Kicking the Collective Ass of an Industry
In the couple of weeks since the Twitter fail I wrote about, I’ve had some very interesting conversations with people in the yarn industry about business use of social media, and specifically about the role TNNA could and/or should play in educating yarn-related businesses about it. Yesterday I tweeted this: And then I figured I should just blog what I’d already dumped into an email exchange with a colleague. I’ve edited it a little. Anyway, a few people replied to my tweet (I’m looking at you, Clara, and at you, Beth), and I hope they’ll comment or blog about...
Read MoreTwitter Fail (or How NOT to Lead an Industry Online)
Today I had a most baffling exchange on Twitter. It was actually the most baffling exchange I’ve ever had on Twitter, and that’s saying something. I spend a lot of time on Twitter. I’ve made friends through it, I stay in touch with friends on it, I get work through it, I interact on it with companies whose services I use, I use it to stay on top of ridiculous pop culture fads and unraveling events of great social import, too. But this really isn’t about me. This is about an industry leader having a severely fouled-up understanding of what Twitter is and how it works...
Read MoreThursday Stories: A Fairytale of Sorts
Once upon a time there was a woman who started a website in her basement. It wasn’t a dank, dusty, musty basement like you might imagine. Her room in the basement was painted green. It had windows that let in some light but not too much light and the ceiling was very low and it’s dramatic to have started such a project in a basement. She started her website and people liked it and one day just over a year later she went to Ohio for a trade show to see if maybe she could make that website into a business. She flew on points and stayed at her friend’s house and felt lucky to...
Read MoreTNNA: A Recap of the Self-Reflection Sort
I was away for five days for the TNNA trade show, and spent the first two traveling to San Diego on the train with my friend Angela. This train ride was a long time coming. One reason I ended up worn out from so much work travel is that flying produces about as awful an amount of carbon emissions as anyone who lives in a household with only one car that barely gets driven can produce in a short time. There’s no denying that we collectively need to fly less (and yes, that we’ll have to deal with the consequence of the airline industry hurting because of it). I’m not content...
Read MoreThis Time the Yarn was Overshadowed by the People
I am in a haze of exhaustion as I slowly process this past weekend at TNNA. This one was different from the others, mostly because the impressions that are sticking with me aren’t so much of yarn and crochet (not because the yarn wasn’t outstanding, mind you; it was. And crochet was more visible than ever, which was very exciting), but of people. Maybe it was the brutal, humid heat, or maybe it was just some mysterious vibe, but this weekend involved some of the most meaningful and moving interactions I’ve had in a very long time. It was a weekend spent learning about and...
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