The rise of Etsy, founded in 2005, is one of the most consequential developments in the modern handcraft ecosystem.
But as Etsy has grown, it has also become a flashpoint for debate. In this forum, moderator Grace Dobush and four panelists explore Etsy’s evolving impact on the craft ecosystem and ask what the next 20 years of digital craft commerce might look like.
This event is co-produced by Craft Industry Alliance and The American Craft Council.
Thursday, May 14, from 1:00-2:30 EST/ 10:00-11:30 PST
About the panelists:
Grace Dobush is a freelance journalist and moderator living in Berlin, Germany. She writes the Craft Industry Alliance monthly corporate newsletter, Craft Industry Insider, which focuses on news important for companies in the creative industries. She’s written about business for publications including Wired, Handelsblatt, and Fortune, an also moderates events in Berlin and worldwide.
Becka Rahn is a full-time teaching artist who works in a miro-studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She crates primarily in fabric and paper, specializing in mixed media illustration using recycled papers and hand embroidery. Becka is the co-author of The Spoonflower Handbook, a guide to designing your own fabrics, and holds a book arts certificate from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. She’s been an active Etsy seller since 2005. She’s passionate about helping artists conquer technology barriers to make their work more accessible. Her super powers are breaking complex ideas into simple steps, inspiring creative thinking, and incorporating puns into everything she makes.
Maureen Sitterson is the Head of Seller Marketing at Etsy. In this role, she’s spent the past five years championing small businesses and dream up new ways to support sellers and help them grow thriving businesses. She brings a strong focus on listening to sellers and building tools and programs that meet them where they are. Based in Atlanta with her husband and three kids, Maureen often finds inspiration on a run or spending time with friends and family.
Samantha Close is an Associate Professor at DePaul University. She earned her PhD in Communications at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include digital media and popular culture, with a particular focus on fandom. Her research on crafting spans a documentary, “I Am Handmade: Crafting in the Age of Computers,” hosted online by Vice Media’s Motherboard channel, as well as articles in the International Journal of Communication, Social Media + Society, Gateways International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, Anthropology Now, and the HICSS Proceedings in 2016. She’s a knitter and quilter in her spare time.
