Last week, I jetted off to NYC to attend the National Stationery Show for a few days. You might remember my experience from last year, and while that was a blast, this year was even better (though my gals Lesa and Laura were really missed)!
Row 1: a heart made of our polaroids in the Minted booth, entering Paper Party 2013, Kimberly and I brunching in SOHO
Row 2: NY art print that I got to take home, Minted T Shirt (designed by Jill Means), Mintie and NSS standout, Meg Gleason of Moglea
Row 3: NSS loot, Hope, Jen and Natasha manning the Minted booth, my Twine wedding invitation samples spotted in the booth.
I get asked a lot why I attend. Do I exhibit? Will I in the future? The short answer is no and probably not. I go to meet with Minted and network with fellow designers. It's a pleasurable business trip, if you will. Wholesale isn't part of my current business plan, but growing my work with Minted is, so spending days talking with their CEO, community managers, and merchandising group was invaluable and of course talking paper with all my design friends is icing on the cake. I might have even snuck in a few hours at the show, but I laugh that it certainly wasn't as much of a focus this year.
That's the short summary. Let's get to the details... those not interested in specifics, you are welcome to go on your merry way. I am about to give a play-by-play. You've been warned.
The only way to explain this trip is that it is a complete whirlwind. It flew by. I arrived on Sunday, getting in mid afternoon at exactly the same time (without planning) as my official NSS roomie, Kimberly FitzSimons. We shared a cab to the hotel, freshened up and headed to The Jane for an unofficial Minted happy hour organized by Jackie of Sincerely Jackie. It was the perfect way to start out our trip. New faces, familiar faces. It was so fun. Facebook groups have allowed us to communicate consistently, so it was really like seeing old friends instead of meeting in person for the first time. I can't say enough how nice these women are.
Back:(L-R) Hailey Myziuk of Snow & Ivy, Anita Brown of That Girl Press, Kristen Smith, Kimberly FitzSimons, Carolyn MacClaren, Melanie Severin, Lori Wemple, Chelsey Brennan of Chelsey Emery
Middle:(L-R) Carrie O'Neal, Pasty Henspetter, Jill Means, Me, Amy Ehman of Design Lotus, Nam Bourassa of Gakemi Art & Design, Kristie Kern, Dawn Jasper
Front:(L-R) Jen Wick of J.Wick Design, Hannah Graff of HannahCloud Design, Jackie Mangiolino of Sincerely Jackie
Me and my roomie, Kimberly
We ended the night with dinner for 20 at Dos Caminos. I ate dinner at 10pm almost every night. New York is really the city that never sleeps!
The next day, after some meetings with Minted, we hit the show. We browsed the design booths admiring all the beautiful work. It is truly inspiring, but kind of overwhelming. There is so much! Last year, I tried to see every. single. booth. and ended up exhausted. So this year, we took it easy and headed back to the hotel for a bit to do a little work and rest our feet for the big Minted party that night.
(L to R) Kimberly, Me, Jen Wick, Kristen Smith, and Carrie O'Neal
The Minted party was at KTCHN and it was a great venue. Minted really threw a wonderful event and at the end, I even scored an art print in a drawing! I never win anything - but I guess I can't say that anymore! I chose Emily Potts' Type Study New York (seen in instagram photos above). It was my little souvenir of the week and I can't wait to hang it in my office.
Me and Jill Means at the Minted Party
(L to R) Susan Asbill, Jackie and Me
On Tuesday, we had pretty free morning, so instead of going straight to the show, Kimberly and I slept in and then headed to Soho. We ate a great brunch and shopped a little before heading to the show for the afternoon.
Once at the show, we hit up a lot of the supply side, which includes suppliers for pretty much all things stationery: printers, packaging, binders, paper. Lots of samples to take home - even trying to keep my stash small, I still struggled fitting it all into my suitcase.
Tuesday night was our last event, the Paper Party, hosted by Oh So Beautiful Paper. It was a big event with a ton of amazing sponsors (Minted included).
Back: (L to R) Eric Comstock of ERAY, Yolanda Chendak, Hope from Minted, Cambria Evans of J.Bartyn Design
Front: (L to R) Jackie, Me, Kimberly, Jen
On our way to the Paper Party, we passed by a packed restaurant, called Anejo Tequileria, and decided to head back to it for a little late night dinner. It was a beautiful evening and we sat outside and enjoyed an amazing last meal in the city.... and here, I thought I would be suffering from Mexican food withdrawal!
And that's all! What a week. Already looking forward to next year!
