If I ever doubted the power of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for bringing people together, CHA has made me a believer. The number of people walking and tweeting concurrently at this show is astounding! If you go on Twitter and type #chasummer into the search box, you can practically attend both the trade show and the consumer show from your own living room.
Even though attendance seemed considerably lower this year, I think online word-of-mouth (or word of keypad, as the case may be) will make up for it. I have to say I am doing my share too…each night I have posted pictures of lots of new scrapbooking and papercrafting products for my many crafty Facebook friends, and they are all anxious to go out and find these supplies in their local stores.
I’m very excited about the new relationships I’ve made here with other manufacturers. Our Ready-to-Go!® line of blank surfaces is the perfect foundation for so many of their products—from paper and glue to flowers, glitter, stamps and ribbon. I’ve also had the honor of meeting so many talented artists, crafters, and educators “for real” from all over the country (we were already Facebook friends) and was pleased to here how much they all love our products. Having a connection through Facebook made it seem like a reunion rather than an introduction.
Mixed media artist Traci Bautista shows everyone how fun it is to paint on fabric
The crafting community is using social media to connect with others who love to create, to be part of a larger community, to get validation for our work, to learn about new products and techniques, and to find inspiration. Social media will never replace the wonderful intimacy of our communities in our local craft stores and groups, but it does allow us to expand our creative horizons even further to reach more people, which helps to ensure the art of crafting will be enjoyed by many generations to come.
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