Date
1 - 19 of 19
Growing new weavers
Sharon Rose Airhart
My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
James Warner
Honestly my biggest success in getting new people interested in weaving was to teach rigid heddle classes offered at local yarn stores to knitters and crocheters. It has grown to the point that now I regularly have yarn stores calling to request classes. About 15% of students go on to take additional classes and join the local weavers guild.
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Jay Warner
On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:
My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
Being in a guild that’s been successful at attracting new and younger members, I agree with James.
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Young people have limited time and funds — don’t turn your back on rigid heddle looms. They make a great way to rope ‘em in, and people often move on to shaft looms. We have about the same 15% of people in my RH classes that join the guild. Many go to take shaft loom classes at a LYS. If you have a local yarn store, ask them to help promote— they will sell a lot of yarn to your students!
Think a little bit about timing— are you going for people who work, or young mothers, or?? I teach in the afternoons - I get mothers who are looking for some me time, people in their post college years with flexible work hours and retirees. If most of the potential weavers in your area work fixed hours in the day, you may need to look at evenings, but you’ll miss the moms.
Be sure to post on social media, go where they are — Instagram, the RH and weaving facebook groups, even TikTok. Main issue there is that they may not be in your area, and it takes a while to build up a following.
Have a good, modern looking website that is mobile friendly. Post updates often so you get good search results. We post all our events and monthly meetings. I’m the membership chair for the guild here, and ask where people find us - -it’s amazing how many do so through an online search. Post classes on your website. It’s important to be mobile friendly, lot of younger folks use their phones more than computers. Keep the whole thing fun and accessible, rather than intimidating and complex.
I think that’s about it for now
marie
Inga Marie Carmel
Instagram @ingamarie
An interesting plainness is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve - Mies van der Rohe
On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:41 PM, James Warner via groups.io <jaywarner@...> wrote:Honestly my biggest success in getting new people interested in weaving was to teach rigid heddle classes offered at local yarn stores to knitters and crocheters. It has grown to the point that now I regularly have yarn stores calling to request classes. About 15% of students go on to take additional classes and join the local weavers guild.Jay WarnerOn Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
Sara von Tresckow
I sell looms - and the rigid heddle looms are described as our "gateway
drug". Since Christmas we've had a steady stream of folks who'd like to
start and have a little gift money to invest. We sell our RH looms with a "2
h our free lesson" to get the first warp started and it seems to work well.
Whether these people go on to join guilds is another thing. Unfortunately
they have kind of a reputation for being bunches of "catty old ladies".
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
drug". Since Christmas we've had a steady stream of folks who'd like to
start and have a little gift money to invest. We sell our RH looms with a "2
h our free lesson" to get the first warp started and it seems to work well.
Whether these people go on to join guilds is another thing. Unfortunately
they have kind of a reputation for being bunches of "catty old ladies".
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
Syne Mitchell
I wrote _Inventive Weaving_ as a book to help rigid heddle looms become gateways to shaft weaving. It is on the face of it, a rigid heddle book. If you look at what I teach though, it sets them up with all the information (math, planning strategies, understanding of structure) that they'll need when they start weaving on looms with shafts. ;)
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 6:41 PM Sara von Tresckow <sarav@...> wrote:
I sell looms - and the rigid heddle looms are described as our "gateway
drug". Since Christmas we've had a steady stream of folks who'd like to
start and have a little gift money to invest. We sell our RH looms with a "2
h our free lesson" to get the first warp started and it seems to work well.
Whether these people go on to join guilds is another thing. Unfortunately
they have kind of a reputation for being bunches of "catty old ladies".
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
And you did a bang up job, Syne. It’s the first book I recommend for new weavers.
