What I hadn't thought about

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to my email list you've probably heard me mentioning this thing called the Online Needlework Show. You've made some assumptions and I've made some assumptions. It's become clear this week that we've all got a different take on this show. I'd like to share how I view the show, and analyze a little what is/isn't working.

This post is long. I apologize, but say that if you do read it you will understand me better.

TL;DR = Too long; didn't read.  But please do.

I started participating in the Online Show several years ago, back before I could even imagine the logistics and financing of going to a "real" trade show, before I was distributed by Hoffman and Norden and such.  The only way people could buy my charts was to stumble across my website.  Maybe somebody mentioned me in a Yahoo group or showed a picture in a blog and you took the time to Google me. The Online Show was a framework that let shops know I existed. I did really well in those early shows. Really well.  It played a key role in getting to where I am today.

True, only registered shops can order directly through the show, but the public has always been invited to peruse the booths, with the thought that stitchers would see all of the new things and pester their shops to  buy what they liked.  The Online Show seems to always represent a large number of foreign designers and "little fish" that stitchers might not otherwise see. If shops got enough interest from their customers during the sale week, they could afford to order from companies that they couldn't during the rest of the year.  It meant that stitchers had access to things they couldn't normally get. At least it was supposed to mean that.  It was also enough of an event, many designers planned their calendars to time new releases for the show.

So, how to get stitchers to look at the Show?  The door prize gimmick was a built in show option, with the thought that more stitchers would visit to see if they might win something.  Seriously, you could win anything from a chart to a FULL SET of silk floss.  I've given away dozens of charts in these games, thinking that this would be a good way to get noticed, get talked about, build a fan-base one happy winner at a time. This go around, I tried a different approach where you could win for a friend. Maybe introduce someone to Ink Circles, or say thank you to someone you love, or cheer up someone who's had a bad run lately.  (I've had some great nomination emails that make me wish I could send charts to everyone!) It never even dawned on me that folks might interpret this as "selling their friends info" to my evil giant marketing scheme. I'm glad a few of you mentioned it, or I'd still be in the dark.

I do have a mailing list. If you are on it, it is because you signed up for it directly, my friend. I have never added a single person. If you enter my drawing, or email me with a question, or send me your friend's name, or even place an order with me, I DO NOT ASSUME anything about you wanting further contact from me. I consider this just basic respect.  It was an oversight not to explicitly state that with the entry rules, but some of you wouldn't believe it anyway.  In retrospect, I recognize not all people would respect your privacy.

At the point of writing this (five days into the show,) I have had 218 people enter the door prize drawing. I didn't do a door prize last year, because of some other stuff going on, but the previous year I had over 200 entries ON EACH DAY. It begs the question, what has changed and what needs to change. I really do appreciate the entries, and if nothing more it means that those of you who entered stand a rocking chance to get a free chart for you and a bud. I truly appreciate those of you that chimed in with some feedback when I asked on Facebook why things were quiet.

As for new stuff at the show, we are given 30 product slots twice a year.  With that math, yes - most of the stuff in any designer's booth is not brand new.  I do have a few companies that order only once a year via this show and get all the "newish" stuff.  A show debut still means brand new, but for each shop and each stitcher, new is relative. You show up at a physical trade show with more in tow than the few new releases. Why the show has a "new releases" page baffles me, too. It doesn't reflect the new releases at the show. I think you had to pay extra to be featured here. The page does look sloppy and out of date, too, when they talk about "when the April show opens." Duh. It is open.

I paid $425 to participate. The booth price has risen over the years, presumably to improve the show infrastructures and drive out the non-serious designers. In the past there were a lot more people who got a copy of charting software and were suddenly "designers."  There have been some improvements on the show website each incarnation, but there are still a lot of basic obvious flaws.  Go to the main page and try to figure out when the show ends, for instance. Or use the search feature - new, but declared as "buggy" on the show's own homepage. How about the advertising that they are doing for us?  What once was a two-page spread with participating companies' logos in the Needlework Retailer had been shrunk to a half page with a blur of a list of websites.  Other advertising? Well, as a stitcher in the online community - what did you see? How did you hear about it? The number of companies participating has been dropping steadily these past years, which sounds like a downwardly spiraling aspect. Am I getting my money's worth? Unless something miraculous happens orderwise in the next day, I won't even be making cost. I'll be in the October show - it's already a sunk cost. Do I care that this show isn't the same exposure and sales for me as it was five years ago? Sure, but I'm not going to become distraught. It's like the party that you realize you should have left from a few hours earlier, the book you bought but know you just aren't going to finish. But I know a little better who I am, and where you all are.

I read a comment from Sue Hillis on a board explaining why she wasn't in the show. It wasn't where her customers were finding her.  I think I'm in that same realm.  Now I do have distributors, do attend physical trade shows, and do have an active social media presence (as active as I can manage :-).  If you're looking for Ink Circles, you know where to find me.

My best,
Tracy

PS. Did you like the Teal Dear that I designed for my friend Wren?  Rather fitting for this post; I expect most of you will skim through. It was just some stuff I needed to get out of my brain so I can move on to other things.

PPS. The number of door prize entrants is likely higher now, as I hadn't counted any that came in during the three hours I've been gnashing at this post.

Melanoma

Deb's friend Melissa was diagnosed with melanoma a short time ago.  We are happy to report that Melissa has just returned back to work after weeks of surgery and treatments. Deb made her this beautiful pillow to celebrate her cancer survival and their friendship.  The awareness ribbon color for Melanoma Cancer is black, so Deb had substituted in some beautiful shades for the pink ribbons in my Breast Cancer Awareness Mandala.

Melissa's pillow - front

The back

It says Friend, Mother, Survivor, 2013

What an honor to be part of this beautiful tribute and to be able to share it with you. Congratulations to Melissa and well wishes for a continued cancer-free life. And thanks to Deb for sharing the story; well done.

If you are interested in making your own tribute for a friend or loved one, the chart is here and a table of the appropriate ribbon colors is on Wikipedia.

Peregrination

I'm happy to be back home after a couple of weeks of peregrinating. That means wandering about. I had a great time at the Nashville show, getting to see all of my favorite peeps in the industry (at least those that could make the show) and disbursing the latest batch of new releases. Then, under the guise of delivering a trunk show to Acorns and Threads, a fabulous stitching shop in Portland, I made a trip over to the Portland area. Then because I was so close already, I headed down the coast to meet up with my Mum and a dear family friend, Kim, who was visiting. Much walking on the beach and wandering around the forest trails, then back home to Washington. I'm all wandered out.

Peregrination stitched by Rhonda B. 

Above is a special version of my Celtic cross stitch design named Peregrination made by Rhonda B using her own palette of DMC variations threads. If you trace around the path you can see why I named it such, and like my own travels, each path leads back to the point where you started. Rhonda was also working on Rosetta, but is stuck waiting for additional thread.  I'm hoping she'll send a picture of that piece when she gets it completed too.

I love her bright cheery color choices and applaud her having some fun with it.  Looks great; I'm so happy she shared!

Nashville Prep

A visitor to my home can always tell when a trade show is about to happen (in this case, Nashville in 8 days) by the chaos in my dining room office area. There are piles of charts in all states of production. Boxes of covers from the print shop, stacks of printed charts and keys from the printer, reams of paper, and spent toner cartridges. Boxes of charts that will be shipped to the show await those final collated bagged charts and shipping labels.

I've reordered clear bags, flat mailers, post office boxes, and toner cartridges - and those boxes are sitting in arms reach, being used but waiting to put away properly too. Even my stapler ran out of staples. Everything needs replenishing in preparation for (hopefully) a big event.

You can see pictures of some of the other new models on my website. There will be six new releases in total. I've got a few that I'm keeping under wraps until the big show, sort of a fun surprise for the shops that get to attend.

