Make-it Mondays: Reviewing R-Nest WinterFest

The R-Nest WinterFest Door Prize Winner!!!

Oh the Monday mopes, I am sick! Despite my Dayquil haze and failing vocal chords I, along several amazing ROC Etsy street team members, enjoyed our first (and not last!) successful public sale. The R-Nest WinterFest was our first large scale team effort. We gathered at our meetings to plan, sent tons of emails back and forth, bombed the town with signs that we staple-gunned in mall parking lots, and traversed murky insurance issues. All in all it went well, but now we must come together to see how to improve.

Some suggestions:

1. Start later in the day or on a Saturday.
2. Don't put up signs before snow storms. And advertise even more!
   
3. Check out wifi capability and fees of the venue (we were credit card ready, with our own shopping site until...da-da-da...the $150 dollar fee.)
4. Check ATM's. We had one, but it was busted. Lame.
5. A larger location, like a church or school to pull more people and vendors.
   

Leave me more suggestions and I will add them to this post.

Things that rocked were:

1. Our raffle table and humoungoid door prize. I saw a lot of action there.
2. Networking with other ROC Etsy vendors.
3. Inspiration from vendors displays, packaging and products.
4. Sweet trades and word of mouth sales, by modeling what other vendors were selling.
5. Super supportive, friends, neighbors, colleagues and family who love to buy our stuff.
6. WIDE variety of vendors within our group.

Leave me things you loved and I will also post them.



Now, one more thing. My photos of this event suck! Send your photos to buenahelena@hotmail.com and I will post them here as they come. Let's keep this post ever updating for the next couple weeks as a reflection and even greater direction for the future!

Make-it Mondays: And by "make" I mean SHOP!

From Buenahelena!

This Sunday marks a milestone for our street team. On December 13th we are holding our first organized, public sale event as a team, the R-NEST WinterFest, at the RIT Inn and Conference Center (5257 West Henrietta Rd. Henrietta, NY 14602). Join us from 9 am-4 pm to support fellow team members and shop, shop, shop for great, handmade holiday gifts. Every purchase of $10.00 at an individual seller's booth will buy you a raffle ticket towards free prizes from individual sellers and one grand prize basket of goodies from ALL of our vendors and other street team members.

Top 5 reasons to shop local this year:
1.) Your gifts will be unique! No embarrassing double gifting!
2.) You'll boost small entrepreneurs in Rochester in a tough economy and support its Arts community.
3.) You can rest assured that you are getting a quality item that was ethically produced. Not in a sweat shop. Not by small children working for a pennies a day...(cough, cough Walmart).
4.) You won't get that nagging mall headache. You know that brain overload of too many colors, lights and choices?
5.) You will avoid horrendous traffic and that angry, overtired shopper who will invariably yell at you for "pulling into their space" in crowded parking lots.


If you can't make it to the WinterFest, be sure to visit our team member's Etsy shops. This holiday season many of us are offering specials sales and deals from discounts on multiple purchases to free shipping. (Team members leave you deals in the comments section of this post!) Happy giving! Don't forget to give a little TLC to yourself as well...