Oy!

Why am I "in charge" of the Jewish street team? Is it my infinite knowledge of street team starting? How about street team workings? Or even my deep ties to my Jewish heritage and the Jewish community both on and off Etsy? Nope. Not really. It's because I said "there should be a Jewish Etsy street team," and people agreed.

I'm not quite sure what the difference is between leading random groups and organizations (I did this sort of thing a lot in high school and at Oberlin) and, say, cleaning my living room. In one case, I'm all pro-active and go-get-'em and I have a decent natural sense of what needs to get done right away and what is better to put off until things are further along. In the other case, I separate my crafting papers into sub-categories in the middle of the floor and leave them there for easier access while a weird layer of old clothes, yarn, flat-rate boxes, broken small appliances, laundry, and other miscellaneous crap coats the entire area visible from the entryway.

But I've started a database of the Etsy Jew Team members. I finally got convos out to every person I have on "the list" (sorry about the "list" of Jews...I'm reading Man's Search for Meaning right now and it's a little creepy, but that's what it is) and I have a game-plan for where to go from here.

And oh! Right! I still have a shop somewhere! I have Purim cards in my head and the paper here and I even bought a circle paper cutter thing for the project, but I can't open the part where the blades are (stupid weakened body). I should just eat crow and wander over to my neighbors' and ask them. They're nice. They'll think it's funny/cute.

Hello Etsy Jews!

UPDATE: GO TO http://etsychai.blogspot.com!!!

If you've randomly stumbled upon this entry, I'm trying to start the Jewish Etsy team. This is the e-equivalent to holding a first meeting in my living room for lack of our own space.

Ok, let's get this party started. As soon as we have a name, I will make a blog on blogger with that name and we will move all communications there. The three proposed names are in the poll on the right. Please vote! If you have another name you want added to the poll, leave it in the comments and I will put it in ASAP. If you want to make a case for a particular name, you can leave that in the comments, too.

As for our team purpose/mission statement, here's what it looks like right now. Comment or convo me with any changes, additions or concerns. If I knew how to make this a wiki, I would.

Our team purpose is to promote Jewish community, Jewish art, and things for the Jewish holidays on Etsy. We will work to bring current Etsians into our shop as well as encouraging the greater Jewish community to shop on Etsy.
This street team will be open to anyone who has an interest in Judaism or in Jewish culture, art, or crafts, whether or not they themselves are Jewish. It will also be open to people who are Jewish or have an interest in being part of a Jewish crafting community regardless of whether or not the items in their Etsy shop would be classified as Judaica.

If anyone else wants to be a leader of this team, let me know. I have NO intentions of being a dictator here and the only reason I'm doing this right now is to streamline the process and get it going, so please say something if you have other ideas and opinions and/or want to take over or do things on any small or large scale!