[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Welcome Craftcation Attendees!
We’re so excited to have you join us at Craftcation! If you’re a first time attendee: we can’t wait to meet you. If you’re a return attendee: welcome back!
ALL ATTENDEES: The info below will help you navigate the conference, understand logistics and make the most out of your time at Craftcation. We want to help you have an awesome experience at Craftcation so PLEASE READ ALL THE INFO BELOW!
Love, Nicole & The Dear Handmade Life Team
SCHEDULE CHANGES
Lisa Anderson Shaffer of Zelma Rose is no longer able to join us at Craftcation. The following classes have been canceled:
- 4.3.19 2p – 3:30p / These Three Things: How to Approach and Personalize a Daily Practice
- 4.4.19 10a – 1:30p / Woven Fiber Necklace/Belt
THE CRAFTCATION APP IS HERE!
THAT’S RIGHT! We have a Craftcation App and it’s finally ready and it’s beautiful and we have been busting at the seams waiting to share it with you all!!!! To help get you better acquainted, we have put together a step-by-step guide on how to download, install, navigate and MORE within, what I’m sure you will call, your Craftcation BFF. Just CLICK HERE!
BOOK AN AURA PHOTO WITH AURADOME:
Auradome is an interactive photographic exploration of energy and color. Guests are photographed using a hand-built analog camera which uses hand sensors to measure their bio-feedback and translate it into color on film. The photographer gives a short interpretation based on the colors that appear. Aura photos show your past, future, and current energy, and your colors can change over time.
They will be joining us on Thursday Night at our Opening Dinner and on Saturday at our Bad Ass Women in History Party!
To book an appointment for Saturday, click HERE. Select an appointment time that works for your schedule. The page will automatically redirect you, click the green button that says TICKETS. A pop-up box will appear that will confirm your order. Click the blue text that says Enter Promotional Code and then type AURA0406 to get 10% the regular $40 price! Proceed to payment and checkout!
**UPDATE : THURSDAY AURADOME APPOINTMENTS ARE SOLD OUT**
To book an appointment for Thursday, click HERE. When asked for the Private Passcode, enter CCAURA. Select an appointment time that works for your schedule. The page will automatically redirect you, click the green button that says TICKETS. A pop-up box will appear that will confirm your order. Click the blue text that says Enter Promotional Code and then type AURA0404 to get 10% the regular $40 price! Proceed to payment and checkout!
FYI: These appointments take about 5 minutes and are pre-paid at the time of appointment booking. You’ll get 10% o
CRAFT WORKSHOP WAITING LISTS
Craft workshop registration is over.
ADDING WORKSHOPS AT THE CONFERENCE:
Each craft workshop will have a waiting list posted at the door of the classroom. If you were unable to pre-register for a workshop, you can add your name to the list posted in the classroom or ask a staff member for assistance. In the event that a registered attendee is a no-show or the instructor is able to take more students, your name will be called! Just be sure to arrive 10-30 mins before the workshop begins. If your name is called and you are not present, your seat will be given to the next person on the list.
Note: This only applies to craft workshops and business think tanks that required pre-registration.
CRAFTCATION ATTENDEE FACEBOOK GROUP:
We have a private Facebook group for Craftcation attendees. If you’re on Facebook we encourage you to click here and request to join the group to keep up to date on announcements as well as to share resources with fellow attendees. This is the perfect place to reach out about sharing rides/rooms as well carpooling/meeting up during Craftcation & we’ll share important info here.
TRAVEL TO VENTURA:
For info on travel to and within Ventura look here. You can also reach out in our private Facebook group about car pooling.
SPECIAL EVENTS, ACTIVITIES AND PARTIES AT CRAFTCATION:
Aside from workshops these are several special activities at Craftcation like our opening dinner, lunches, themed parties, gatherings for introverts, yoga, a morning run club and more! Take a moment to check them out here and add your favorites to your Craftcation calendar. We’ll be sharing a video that explains all of these soon!
To watch a video where Nicole explains the special events and activities at Craftcation, look below.
TRAVEL WITHIN VENTURA:
Some of our events: lunches, parties and dinners are NOT at the hotel (locations and addresses of off-campus events are on the schedule). For some events, we will have shuttles but we suggest ride-sharing and Lyft as well.
LYFT AND RIDE-SHARING: Lyft is also available in downtown Ventura for a minimal fee. We also suggest ride sharing with fellow attendees. Please join our private Facebook group for Craftcation attendees so you can post about sharing rides during the conference.
