Forging Entrepreneurs

SNAG Presents “Forging Entrepreneurs: Tools and Skills for Business Success” in collaboration with the Society for Contemporary Craft,     August 25th and 26th 2012

Speakers included:
Michelle Pajak-Reynolds
Artist Entrepreneur
Find and Build your Customer Base

Brigitte Martin
Goldsmith, Crafthaus Founder, Author
What It Really Takes to be a Successful Artist Now

Wayne Werner
Fine Jeweler
Success in Contemporary Craft Shows

Adam Kenney
Executive Director, Touchstone Center for Crafts
How to Diversify your Revenue Streams

Todd Pownell
Fine Jeweler
Efficiency and Earnings: Technical Choices that Build a Viable Studio

Ronald McNeish
Goldsmith
Combine New Technology and Old World Craftsmanship

Beverly Tadeu
Metalsmith
The Journey from Art Pieces to Production Work

Glen Gardner
GSG Design and the ExOne Company
Using 3D Printing to Improve your Productivity

This was a fantastic conference.  I learned a soo much from each speaker and actually had the chance to stop and chat with a few over lunch.
At this point, I have been in a rut.  Creatively stuck, and not really sure where to go from here, so I asked one of the speaker, who I knew from SNAG to lunch to go pick her brain and ask for her advice.  Brigitte is wonderful!  Not only did she help me gain a new direction and motivation to go for something, but she has been pushing me ever since. Over lunch she told me she was going to check in on me a week after the conference to see what kind of progress I have made in moving forward.

A week after the conference, I received a SKYPE call from Brigitte.  Luckily, I had a few things accomplished which set me in great direction.  From this conference, Brigitte and I have continued to stay in contact, and have had meetings at least once a month.   It has been so helpful talking with someone who can help look at things from another angle and help set reachable, tangible goals and reaffirm your hard work isn’t for nothing.

I also managed to chat more with Sue Amendalora and Cappy Counard at the conference who currently teach at Edinboro University in Jewelry and Metal.  One of their current Graduate students, Jessica Armstrong is a good friend who I met in 2011 at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts; she mentioned that the jewelry studio was looking to bring in some outside help from some graduated near by jewelry artists to help fill tech hours.  Excited for the possibility to get back into that creative atmosphere I spoke with Sue and Cappy right away and am pleased to announce that I will be helping out at Edinboro every Friday 🙂

I established some great connections at this conference, learned a ton, and got myself back on a track toward something.  I am truly grateful for the help and support.
Thank you SNAG for this conference, and thank you speakers for also being willing to listen and speak more one on one.

Until the next adventure,

-Meredith S. Tibjash