The title of this post doesn’t begin to describe the information learned and the ideas uncovered during this evening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
In mid-December the Smithsonian Associates (an educational unit of the Smithsonian Institution) hosted an evening of Etsy. Present to speak at this symposium were Vanessa Bertozzi, Senior Program Manager at Etsy, Nicholas Bell, a Curator at the Renwick Gallery, Allison Fomich of TigerLillyShop, a local Etsy vendor, and Sarah Kathryn of Creatiate, also a local Etsy vendor.
Best of all, this entire program was created and managed by my daughter who works for the Smithsonian Associates!
Sorry, it’s a little blurry, but that’s my girl!
Do you want to know some facts about Etsy?
The conversation amongst the panelists was fascinating and went in many different interesting directions, but I thought some of the plain and simple facts about Etsy as a company were perhaps the most amazing, so here we go:
They have 450 employees
There are one million, yes, that’s one million, shops on Etsy
There are thirty million members/purchasers
There are (average) sixty million unique monthly visitors
They are active in 200 countries
Some information about sellers in the United States:
42% never sold before coming to Etsy
97% sell from home
18% are full time Etsy sellers i.e. this is their “day” job
88% are women
Miscellaneous:
Furniture is the fastest growing category
Jewelry is the largest category
Although every trip to DC is exciting in it’s own way, this was certainly not our first trip. We have been visiting since 2001 when I first took daughter down for her college interview and in that very first visit she was hooked. We looked at some other colleges in the East, but in the end she applied early decision to American University in what had become her city of choice.
So…. there have been many, many nights spent in various hotels in several parts of the city. Believe me, we’ve tried hotels at all different price points, and all different locations. In the last year, we discovered one we think could become our little home away from home: the The Washington Plaza Hotel. It has it all: location, service, price, very pleasant breakfast, ease of access to our daughter’s apartment, parking facilities, outdoor pool and on and on.
We were only in town for a short visit but here are some images of our other fun!
Last, but certainly not least, is this posting from my Instagram feed for that day:
Van Gogh: Repetitions at the Phillips Collection
Now extended through Feb. 2, 2014.
The Phillips has become one of my favorite museums. It is small enough to be manageable, I love the location and always combine it with a visit to local DuPont Circle stores and restaurants, and, of course, their exhibits never fail to be top quality and well worth the visit. This was no exception. I know, time is short; but if you have a chance, I highly recommend buying your ticket on line and visiting. Check out a review from this local DC news.