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marie
Inga Marie Carmel
Instagram @ingamarie
An interesting plainness is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve - Mies van der Rohe
On Jan 6, 2023, at 8:47 PM, Syne Mitchell <synemitchell@...> wrote:I wrote _Inventive Weaving_ as a book to help rigid heddle looms become gateways to shaft weaving. It is on the face of it, a rigid heddle book. If you look at what I teach though, it sets them up with all the information (math, planning strategies, understanding of structure) that they'll need when they start weaving on looms with shafts. ;)On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 6:41 PM Sara von Tresckow <sarav@...> wrote:I sell looms - and the rigid heddle looms are described as our "gateway
drug". Since Christmas we've had a steady stream of folks who'd like to
start and have a little gift money to invest. We sell our RH looms with a "2
h our free lesson" to get the first warp started and it seems to work well.
Whether these people go on to join guilds is another thing. Unfortunately
they have kind of a reputation for being bunches of "catty old ladies".
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
Sara von Tresckow
And many of those RH loom purchasers take your book as their first - I like
it a lot myself.
There aren't many places left where a new weaver can get several weeks of
instruction - and the rigid heddle loom with a good book serves as a
self-taught apprenticeship. You learn how to control threads, evaluate
materials and learn basic design/drafting - all while doing just plain
weave. Bye the time one gets a more complex loom, the basic skills should be
in place.
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
it a lot myself.
There aren't many places left where a new weaver can get several weeks of
instruction - and the rigid heddle loom with a good book serves as a
self-taught apprenticeship. You learn how to control threads, evaluate
materials and learn basic design/drafting - all while doing just plain
weave. Bye the time one gets a more complex loom, the basic skills should be
in place.
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
*waves*
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I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.
I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.
regards,
On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
Syne Mitchell
Aw thanks ya'll! Just doing my part! <3
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 8:03 PM Fazia Rizvi <fazia@...> wrote:
*waves*I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.regards,On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
sue_briney
Hi Fazia,
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As a member of our guild program committee, I'm interested in learning more about your guild's "SHARE" workshop. Can you explain what it was?
Thanks,
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 11:03 PM, Fazia Rizvi<fazia@...> wrote:*waves*I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.regards,On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
I’m going to jump in.
Share is a wonderful WSSA (Weavers and Spinners Society of Austin) tradition. It’s a members helping members event.
It started as a lemons to lemonade thing when we had a double whammy of a workshop teacher cancelling and an ice storm. Since we already had the space we ran with it. It’s usually loosely organized, but has run the gamut from a round robin where everyone brought a warped loom for people to sample on- each with the persons favorite draft to ‘lets bring in a bunch of looms and see what people need help with’.
With the pandemic we took it online for 2 years. One was structured, one wasn’t.
We don’t charge for it, and we find free space. That’s getting harder to do in Austin (I’m trying to find some now, actually). We do ask for a donation.
Fazia wrote a piece for the HGA spotlight a while back. I’ll attach it.
marie
Inga Marie Carmel
Instagram @ingamarie
An interesting plainness is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve - Mies van der Rohe
On Jan 7, 2023, at 6:20 AM, sue_briney via groups.io <Brineys@...> wrote:Hi Fazia,As a member of our guild program committee, I'm interested in learning more about your guild's "SHARE" workshop. Can you explain what it was?Thanks,Sue BrineyOn Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 11:03 PM, Fazia Rizvi<fazia@...> wrote:*waves*I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.regards,On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
Sara von Tresckow
Well, just had the second new RH weaver in the week - they do come into the
shop already informed that the simple loom will get them started on the
basics quite well.
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
shop already informed that the simple loom will get them started on the
basics quite well.
Sara von Tresckow, Fond du Lac, WI
sarav@...
Author of “When a Single Harness Simply Isn’t Enough”
http://www.woolgatherers.com Öxabäck Looms, Ashford products, yarns, books
and more - visit us in Fond du Lac or contact us about your weaving/spinning
needs
Kathy Warner
What a wonderful idea, Marie and Fazia! I'm sending it along to a couple of people in our guild....