It was not how I planned to return from the utter chaos, but you can see here that the table is somewhat cleared off. I had worked myself down to about one square foot on the corner of usable surface area, then BLAMMO! I accidentally launched the last inch of beer in my glass into the piles of stuff on the table. Argggghhhhh! It is amazing how just an ounce or two of liquid can touch so many things.

There is some minor damage, but I'm still reeling from how lucky I am that it didn't spill onto models or into a box of printed covers. Or my shoebox of Gentle Arts or Gloriana Threads. Or the stack of linen that was inches away. You get the drift.

Time to step back, put some things away, let the antique table dry fully, and eventually get a fresh beer.

End of the World - Remix

An online friend sent me this wonderfully clever graphic that she helped create that depicts some of the various apocalyptic predictions that have failed to pass.  Unless of course, you believe that one of them came TRUE and we are all just saved data in "The Library" waiting to be restored or that we are participants in an old heads-in-jars matrixesque vision.

Do note that Sir Isaac Newton's claim remains in a pending status. Although I have the utmost respect for him, I do hope that he's incorrect. Albeit our present day meteorologists are not even worthy to warm a bleacher in Newton's ball park, their thirty-day accu-weather forecasts establish the example of our (in)ability to predict much.  The Amazing Carnac says we'll have cold, wintery weather here in eastern WA on Feb 8th. Duh. I DO have a solid faith in the comet's return and the calendars rolling over, but my mental logic circuits don't associate any inherent danger with such things. Rambling. Sorry.

I really enjoy the simple graphic style and limited palette. I'm not sure if it was screened printed or just meant to look like it. I also cheer the subtle word play slipped in. Well done!

Thank you Allison for sharing the fun.


Please Include Attribution to OnlinePsychologyDegree.net With This Graphic

BTW related, Current audio book I'm listening to while I'm stitching those models or submitting to minimal required amounts of housecleaning, for those that enjoy such things as I do: Raymond Khoury's The Sign. It's a spy thriller full of apocalyptic second-coming hoaxed-up entertaining nonsense. Click the pic if you want to read the synopsis and very mixed reviews on Amazon. I got mine from the library (small "l" not THE Library) as a Playaway.

Cracked!

You guys are really smart, but you knew that already.  I've had several fans diligently assisting me in deciphering that Little Alien Schoolgirl sampler unearthed earlier this year. I'm happy to say that with their help, a new section has shed the veil of mystery.

Alert stitchers realized this snippet of text was featured in a multi-part documentary called Futurama about a 30th century civilization. The future glimpse of society in New New York at the turn of the next millennium offered many previews of technology and culture. For those who question the veracity of this source, I offer that this acclaimed documentary has received seven Annies and five Emmy Awards and an Environmental Media Award!

Only after watching hours of recorded installments, pausing at each scene that included this mysterious script, were we able to provide enough text samples to input into the same computer system that linguists used to crack a 250-year old code by the Oculists.  (You MUST learn more about that, as it is the best win for the codebreakers in the last century - there is a great article in the current Wired Magazine, or you can see some stuff here. For real.)

With this key in hand and using the letters that Ms. Dala started with, I was able to piece together the missing symbols.  So, the good news for stitchers making reproductions of this sampler is that you now have an option to encrypt your very own message in this spot. It would be a great place for your name and date, or perhaps to say that YOU rock.  Of course, reproduction purists will want to stitch the sampler exactly as it will be made in the original.  Here is a pdf to the charted alphabet.

Watching this documentary, the viewer is also introduced to indefinite life extension technology wherein the head is maintained in a jar. Upon closer examination of the jarred heads in this sampler, I've concluded that these are more likely to be preserved specimen heads, rather than living heads of the sort seen in Futurama.

On signing off, I leave you with a link to the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Oliver Messiaen. If you don't know the connection, you need to watch more documentaries.

Fountain Pen Day

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2674/8054/files/Ink_Spot_17.pdf

Click to get the pdf of this.