What is Craft+Work?The Story So Far
200 Participants, 4 Events, 3 Countries, 1000's of Insights
Craft+Work is an intimate event series that brings together soloists, founders and leaders from the Shopify Partner ecosystem to share experiences, learn from each other and prove that there is no one right way to build and grow a business. Here's what we've been up to.
Friday 30th June 2023 @ The citizenM, Tower Hill
The inaugural Craft+Work event took place on Friday, June 30th, 2023, at the Tower Hill citizenM in London. Attendees, including agency founders, app developers, experts, and consultants, joined us for a focused day of discussion and peer learning.
We set out to create an intimate, one-day event for leaders and experts from the Shopify Partner ecosystem to exchange insights on building better businesses. With a cap of 40 attendees, we were pleased to see it go beyond our expectations. Six insightful presenters, an engaged audience, a great venue, and excellent food and drink made it a really successful day.
Illustrator and animator Chris Day captured the day's energy by live sketching on large "party bags," which became a real talking point. After six intense sessions, the heat was literally rising from his Posca pen!
Our presenters shared their expertise on topics like agencies, storytelling, event marketing, product management, leadership, and delegation.
We left feeling elated and excited, wondering whether this would be a one-off or the beginning of something bigger.
Friday 31st May 2024 @ The citizenM, Tower Hill
We decided to build on the success of our first event and returned to the citizenM on Friday, May 31st, 2024.
This time, we numbered fifty, including soloists, founders, and leaders working in ecommerce, app development, marketing, and content creation, primarily within the Shopify ecosystem. They came to listen, share, and learn—and the day delivered.
We also introduced a new group element to the day called "Conversation Stations" which everyone seemed to enjoy.
Once again, we invited six guest presenters to give our customary 20-minute, slide-free presentations. Unfortunately, Sophie couldn't make it on the day but promised to join us next year. Presentations covered a wide range of topics, from planned and unplanned career paths to goal setting, how to be terrible at marketing, and team culture.
Next stop NYC!
Monday 16th September 2024 @ Workhouse NYC
After much encouragement from friends and former colleagues, we took the plunge and booked two venues for our first overseas events — starting with New York City.
Workhouse proved to be the perfect venue, allowing our group of thirty to share, listen, and converse with ease. Sadly, neither Craig nor I followed the "get lots of photos" rule, so the gallery is a bit sparse — we were too engrossed in the conversations to remember!
Our "Conversation Stations" returned and were once again a highlight, solidifying their place in future events.
The guest presentations were agency-focused, covering topics including scaling, project scope, and the entrepreneurial journey from soloist to agency owner and back to running a micro-agency.
After wrapping up the day with more great conversations at an Irish pub across the street, we gathered our thoughts and headed to Penn Station for our 13-hour trek to Toronto!
Friday 20th September 2024 @ The Drake Hotel
Two events in two countries in one week felt ambitious, but we were up for the challenge. This was put to the test when our friends at Partner Meetup and Toronto's ECC chapter added two more events to our dance card the day before our Toronto gathering.
Fortunately, we made it through Thursday's events and were ready for our first Canadian edition. The Underground at the Drake Hotel served as our venue for the day. After adjusting to a suitable level of coolness (the AC, not the people!), we got started.
Oh, we also learned our lesson and captured more of the day on our occasionally wobbly iPhones!
The morning kicked off with our guest presenters. After lunch, we reintroduced the "Conversation Stations" alongside questions from the audience and my expertly coded random question generator, which sparked engaging conversations and valuable insights.
We wrapped up the day with a Happy Hour featuring cocktails, cheeses, and small meats!
Topics covered by our invited guests included product insights, lessons learned from leaving a unicorn company, and leadership development.
Craft+Work will return in 2025!
Craft+Work events are made possible by the generous support of our Patrons. It's a cliche but it's true to say we couldn't do it without them.
global Patron
The fastest way to build and run web apps. Gadget is a full-stack, serverless JavaScript platform for web app developers who want to build faster and maintain less.
gadget.dev →
global Patron
Spend less time managing your Shopify app business and more time growing it.
heymantle.com →
global Patron
A reliable invoicing solution that scales with you. Trusted by over 6,000 leading Shopify merchants.
sufio.com →
global Patron
Discover the power of 24/7 customer support tailored exclusively for Shopify app developers.
thesupportheroes.com →
global Patron
Accelerate your growth with AI-driven customer service! Convert more leads, provide stellar support, and supercharge your revenue.
tidio.com →
global Patron
We develop the most advanced store pickup, delivery and shipping tools for Shopify.
zapiet.com →
event Patron / London / NYC / Toronto
Used by thousands of Shopify merchants to deliver post-purchase & onsite multi-question surveys, providing valuable attribution data and sentiments about their products and services.
apps.shopify.com/grapevine →
event Patron / Toronto
Partner Meetup is dedicated to bringing Shopify partners together through socials, panels, and other types of events in the Toronto and Ottawa area.
partnermeetup.com →
event Patron / Toronto
Cleverific is the customer service game-changer for Shopify merchants. Eliminate support tickets with intuitive self-serve order editing for shoppers and process orders faster with advanced management tools for staff.
cleverific.com →
Please take a moment to learn more about their products and services and how they can support your business.
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