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Kathy
On Jan 7, 2023, at 9:15 AM, Inga Marie Carmel <ingamariecarmel@...> wrote:I’m going to jump in.Share is a wonderful WSSA (Weavers and Spinners Society of Austin) tradition. It’s a members helping members event.It started as a lemons to lemonade thing when we had a double whammy of a workshop teacher cancelling and an ice storm. Since we already had the space we ran with it. It’s usually loosely organized, but has run the gamut from a round robin where everyone brought a warped loom for people to sample on- each with the persons favorite draft to ‘lets bring in a bunch of looms and see what people need help with’.With the pandemic we took it online for 2 years. One was structured, one wasn’t.We don’t charge for it, and we find free space. That’s getting harder to do in Austin (I’m trying to find some now, actually). We do ask for a donation.Fazia wrote a piece for the HGA spotlight a while back. I’ll attach it.marieInga Marie CarmelInstagram @ingamarieAn interesting plainness is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve - Mies van der RoheHi Fazia,As a member of our guild program committee, I'm interested in learning more about your guild's "SHARE" workshop. Can you explain what it was?Thanks,Sue BrineyOn Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 11:03 PM, Fazia Rizvi<fazia@...> wrote:*waves*I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.regards,On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
<For HGA Guild Spotlight_ SHARE.pdf>
One thing my guild does that I really appreciate as a newer member are workshops on techniques that are new for most, so everyone meets with the same learner's mind. It can go a long way for a newer member to see a long-time weaver struggle to understand and learn something new with them. This seems to align with the SHARE workshop mentioned.
Having an updated, modern website and meeting times that work with working parents' schedules are also essential, I totally agree with that. Also, those of us in working/child-rearing years won't have a ton of time to volunteer so you might not see our faces as much as you like. This is a shame, I would live in my guild's supply closet sorting yarn if I could, but it's just not possible at this point.
If I can be so bold as to speak for many of us rigid heddlers, we can have a complicated relationship with guilds. The (mis)conception of many RH weavers is that it's only worth joining if you weave on a shaft loom because the members will look down on you or the programming won't be useful. Sometimes this might be true, but many guilds study all kinds of weaving- from inkles to drawlooms and basketry- so I recommend you consider what kind of guild you are before reaching into the rigid heddle community. Either focus is valid, if a guild wants to stay shaft-loom-oriented and less holistic, there is nothing wrong with that at all. But you might reconsider starting a rigid heddle outreach program unless you want rigid heddle weavers. Many, many people really want to learn on a 4 shaft-loom and I can't imagine you won't be successful in filling a class, in my city these classes can have incredibly long waitlists- one place I talked to was scheduled 5-6 years out.
The "thread it and go" nature of the rigid heddle makes it a natural gateway drug. But just like real gateway drugs, not everyone leaves the joint for the cocaine :) I think it's a really great time to be a weaver and feel like increasing people's access to looms that work for them is a beautiful goal.
Re: Syne's Book- Inventive Weaving and Weaver's Idea Book by Jane Patrick are our must-haves. But instead of seeing them as shaft loom intros, most use them as a way to increase their loom's creative capacity. Generally, I see people commit to table looms when they start to dig into some of David Xenakis’s work and realize that the effort and epi limitations are too much much to puzzle out and you can accomplish overshot in a much easier ways. Or they go to a floor loom when they want to go faster. But some of us like the challenge of new discoveries and the brain puzzles they create.
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 8:23 PM Syne Mitchell <synemitchell@...> wrote:
Aw thanks ya'll! Just doing my part! <3On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 8:03 PM Fazia Rizvi <fazia@...> wrote:*waves*I’m not one of our guild’s youngest members by far, but as weaving goes I guess I skew younger. Everything that’s been said here is so very true. A rigid heddle was my first loom, Syne’s book was one of my first books, and now I’ve several multi-shaft looms and am perfectly comfortable with a countermarch. I’m still learning my drawloom and I downloaded Sara’s PDF yesterday. One other thing that helped was the “SHARE” workshop my local guild put on and the enthusiasm with whcih Marie helped me try to figure out how an heirloom was woven. I was a new member to the guild and that’s truly what really roped me in and made me want to interact with the group.I would also suggest reaching out to spinners. The rediscovery of knitting by younger generations in the early 2000s has led to a lot of interest in spinning and dyeing and all of it currently is much younger crowd. A local yarn shop a survey just two years ago found that their fastest growing interest by far was weaving and it was all coming from the spinners and knitters. Reach out to very nerdy groups too - knitting, crochet, and spinning is heavily represented these days among young sci-fi fans and I’m finding more of them getting interested in weaving.regards,On Jan 6, 2023, at 2:37 PM, Sharon Rose Airhart <sra@...> wrote:My (greater Toronto area) Guild is interested in attracting new and, dare I say, younger members. We have a vibrant organization with many activities but we’re keenly aware that we’re aging. It was decided to offer a “learn to weave” course, taught by a professional weaving teacher in our area. Now, the question. How do we reach out to people who might want to learn to weave?
