Conference participants and speakers enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere in which to learn more about the business of being a craft artisan. Craft artisans today must do more than produce a marketable product. They should have control of the process which takes a product from conception to consumer. Marketing is not only of the finished product, but of the artisan, the medium, and the production process. The skilled craftsperson needs to be a designer, accountant, purchasing agent, secretary, employer, public relations executive, and marketing expert.
Conferences allow artisans to network with peers and to benefit from the experience of experts.
Each bit of knowledge is a tool to be used to successfully complete the journey each craft creation makes from idea to consumer. In Perspective Walter Jaeger, president of Jaeger and Ernst Cabinetmakers, kicked off the conference with a review of the AVA economic survey. This was mailed to more than fourteen hundred Virginia artisans in January 1997. Financially, there is a question as to the ability of artisans to make a living. Educationally, artisans need to know how to orient goals and implement programs that will aid them in making a livelihood from the craft industry.