Two years ago, I never ever would have thought that starting an Etsy team would end up like this! My only thought was that this area is full of artist and creative types and yet there was no really active team for us on Etsy. I wanted to be able to talk to other people in the Etsy and handmade selling world, but not just online, as some of the online friendships I'd struck up in the past had turned weird. I wanted to be able to talk face to face and be able to network in a way that would help my business locally. So I started an Etsy Team and spent the first 3-4 months scouring Etsy and looking for people in the Tampa Bay area and inviting them to join the team. That yielded about 300 members and then people started finding us. We kept it on the Etsy site primarily.
About a year in, I ended up asking another team member to help co-lead. Shortly after that our very first meet up happened. I was so nervous about that, but it was a nice small get together and I could see getting together happening on a regular basis.
Later that year, we hosted the annual Etsy Crafty Party. It was a smashing success and I knew we needed to add more leaders. So we did! At this point we do monthly meet ups and larger events several times a year. We've got a very active Facebook discussion page and our membership numbers somewhere around 1,050. We were granted our very first Fellowship from corporate Etsy just a few weeks ago. There's a lot to celebrate! And we want our community to celebrate with us. Really that's what it's all about- community, both the artists and the general public that values handmade and vintage things. If you'd like to be part of the festivities, you can sign up here: https://www.facebook.com/events/188927091250206/