--
These gals in Austin are the best. When my daughter was Living in Austin I did a search for weaving groups near by and found this group. I spoke with Eileen thompson and she offered to pick me up and take me to the first meeting. So sweet. I was a new weaver and they were so welcoming and helpful. You will be happy hanging with them all.
Hugs Diane
We are blessed each day,
may you be blessed as well.
Hugs Diane
We are blessed each day,
may you be blessed as well.
Jayne F
Mainely Weavers - Our group of 55 (on paper - 25 regular attendees) has an hour-long session every month of "Weavers Helping Weavers" before our regular meeting. Usually, 8-10 come for that. No topic, just HELP, which leads to some lively discussions!
WG of Minnesota, a huge guild, has a more structured program called "NOW: New and Occasional Weavers". Check their website for inspiration.
Along with demos, RHers need to champion their method within the traditional guilds. Where the RHers see opportunities, the floor loom weavers see limitations. I weave on looms from inkle to drawloom (but not RH). I've been inkling since the late 1960s and it's been a lonely path until the past decade or so. My message to RHers is to persist and to keep an open mind about floor loom techniques. And if you are a floor loom weaver looking for brain exercise read "The Xenakis Technique".
Jayne
WG of Minnesota, a huge guild, has a more structured program called "NOW: New and Occasional Weavers". Check their website for inspiration.
Along with demos, RHers need to champion their method within the traditional guilds. Where the RHers see opportunities, the floor loom weavers see limitations. I weave on looms from inkle to drawloom (but not RH). I've been inkling since the late 1960s and it's been a lonely path until the past decade or so. My message to RHers is to persist and to keep an open mind about floor loom techniques. And if you are a floor loom weaver looking for brain exercise read "The Xenakis Technique".
Jayne
Sally O
- Be out in public with your looms, warped in enticing colors. Often.
- Skip kid events, focus on the age and demographic you want to attract and go where they are. (That means evenings and weekends) Coffee shops, libraries/book clubs, historic venues, museums, and craft shows tend to attract potential weavers along with yarn shops. (Maybe form an outreach committee to locate these opportunities and secure volunteers?)
- Be prepared when you meet an interested person for the next step: and tailor that next step to their needs, don't just hand them a guild brochure and expect them to show up at a meeting.
- Carry a notebook that has inserts answering commonly asked questions. Make it visual, not text-based. I include the following categories 1) history of weaving looms 2) photos of the loom warping process 3) Fiber art careers and fiber art degree programs 4) Instagram accounts that might be of interest 5) regional resource list. Anyone can take a cell phone photo of any of this information for later reference. (Typically people don't want to take pieces of paper.)
- Make a business card (or post a QR code leading to your guild website), so they have a way of contacting you after the event. (A card helps when you are in a location without Internet service to scan a QR)
Regarding "stepping" someone into weaving:
- On behalf of our guild, we appear at several different weaving venues throughout the spring, summer, fall.
- At those events, we collect sign-ups and contact information from people who want to try weaving.
- In the fall, we offer a free "walk-in and weave" event. We call everyone on the list to see if they are still interested and then hold the one day event.
