Embrace Your Future: Technology by Bernadette Finnerty

While many have been able to avoid using laptops, cell phones, pocket computers, discussion boards, newsgroups, and the Internet ... and still operate successful craft businesses ... many of us are thrilled to have all this new technology at our fingertips. I don't know what I would do without e-mail and the Internet. Easily, 60 percent of my communication with writers, article sources and industry contacts is done electronically.

I don't have to spend as much time on the telephone, and I am rarely bound by the working schedules or time zones of the people I need to contact. I know I can send an e-mail message at any time of the day, and I'll usually have a written response from that person within 24 hours, if not immediately.

It is becoming increasingly common to see an exhibitor working on his/her laptop or talking on a cell phone at a craft show. Those who eschew technology will say, "What did you do before laptops, cell phones, e-mail, the Internet?" To this I answer: "I don't know ... but I don't care, because it's here now and I love it!"

On the other hand, technology can also have unpleasant side effects, like the barrage of unsolicited e-mails advertising products and services like: RoboNagi, the interactive robot; or www.thegreen.com, which provides a "wide variety of information about golf through thousands of categorized Web sites." And then there are the get-rich-quick offers -- I get at least two of those every day.

I don't know how I got onto any of these e-mail lists, but I often spend time deleting messages before I open the ones that look legitimate.

Another irritating side effect to new technology is that annoying person who is chatting on her cell phone in the checkout line at the supermarket. Or the fact that since there are so many phones, fax machines and Internet connections clogging up telecommunication networks, I now have to dial a new area code when I call my parents, who live about 15 minutes away. Even worse ... there are seventh-graders running around with beepers!

Overall, though, new technology is wonderful. And I believe it is the future of the crafts industry, beyond its use as a sales tool. Electronic communication will never replace of the sensory pleasures of craft making and buying. But it enhances our ability to communicate what is so special about craft, and our ability to sell it.

Here's one exciting example: Progressive show promoters are beginning to use online jurying. Just think, at some point you may be able to put your best images on a disk or just e-mail them straight to a promoter with your application! That means less copying of slides, fewer tedious forms, no more calculating postage for different-sized application packages, etc. It will take some technological training and possibly a small investment for equipment ... but imagine the time and cost savings! We'll be following this development and will update you as shows begin to use technology in the jury process.

Your opinion counts ... help plan our 26th year
Please take the time to respond to our monthly reader surveys. We really want to know what you think about the content of The Crafts Report -- from specific articles to the general range of coverage -- and we use your comments when planning our editorial schedule for the coming year. We're getting ready to plan for 2001, so now is a great time to put in your two cents! And, thanks to those who have already been responding! As always, you can e-mail us with your comments as well.

Bernadette Finnerty is editor of The Crafts Report.

JULY 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS