I Heart Art: Portland and Etsy Bring Conference on Small Business and Sustainability to Portland

August 08, 2011

Event | Hello Etsy PDX: A One Day Summit on Small Business and Sustainability
September 17, 2011, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART
1241 NW Johnson Street, Portland OR 97209
Tickets: $20, available at http://helloetsypdx.eventbrite.com; free for PNCA students and alumni

August 8, 2011 – PORTLAND, OR – I Heart Art: Portland, an education program for Portland’s creative community, and Etsy, the global handmade marketplace, will host a one-day conference on small business and sustainability. This satellite conference takes place in conjunction with the flagship Hello Etsy summit in Berlin, Germany and other Etsy-sponsored conferences around the United States.

Hello Etsy: A Summit on Small Business and Sustainability is a hands-on gathering for small business owners who want to connect with their peers, to learn the skills to find success and independence and to join the movement to build human-scale economies. The flagship Hello Etsy event will take place in Berlin, Germany, with a series of satellite events in cities around the Untied States. Satellite events will be hosted by Etsy in Brooklyn, New York; by GOOD magazine in Los Angeles, California; by California College of the Arts in San Francisco, California; and by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

The Hello Etsy conferences are organized around the process of building a mindful and sustainable business—from coming up with an idea, to turning it into a product and taking it to market. Accordingly, the sessions will fall into one of four tracks: The Big Picture, The Product, The Business and The Market.

Pacific Northwest College of Art will host the Portland, Oregon conference, Hello Etsy PDX. There, participants will connect with their peers, take part in hands-on workshops, listen to dynamic speakers and learn new business strategies from successful small-business owners in the Portland area.

Hello Etsy PDX attendees will set their own agenda, choosing to explore topics and themes that are relevant to their own business needs and interests and will help them build a mindful and sustainable business.

In addition to workshops led by prominent local businessmen and women, sessions from the parent conference in Berlin will be re-broadcast to add international color to the day’s sessions. A selection of sessions will also be broadcast through Etsy’s Livestream channel to an international audience and at other satellite events.

The keynote address in Portland by Duane Sorenson, owner of Stumptown Coffee, and Rebecca Pearcy, owner of Queen Bee Creations, will offer two differing perspectives on business growth and provoke attendees to think seriously about their own business model. Diane Gilleland, proprietress of CraftyPod.com, will moderate the conversation between Sorenson and Pearcy as they discuss why some business owners find success through expansion while others find success in restraint. They will also emphasize the importance of thinking strategically about creative endeavors, regardless of size or scope.

Through generous support from Etsy and other sponsors, tickets for the all-day conference are only $20, available for purchase online immediately (http://helloetsypdx.eventbrite.com). PNCA students and alumni can attend the conference for free, and Museum of Contemporary Craft members can purchase tickets at half price.

For detailed information about Hello Etsy PDX, visit: http://iheartartpdx.com/hello-etsy

ABOUT I HEART ART: PORTLAND
I Heart Art: Portland is a collaboration between Etsy, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft and a local team of Etsy sellers. The program offers professional development workshops, community salon discussions and unique networking opportunities for Portland’s vibrant community of makers. Learn more at iheartartpdx.com

ABOUT MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Committed to the advancement of craft since 1937, Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art is one of Oregon’s oldest cultural institutions. Centrally located in Portland’s Pearl District, the Museum is nationally acclaimed for its curatorial program and is a vibrant center for investigation and dialogue, expanding the definition of craft and the way audiences experi¬ence it.

ABOUT PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART
Since its founding in 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) has become a leader in innovative educational programs that connect students to a global perspective in the visual arts and design. In addition to its nine Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, PNCA offers graduate education with an MFA in Visual Studies, a Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies and an MFA in Collaborative Design, as well as an MFA in Applied Craft and Design developed in collaboration with the Oregon College of Art and Craft.

PNCA is actively involved in Portland’s cultural life through exhibitions and a vibrant public program of lectures and internationally recognized visiting artists, designers and creative thinkers. With the support of PNCA+FIVE (Ford Institute for Visual Education), the College has a partnership with the nationally acclaimed Museum of Contemporary Craft. For more information, visit www.pnca.edu.