- At the event, they get to weave for an hour with a mentor at their side. They are given some follow up information and the fabric they wove is mailed to them after the event. We also let them know the next step is learning to warp a loom. An opportunity to try that one-day experience is offered on a Saturday in Jan/Feb. We can also direct them to yarn stores in their area that might offer a sequence of weekend classes.
- Usually after these three points of contact, someone will know if they want to continue with weaving or not.
Sally
Sally
- Skip kid events, focus on the age and demographic you want to attract and go where they are. (That means evenings and weekends) Coffee shops, libraries/book clubs, historic venues, museums, and craft shows tend to attract potential weavers along with yarn shops. (Maybe form an outreach committee to locate these opportunities and secure volunteers?)
- Be prepared when you meet an interested person for the next step: and tailor that next step to their needs, don't just hand them a guild brochure and expect them to show up at a meeting.
- Carry a notebook that has inserts answering commonly asked questions. Make it visual, not text-based. I include the following categories 1) history of weaving looms 2) photos of the loom warping process 3) Fiber art careers and fiber art degree programs 4) Instagram accounts that might be of interest 5) regional resource list. Anyone can take a cell phone photo of any of this information for later reference. (Typically people don't want to take pieces of paper.)
- Make a business card (or post a QR code leading to your guild website), so they have a way of contacting you after the event. (A card helps when you are in a location without Internet service to scan a QR)
Regarding "stepping" someone into weaving:
- On behalf of our guild, we appear at several different weaving venues throughout the spring, summer, fall.
- At those events, we collect sign-ups and contact information from people who want to try weaving.
- In the fall, we offer a free "walk-in and weave" event. We call everyone on the list to see if they are still interested and then hold the one day event.
- At the event, they get to weave for an hour with a mentor at their side. They are given some follow up information and the fabric they wove is mailed to them after the event. We also let them know the next step is learning to warp a loom. An opportunity to try that one-day experience is offered on a Saturday in Jan/Feb. We can also direct them to yarn stores in their area that might offer a sequence of weekend classes.
- Usually after these three points of contact, someone will know if they want to continue with weaving or not.
Sally
Sally
Syne Mitchell
Wow Sally, that is one slick and well-thought-out on ramp. Kudos and thanks for sharing it!
On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 7:58 AM Sally O <s.orgren@...> wrote:
- Be out in public with your looms, warped in enticing colors. Often.
- Skip kid events, focus on the age and demographic you want to attract and go where they are. (That means evenings and weekends) Coffee shops, libraries/book clubs, historic venues, museums, and craft shows tend to attract potential weavers along with yarn shops. (Maybe form an outreach committee to locate these opportunities and secure volunteers?)
- Be prepared when you meet an interested person for the next step: and tailor that next step to their needs, don't just hand them a guild brochure and expect them to show up at a meeting.
- Carry a notebook that has inserts answering commonly asked questions. Make it visual, not text-based. I include the following categories 1) history of weaving looms 2) photos of the loom warping process 3) Fiber art careers and fiber art degree programs 4) Instagram accounts that might be of interest 5) regional resource list. Anyone can take a cell phone photo of any of this information for later reference. (Typically people don't want to take pieces of paper.)
- Make a business card (or post a QR code leading to your guild website), so they have a way of contacting you after the event. (A card helps when you are in a location without Internet service to scan a QR)
Regarding "stepping" someone into weaving:
- On behalf of our guild, we appear at several different weaving venues throughout the spring, summer, fall.
- At those events, we collect sign-ups and contact information from people who want to try weaving.
- In the fall, we offer a free "walk-in and weave" event. We call everyone on the list to see if they are still interested and then hold the one day event.
- At the event, they get to weave for an hour with a mentor at their side. They are given some follow up information and the fabric they wove is mailed to them after the event. We also let them know the next step is learning to warp a loom. An opportunity to try that one-day experience is offered on a Saturday in Jan/Feb. We can also direct them to yarn stores in their area that might offer a sequence of weekend classes.
- Usually after these three points of contact, someone will know if they want to continue with weaving or not.
Sally
Sally