Dear Diary- it's time to get offline (more)
Third spaces, the value of offline community building, and why I'm hosting a real life book tour you can come to (!!!)
Dear Diary,
It’s been a while, and for a good reason!
I’ve been a busy bee planning events that take place in the ~real world~ something that feels slightly out of my comfort zone as a creator who has built her career and community mostly online for almost a decade now.
There’s been a lot of rhetoric online (read: Tiktok) lately about the value of third spaces and how they are slowly disappearing from society. I first heard the term from my friend Hugo who works in housing and planning, and to put it in simple terms:
A third space is somewhere that is not work or home, where people gather.
Examples include: libraries, cafes, bars, gyms, bookstores, but also places like parks, stoops.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
I can’t plan cities or build parks but this has had me thinking about ways I could use my art and business to provide more low-pressure, casual spaces for people to just hang out, make friends, have new conversations and just interact IRL in general. It’s also what led me to make my book launch events free and public !
Upcoming offline events:
By definition these aren’t strictly third spaces, but I hope you can come to my one of these offline events, or start thinking of new ways you could connect with others offline, too:
BOOK LAUNCH PARTY- RSVP HERE
The big one!!! The ultimate crafty girl gathering & celebration of creativity!!!
It’s not every day you publish your first book and I am so excited to celebrate this moment with you in a very special, very real way in both Sydney AND New York.
As I mentioned above- I always wanted the book launch to feel like one big gathering/celebration of creativity, which is why I’ve kept it free and open to the public.
There will be books to buy and get signed (while stocks last), a DJ, a bookmark decorating craft station, maybe even a special crafty cocktail (DM me with cocktail name suggestions please)…and more surprises I’ll tease in the coming weeks!
I hope you bring your friends! I hope I get to sign your book! I hope you enjoy a bit of mingling and come away feeling inspired to create.
POP UPS
When I launched Martina’s Tiny Store, one of the first questions I got from new customers was ‘where are you located?’.
While a brick and mortar is something I’ve always dreamt of doing (don’t we all dream of owning a cafe/bookshop/flowershop/bookstore?) - it really didn’t feel within reach so early in the business.
Small pop ups have been scratching that itch in the meantime:
Pros:
1. It’s a social affair
I love seeing people organise to bring their friends, their mum, their sisters along to the pop up and make it a whole social occasion. I’ve heard people say ‘Oh hey! I follow you!’ to OTHER CUSTOMERS while shopping, which makes me insanely happy. I love our community.
2. You get to actually touch things
I get to see my crafty products everyday (for a while there I was sleeping surrounded by boxes of stock, literally) so it’s easy for me to forget that most people have never actually seen and touched the products in their premium gorgeous glory, and discovered all the hidden features.
It’s such a joy to see your reactions as you approach the stall and spend ages picking out exactly which sticker sheets or crafty goodies you feel most drawn to.
Next pop ups:
BRISBANE- 28 September @ Stash World 10am-2pm
MELBOURNE- Oct 12 & 13 @ Neon Parlour 1-3pm (in between Scrapbook Club events for those who missed out on tickets!)
SCRAPBOOK CLUB
My absolute favourite offline community event that I’ve launched this year has been Scrapbook Club.
The idea of a Scrapbook Club is absolutely nothing new (your mum and all her friends probably one back in the day) but I realised that sometimes people just need someone else to organise it and bring all the pretty materials.
That, and: I genuinely just wanted an excuse to get together and craft with you all.
It’s a relaxed and unstructured get together with materials provided (just bring your journal) and sponsored goodies, designed to get you in creative flow again and hopefully meet new crafty friends.
I was extremely nervous for the first one but it was a huge success, so we’ve gone ahead and organised some more with our lovely partners:
Brisbane x Stash World: SOLD OUT both sessions
Melbourne x Pinky’s: SOLD OUT all 4 sessions (insane)
NYC x ReCcreate Tiny Trinket Tin workshop: November 3 Tickets TBA
MARKETS- Pros & Cons
I always said I wouldn’t do markets, because they seemed scary- but then Finders Keepers reached out (for those who don’t know- it’s a massive art & design market in Australia) with a free opportunity to host a stall and it felt like the universe saying- hey, just give it a try.
So I did it, and so many of you turned up in Sydney to say hello!
The Pros:
It was a good tester before I launched full on pop ups- I started to understand who exactly my customer was and put names to faces I’d seen in my comments section or inbox. (Turns out I was right: this community is made up of the sweetest, kindest, crafty creative people ).
I got to meet so many other business owners and make lasting friendships with Anna from Mamools & Nakisah from Crafty Club
The Cons:
My products are kinda…niche. I got exhausted explaining my products to strangers who weren’t my target demographic over and over.
It was a LOT more work than pop ups- long days, strict bump in times, big crowds. Whew!
Anyway, that’s all my thoughts on offline community building right now! I hope you come away from reading this with some new events for your calendar, or plans to host some of your own.
Thanks for reading!
lots of love,
Martina xoxo
Cheers to IRL spontaneity!
I think Third Spaces are so so important for connecting with community! Thank you for supporting them :D