We will have buses and a trolley available for transportation for Friday and Saturday lunches as well as Thursday night dinner. Please note that the shuttle makes a loop between the Marriott and our off-site location so if you don’t want to wait for it, feel free to drive, carpool or ride share.
SHUTTLE SCHEDULES:
Thursday Dinner – 5:00pm trolley and bus will be at the Marriott and ready to load – 9:30pm last load picked up from Fairgrounds
Friday Lunch – 12:00pm trolley and bus will be at the Marriott and ready to load – 3:00pm last load picked up from The Tavern
Saturday Downtown Trolley Tour – 11:00am-4:00pm – Experience downtown Ventura on our special trolley loop between the Marriott and downtown Ventura, stopping at some of our favorite local spots around downtown!
CONNECT WITH FELLOW ATTENDEES BEFORE YOU ARRIVE + WIN AWESOME STUFF:
One of the best parts of Craftcation is building your community! Get started before you get to Craftcation by sharing about your business/creativity, how you’re preparing, what you’re excited for etc. on social media.
Use our hashtag #Craftcation and tag us @dearhandmadelife when you post. We’ll search the #Craftcation hashtags and choose one lucky winner to get: -Access to all four of our online workshops AND a ticket to Craftcation 2020!
OFFICE HOURS:
When you arrive and check-in at Craftcation you’ll see a sign-up sheet for office hours. Office hours are the perfect chance to get one-on-one support from our presenters who are experts in a specific area. Office hours sign-ups are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To attend the office hours session you sign up for, just meet the presenter at the designated spot on the sign up sheet.
CHECKING-IN WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT CRAFTCATION:
YOU MUST WEAR YOUR BADGE AT CRAFTCATION (YOU’LL GET IT WHEN YOU CHECK-IN)
*see the following
There is no need to print your tickets. Simply bring your photo ID to the Craftcation registration table in the Marriott and receive your badge and program. NOTE: You must be wearing your badge at all times to attend any Craftcation event/workshop – no exceptions!
CHECK-IN TIMES:
Wednesday * April 3 – 12:00-3:00pm
Thursday * April 4 – 9:00-2:00pm
*If you don’t arrive during these registration times you can get your badge at our Craftcation pop-up shop in the Zuma room at the Marriott.
PROGRAM/THINGS TO DO/EXPLORING:
When you check-in you’ll get a program with suggested things to do, maps, schedule etc… Keep your program handy as it will be your guide for your time at Craftcation.
CRAFT WORKSHOP REGISTRATION/CREATING YOUR SCHEDULE:
HERE IS THE CASE-SENSITIVE PASSWORD TO REGISTER FOR CRAFT WORKSHOPS/MEALS: cc19
*Craft workshop/meal registration opened on Saturday February 23, 2019 at 10:00am PT. Most craft workshopa are now full but you can join waiting lists, info is below.
INSTRUCTIONS TO REGISTER FOR CRAFTCATION WORKSHOPS/MEALS:
1. Log in to your Eventbrite account (the one you created on Eventbrite when you purchased your Craftcation ticket. If you don’t know your login info, you can just create a new account, as long as your name is the same name you used when you registered, it doesn’t have to be the same Eventbrite account). NOTE: You do NOT have to be logged into the Dear Handmade Life website.
2. Go to the schedule page on our website.
3. You’ll see the words “SIGN UP” under the instructor name for each class. Click on “SIGN UP” for the workshop you’d like to register for.
4. You will be taken to Eventbrite where you’ll enter the code cc19 and complete the registration process. Please note that you’ll sign up for workshops one at a time, so keep that code handy. You will only be able to sign up one person at a time for each workshop.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each workshop you’d like to register for.
6. If you are not to register for a workshop and would like to be added to the waiting list, please fill out this form: http://bit.ly/cc19workshopwaitinglist
*You do not need to print your tickets as there will be a check in sheet at the workshop.
All meals and most craft workshops will require you to pre-register for them.
There are two types of workshops at Craftcation:
1. Craft workshops/some special events/meals: ITEMS WITH a * before the title on the schedule are limited space workshops/activities that require attendees to sign up for them BEFORE the conference during Craft Workshop Registration. These have limited space and fill up quickly. *Even if you are not taking any workshops, you must register for meals (Thursday dinner and Friday and Saturday lunches) as it helps us prepare. Thursday dinner and Friday lunch are included in your registration.
