this past Sunday we had our first Patchwork in Long Beach...and i must admit, i was a little scared about the whole thing.
it was only 2 months ago, that i was talking to Angie Redenback from The Outfit about the lack of holiday shows. i thought that Long Beach would be a great location and really considered that it could happen, but that meant work had to be done fast-kind of tough at a very time consuming time of year when i try not to add extra work-aka the holidays and being a retailer.
usually, Patchwork takes about 3-4 months to plan- it leaves enough time to cover all aspects of the event, properly screen vendors and allow both Nicole and i to do our usual jobs while putting on the event. having less time and a new location AND preparing the Santa Ana event (and running a biz)...well, you can't help but be nervous about how it is all going to turnout.
after a crazy November preparing Santa Ana and quickly finishing details of the Long Beach show, we finally stood there, in front of our booths looking out to our finished product. i went up to nicole at the 90+ booth event and looking at the almost empty aisles and nervously said, "Nicole, i am scared, no one is here." to which she replied, "dont worry, it's 11, at 11:30 start worrying."
20 minutes later, we were slammed.
needless to say, Patchwork Long Beach was a huge success. the attendance was estimated at 800-900 attendees and i have heard nothing but compliments, cheers, community, and inspiration since (and of course when the next one was going to happen!)...i cannot tell you how thankful i am for that initial conversation with Angie. i am also so thankful to others who made this event possible:
*Angie from the Outfit: who first got the momentum going, took time out to do meetings/site evaluations and introduced me to...
*Robin from We Love Long Beach: her and her brother Scott have been instrumental in getting Patchwork going in record time. thanks for helping with city work, sponsors, and promotion and VOLUNTEERS!
*Courtney from C-Salt Gourmet: who took an entire day from her busy schedule taking me all over LB to evaluate sites for the event.
*Ray Pok & City of Long Beach: and other city staff members who believed in this community event and helped made it happen in record time.
*Ellen Griley and The District Weekly: for writing an awesome cover story on us and Patchwork!!
*Our event Sponsors who took a chance and believed in us: Le Creperie, Toorak Coffee, The District Weekly, Memphis Cafe, Taco Surf, DDR gallery, Anarchy in the Garden, {open} books, The Kids are Alright, Yelp! and always Harveys Seatbelt Bags.
*friends, customers, volunteers, music, solar power (!), and everyone else who made this event possible!
({open} books)
(Hazel from yelp! with Dave from Memphis)
(on-site screen printing was awesome to have)
(thank you Jeremy for the tunes)
(i always set up last, but still manage to sell a lot)
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