new crochet looks and to keep them before the public eye decade after decade. (Imagine if there were no knitting machines! Far fewer knitted looks in the mass market year after year. No t-shirts, no sweatsuits, body shaping garments, etc.) What makes more people crochet is a constant stream of fresh info and inspiration flowing to crochet communities. I can't think of a better medium for this than social media.

OK I'm done. I've gone on too long as it is. I'm very passionate about this :-D

Seeing that TNNA is a volunteer group made up of diverse folks located all over the place, I see endless possibilities for improved planning, communication, events, promotions, etc, using the new tools these sites and devices give us all IF they are adopted in a meaningful way by the organization. It is the next logical step.

In the three years I've been a member/exhibitor, I've seen very sloow acceptance of web-based anything, which is where I sprout from, even being soundly lectured by some old-school brick & mortar retailers every time I show because I “dare”. Their word.

But I believe that the people who get it really get it and they are at the shows, they are participating and they're rubbing off on everybody else. I'll be back for more — and I will have integrated more new & fun moves into my little piece of the landscape. That's the change from within lots of us are doing: slow, measured, consistent.

But how fab would it be to be fired up by a modern tech-oriented Keynote Address, to see the Whole group embrace the Opportunites that are looming right within reach…

Grand visions, good visions, Kim! I can't wait :)