Last night the HiP Chicks were honored to be apart of I Heart Art: Portland's Mixer Match event at Design Within Reach. This was a speed 'dating' event where 60 local handmade, wholesale ready, artists had 2 minutes to meet with 19 different vendors around town. Read Bettie's rundown of the event on Handmade in Portland here.
We were asked to be one of the Superstars to mingle in the crowd and to help calm nerves. This invitation was so very flattering to me, but also just a tad ironic. Who would calm my nerves? Meeting new people and making small talk are things I don't do very well. I think I was more scared than any vendors promoting their wares. But, I was surrounded by the other HiP Chicks and many familiar faces from the Summit of Awesome. That, and a couple of glasses of red wine helped me come out of my shell a bit.
I'm so glad I came to this event. I did meet lots of great people and saw amazing handmade creations. I can't wait to see some of the goods I saw last night show up in local stores. It was a great experience and I know events like this are good practice for me to try to be more out going. Growth is good.