2. Business workshops/panels/some activities and events: ITEMS WITHOUT a * before the title on the schedule are walk-in workshops or activities. This means that all Craftcation attendees can just walk-in and do NOT need to pre-sign up.
EXPLANATION OF THE WORKSHOP REGISTRATION PROCESS:
Registration for craft/limited space workshops (marked with a * on the schedule) opens on 2.23.19 at 10:00am PT. At that time we’ll release a code that will allow you to sign up for workshops.
Ways to get the code on 2.23.19 at 10:00am PT:
- We will post it on the top of this page (This is a highly reliable and immediate way to get the code, hit refresh on the page if you don’t see right away. You may even need to clear your cache depending on your browser).
- We will post it in the private Facebook Attendee & Alum Group (This is also a reliable and immediate way to get the code).
- We will email it to you. The email will go to the email address you entered when you registered for the conference, so be sure you are receiving those emails (maybe they’re in your spam?). (This is the least reliable way to get the code as we can’t control spam settings or when an email will hit your inbox).
At that time (2.23.19 at 10:00am PT) you’ll go to the schedule on our website and you’ll see the words “SIGN UP” under the instructor name for each class. You’ll click “SIGN UP” and it will take you to a page where you’ll enter the code we sent and you’ll be able to register for individual workshops. Please note that you’ll sign up for workshops one at a time, so keep that code handy.
We know it can be frustrating to not be able to sign up for a workshop that you really wanted to take. Every year we get emails from disappointed attendees who didn’t register for craft workshops right at 10:00am when we open registration and they are upset because the workshop(s) they wanted are sold out. PLEASE BE READY TO REGISTER FOR HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS RIGHT WHEN REGISTRATION OPENS! Please email Nicole – hello@dearhandmadelife.com if you have any issues. Nicole will be monitoring the registration process, emails and the private Facebook group that morning to help you and will get back to you as soon as she can. Keep in mind that the day craft workshop registration opens, she receives hundreds of emails and posts to respond to within a few hours.
We do EVERYTHING we can to accommodate all of you but we are not magicians. We can’t have endless maximums in every workshop because you wouldn’t get the personalized attention you’ll need to learn. We DON’T set the maximum capacity for workshops, the presenters do it based upon how many students they can comfortably teach. At the past five Craftcations most attendees were able to get into workshops either through the waiting list or adding them at the conference.
To watch a video where Nicole explains and shows the registration process look below.
NOTE: YOU WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO REGISTER ONE PERSON AT A TIME IN EACH WORKSHOP! (In the video you’ll see 1 or 2 but that’s a fake example.)
CREATING YOUR SCHEDULE:
We can’t stress how important it is for you to spend time looking at the schedule picking out workshops BEFORE we open registration so that you’ll be ready with your schedule and the workshops you want to take the morning we open registration. Although we have more workshops this year than ever before, chances are you won’t be able to get into every single workshop you hoped for. Please be prepared with your back-up choices for time blocks. Remember as you create your schedule to make space for downtime, meals, office hours, connecting with each other and enjoying the hotel pool, beach, etc. 🙂 We don’t have a scheduled lunch on Thursday so we suggest you skip one of the time blocks to make time for lunch.
WORKSHOP PLANNING WORKSHEETS:
We created Workshop Planning Worksheets to help you get organized and prepare. CLICK HERE to download the worksheets. *NOTE: meals, parties and other other activities are not on the worksheet, you can see them on the schedule here.
PRINTABLE SCHEDULES:
We created printable versions of our schedules to help make class registration prep as easy as possible.
WORKSHOPS WITH MULTIPLE SESSIONS OR TWO PARTS:
Workshops that have ‘session 1 or session 2’ in the title are workshops that we’re offering multiple times, you only need to sign up for/attend ONE session. If a workshop says (Continued) in the title it means that it’s one class split into two parts and if you take the class you will need to attend both parts to complete the project. *Please arrive for ALL workshops at least 5-10 minutes before they start.
WORKSHOP SUPPLIES / FABRIC FOR SEWING CLASSES:
Supplies are included in your conference registration unless otherwise noted in the workshop description. Please read the workshop descriptions to learn of pre-requisites / things you need to bring with you / supplies that aren’t included. We will have fabric for all sewing workshops but please bring your own if you want a special fabric/to ensure you’ll have something you love. All yardage requirements for sewing classes are in the workshop description for the workshop (go here for all workshop descriptions OR click the workshop name on the schedule and the description will be at the very top of the page).
