The First Friday phenomenon is something I first experienced on a very small scale in Charlottesville, Virginia, a quaint little  college town that likes to pretend it's a big, cultured city. I thought it was the neatest thing (and not just because many of the galleries would serve wine without carding my then-underage art-appreciating self). People of all ages to come out once a month and meet up, hob-knob around town and just be social, with great galleries and rotated museum collections as a  somewhat glamorous backdrop.  First Fridays can be a spectacular way of celebrating a community.

Many cities use First Fridays as a way to prevent urban decay, inviting the residents to areas of the city that aren't usually populated by so many people, especially on a weekend night, when many people are out at parties, bars, dinner (or anything else one does on a Friday night).  Recently, I spent a weekend in Phoenix, and I got to experience their First Friday. There were the typical galleries open for new shows, at places like Modified and Trunk Space and there were gobs and gobs of people out, enjoying the perfect October evening weather, being seen as much as they were seeing.  Artists representing themselves set up shop on street corners, and all sorts of performers tried to grab your attention with a broad range of gimmicks and costumes.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Crafty Burrito Collective, Phoenix's local Etsy Team, was all set up and ready to go at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater nearby.   The Collective had definitely done their homework — the Etsy sellers who were vending all had great products and made contributions to the raffles that they planned on running every thirty minutes, they had great press in several publications and signage leading to the event.  They cooperated and set up a beautiful range of handmade goods, including jewelry, handmade books, jewelry and puppets. Throughout the night, we spoke to many other local artists, and explained what Etsy is to those who didn't know, explaining not just what the site was about, but how it helps people plug into their local arts culture.  After seeing this group of people dedicated to their craft and their businesses, I felt reassured that banding together for events like First Fridays and as strong Etsy Teams is vital to achieving success in a handmade business. 

Etsy can be overwhelming to sellers as it grows larger, and so networking with local people or people with a common interest is a natural way of learning the ropes and increasing chances of success.  Even if you don't live in a place that has events like First Fridays, you can find a community of makers to celebrate all things handmade with on a regular basis in Etsy Teams.  If you live where there is no team, you can form a team yourself or you can join one of the many, many global Etsy Teams and participate virtually.  The Arizona Crafty Burrito Collective uses their team for support by helping each other set up shop, encouraging one another to list more pieces, giving pointers on photo techniques, doing critiques and providing helpful constructive criticism on tricky things like descriptions and tagging, and meeting up for supply swaps and to give each other fresh ideas and inspiration.  They also do bigger group projects, like their First Fridays event, or making Etsy banners and generally promoting the site and getting press for their projects as a team.   

My First Friday in Phoenix was just one night, but it manifested something really important to me: artists getting together to celebrate local art and culture. It made me proud that Etsy Teams are a part of that.  Meeting and talking with the Arizona Crafty Burrito Collective and seeing what their strengths are as a team and how they support, encourage and help one another was totally inspiring, as it shows what strength there is in numbers.