Here some pics and slides of me speaking at a workshop I gave for the Vermont Craft Council Fall Marketing Conference. My session had about 30 or so people in it. Because we had to dim the lights to be able to see anything onscreen, no pictures were taken while I was delivering my presentation. These were taken afterwards, where I’m mostly doing post-presentation Q & A.
It was a big hit and gave folks some food for thought about their existing websites. I said many of the same things I’ve said here about the benefits of blogging, only geared towards artists, craftspeople, or — dig this term: studio professionals. I like that word; there’s such a baggage problem with language in this field, as though being a artist means you don’t work or make money and being a craftsperson means you make money selling junk like paintings on saw blades.
Slides
The slides require a bit of explaining. First of all, the projector was dim so I was forced to go into ugly mode for the slides: plain white background. Second, something wasn’t correct about the way the image projected: it projected as a square instead of a 6:9 rectangle, chopping off the right end of all my slides. I had to quickly go into PowerPoint and move things around. Third, I used one-by-one animations to reveal points and I abhor bulleted lists in PowerPoint decks, so some of the slides just look like a jumble of random words. It was cool in the presentation, I swear. Fourth, the fonts aren’t what I used in the original. I have no idea what happened with that.
Pictures
Good Times
The event was great, the vibe was great — very positive on the benefits of blogs. This was one of the most exciting things I’ve done in a long time. I might as well let it out of the bag that one of my goals in life is to speak at a blogging conference. I can see it happening soon, if this keeps up.
Next April
I’ve been invited back for the spring marketing conference, so if you’re a studio professional/artist/craftsperson in the New England area, you really should go. The date of the spring conference is April 30th. More information will be available on the VTCC website as the time approaches.
That’s great Michael! But why is most of your audience females?
@Mohsin: just lucky, I guess!
Michael – what a great opportunity for you! I would love to just go to a blogging conference. We just don’t have much in the way of cutting edge technology in my area. -Ashley
Thanks, it was a great opportunity. I really enjoy speaking about blogging (just ask any of my friends or family!).
Thank you Michael for speaking at the VCC Marketing Conference (that’s me in the pics with the purple bag). You were VERY knowledgeable and helpful on all things blogging. I have since tried to get Yahoo store to set up my wordpress blog but apparently they have not moved into the 21st century yet! So I will keep trying and hope to soon be able to put all of your fantastic advice to good use!
Jennifer, you’re quite welcome. I had a fantastic time, and can’t wait until spring for the next one!
Micheal, thanks for sharing this with us. The slide is very informative and you have manage to capture the essence of blogging. Well done!