WANDERINGS: SELF-GUIDED ARTWALK APPLICATION + INFO:
Wanderings is a self-guided artwalk on Friday night at the Marriott hosted by Rosalie Gale of Ugly Baby. Attendees and presenters can apply to be a part of Wanderings and create an experience in their hotel room at the Marriott. Past experiences have included a photo booth, pop-up shop, coloring book party, group art quilt and more. Wanderings room hosts and anyone who visits all the rooms will be entered to win a ticket to Craftcation 2020!
Click HERE to apply to host a Wanderings room. Applications will close on 2.20.19.
GET PROFESSIONAL NOT SO CORPORATE HEADSHOTS AT CRAFTCATION WITH SARAH DERAGON:
Need an awesome pro headshot for your website, social media etc.? Craftcation presenter and professional photographer Sarah Deragon is offering headshots for Craftcation attendees at a super discounted price! She has three different packages available starting at ONLY $100! To learn more, see packages and schedule a session with her at Craftcation click HERE. 1.31.19 – Sarah currently has a waiting list for newcomer packages.
Sarah’s speciality is working with people who hate having their photo taken, so fear not! Your photo session will be fun and energizing!
HOTEL:
Please see info on this page about booking your hotel stay. If you want to explore other options, or if the Marriott rooms are sold out, some alternative places to stay are listed here. You can also check VRBO or Airbnb or reach out in our private Facebook group to see if anyone has a room that they want to share.
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*IF YOU’RE A NEW ATTENDEE: PLEASE CONTINUE READING THE INFO BELOW.
*IF YOU’RE A PAST ATTENDEE: YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW SOME OF THE INFO BELOW BUT PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO REVIEW IT.
SPECIAL INFO FOR NEW CRAFTCATION ATTENDEES:
We know there’s a lot of info on this page and that you’re busy creatives but please read the info below to help you make the most out of Craftcation. 🙂
We strive to make Craftcation a friendly and open environment. We are both extremely active at the conference and are excited to meet you and answer any questions you have. PLEASE don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to us or ask us questions. We also have several staff members and volunteers working at the conference. Many of them have been working at Craftcation since our first conference and will able to help you if you have issues or questions. We also have many return attendees and ambassadors attending. Don’t be shy about asking for help. 🙂 Our pop-up shop (located upstairs in the Zuma room at the Marriott) is staffed with knowledgeable people and they will likely be able to assist as well. If you have an emergency situation while at Craftcation, please find a staff member or ask for help in the pop-up shop.
TIPS ON PREPARING FOR A CONFERENCE:
We’ve got you covered! Please sit down and grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine and take some time to read these posts as they will help you prepare.
If you’re coming alone or you’re an introvert, remember every single person that’s next you chose to some to Craftcation too, so you already have something in common:
You’re not going to forge a life-long connection with every single person you meet at Craftcation BUT if you’re not open to connecting with anyone and everyone, then chances are you won’t connect with anyone. If you’re sitting next to someone, say “HI” and see where it goes from there. You already know you have something in common… you both chose Craftcation! Ask them: where they’re from? what they do? what workshops they’re excited about? which presenters they can’t wait to meet? Chances are you’ll end up in an awesome conversation.
Here are some posts with tips on connecting with people: How to network at a creative conference + Networking for Introverts: 6 ways to work a room
Be prepared + figure out what your goals are + plan accordingly:
Craftcation is an investment of your time, money and energy… to make sure you achieve your goals, set aside time to plan. This post has awesome tips on how to prepare, do your research, what to pack and more: How to prepare for a creative conference and check out How to attend a conference on a budget. This post has good tips for how to set your goals for a conference: 7 reasons why attending a conference will revolutionize your business and creativity and check out How to survive and thrive at conferences.
Make time for yourself:
Many first-time attendees pack their schedule with workshops only to arrive and find that they’re overwhelmed by the schedule they made for themselves and they wish they would have created more downtime or moments to connect with attendees and presenters spontaneously. Keep this in mind when you create your schedule and if you decide you don’t want to attend a craft workshop you signed up for, email Nicole: hello@dearhandmadelife.com or let one of the craft room staff members know.
That’s it for now! Can’t wait to see you all at Craftcation!
-Nicole & The Dear Handmade Life Team[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
