Sunday, April 19, 2009

DSG North Texas


On Saturday, April 18, 2009, three of the charter members of the DSG North Texas group met for the first time at La Madeleine on South Cooper in Arlington, Texas. And there was much rejoicing.

Present at this meeting were Ellen Kreager of Thunder Moon Designs, Liz Ballard of Lizardo Art, me, Liz's boyfriend, Ben, and my wife, Debra. Soup and sandwiches were eaten, tea consumed, and we talked for 90 minutes or so about DSG, Texas, our North Texas group, how to go about promoting each other's work, craft shows, interior designers, etc.

La Madeleine was a surprisingly good place to meet, even if they didn't have a private room. When I was still a member of Etsy Texas Crafters we met at a different La Madeleine, in Fort Worth, and we had a room to ourselves. That works better, but this was fine. On a Saturday afternoon there are lots of people stopping in from the Parks Mall, but they don't stay very long, and nobody bothered us while we were talking.

What will come out of this meeting and a couple of discussions in our online networking group is a plan of attack, a flexible idea of how to sell our own work while promoting the work of the other members of DSG North Texas. And one of the most likely ideas to come out of this will be attending en masses the various craft shows in the area. This will require reserving booth space next to -- or at least near -- each other, talking to customers about how something from another member shop will go well with whatever they are looking at in our own shops, and having fun with the customers while taking the whole concept seriously. I know this works because I've seen it very successfully demonstrated at comic book conventions and science fiction conventions.

I have really good feelings about this group. A few more members will help us spread the marketing message out to enough customers for the idea to take hold, and I have some candidates in mind, but this can work even with the three members who attended this meeting. We're all intelligent, we all want to increase our sales, we all produce high quality consumables, we all have hair on the tops of our heads...

Okay, not really sure where I was going with that, but I do know we can succeed, that this will work for us. I left this meeting with a big smile on my face. I can't wait to tell Kristina Law, our Design Style Guide Big Cheese in Charge, all about it!

4 comments:

Ellen said...

The meeting of the minds, you are too kind and so generous. Excited about the Funky Finds show and getting that ready but have some ideas for the next week. We need to do the show in Weatherford next time it's open. Thanks Jay and give Debra hugs.

Jay Neale III said...

I already have a booth in Weatherford. #K3. Rachel from TileSmile is right behind me in #K44. We want to get that whole pavilion filled with artists. If you're going, get a booth out there, the "K" section. I'd love it if you could get #K4.

I'll tell Debra. It was great meeting you!

Diana said...

Sounds like a great plan. Good luck to you all and keep us posted.

Jay Neale III said...

Now if we can just kick the swine flu out of the state so they don't cancel next month's show like they did this month...