Maine Craft Weekend’s DEDICATED EVENT WEBSITE

Inspiring Ideas

for your successful ACW event

Maine Crafts Association tells ACW that one of its best tools for Maine Craft Weekend’s success is a separate website dedicated to the event. According to mainecraftweekend.org, “Maine Craft Weekend (MCW), a statewide tour of Maine craft studios, breweries, businesses and events, is an opportunity for the public to explore the life and work of craft artists and craft brewers in Maine. MCW is a public, educational, community oriented, family friendly weekend October 3 + 4, 2015. MCW is scheduled in conjunction with American Craft Week, a nationwide event promoting craft events each October.”

The website is slick and simple, and serves two audiences: the public planning their visit and artists participating in the event.

Here are some inspiring ideas for your own dedicated event website:

• Google map of event/participant locations
• Featured profiles of select artists
• Submission form for artists to register their participation
• Testimonials from participants stating how the event was successful and beneficial to them
• Downloadable promotional materials for participants such as posters, postcards and yard signs
• Sponsor and grantor logos and/or advertising
• Links to ACW website, local visitors bureaus and restaurants
• Short description of ACW, which ties your event to a larger movement
• ACW logo

GET YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY INVOLVED

While you can still check out books from your local library, there’s probably a lot more going on there every day. Libraries have become creative!  Increasingly, they are “places where people can meet to share a hobby, use a 3D printer, edit a video, or use software to record their own music. Libraries offer access to the tools and technology essential to the economic and cultural lives of their communities,” says the National Library Association.

So let’s harness that creativity during American Craft Week! Check in with your local library and see if they will join the country’s largest celebration of handmade craft.

Here’s a suggestion list with ways your library can participate:

·         Exhibit the work of a local craftsperson

·         Feature a demonstration by a local artisan  

·         Hold a craft class for adults, children, or the entire family

·         Feature a special display of craft-centered books

·         Distribute information about community ACW events

There is no charge for public libraries to participate in ACW! We do ask them to register on our website, americancraftweek.com, and then they will appear on our participants list with a link to their website and activities.

We also ask that libraries use the ACW logo so that the general public is aware of our effort to spotlight handmade American goods and the artists who create them. When a library signs up on our site, they will be sent a welcome letter with an access code for the “Resource” section where they will find logos and lots of helpful materials.

Many libraries are excited about this opportunity to spotlight American craft. We hope you join us in this fun and creative effort!

ABOUT AMERICAN CRAFT WEEK

American Craft Week is a national, grassroots program to promote and celebrate fine handmade American craft. Produced by a volunteer committee of CRAFT (Craft Retailers and Artists for Tomorrow), it began in 2010, and last year included over 1,000 events in all 50 states! All the participants are listed on our website, Americancraftweek.com. They include galleries, craft organizations, individual artists, festivals, schools and craft tours, all scheduling unique craft-centered events in a ten-day week. To request further information, contact us at info@Americancraftweek.com.