Details!

Midwest Craft Con is a 3 day creative conference.

Join us March 31 – April 2, 2023 as we return to Columbus, Ohio.

Running a creative business can be a lonely endeavor, but Midwest Craft Con is a place for you to find community and support and make life-long friends. The DIY spirit lives on year-round in our private Facebook group for Conners

Midwest Craft Con is a three-day retreat for crafters, makers and creative business owners. The conference includes inspirational speakers, thought-provoking panel discussions, hands-on workshops and business-focused breakout sessions from experts from Ohio, the Midwest and beyond. But it won’t be all work: You’ll make new friends at our evening mixers, explore our trade show and network with fellow makers — it’s a weekend-long retreat with your best craft buddies. Last year’s after-hours activities included karaoke, a craft murder mystery and LOTS of googly eyes.

Who should go?

Anybody who runs a creative business. Whether you’re a veteran indie crafter, an upstart maker, an artist, a designer or photographer, you’ll come away from the weekend with lots of new ideas, techniques and friends. here’s what people had to say about the conference from years past:

“I feel like superwoman now thanks to all the encouragement.”

“This was such an amazing and affirming weekend. It was wonderful to be around my fellow crafters.”

“There was a moment during Lisa Congdon’s keynote where I just realized that I was in a room filled with such like-minded, goal-oriented crafty people. It had been a clear underlying theme all weekend, but something during her speech really drove it home for me. It felt so exciting to realize that there are so many of us out there, driving the handmade revolution!”

What’s included?

Three days of sessions, panels and keynote speakers, plus fun maker-centric activities and ample socialization time. Check out the 2020 schedule! Attendees are responsible for paying for your own room and meals. When you register, we’ll send you a confirmation email with a link to reserve a hotel room. Attendees do not have to stay at the primary hotel we have chosen for lodging.

When you book your ticket, we’ll also give you access to a private Facebook group just for conference attendees so you can start sharing stories and planning. That’ll be the place to go to find someone to share a room with or hitch a ride with!

We aim to make this conference inclusive and fun for everyone, so you should have a look at the Code of Conduct that we expect all attendees to adhere to.

What happens if you can’t attend?

If you purchased a ticket but can no longer join us, tickets are transferable but not refundable. You can post your ticket for sale in the Facebook group, and you can transfer the ticket yourself to the new holder from within your Eventbrite account, but please notify us of the transfer for our records.

If you are unable to attend because tickets sold out, join the wait list on Eventbrite, and we will contact you if a ticket holder is unable to attend.

If you need some help with the ticket price, we also have a scholarship program. Sponsors, ticket holders and friends contribute to our scholarship fund. (Scholarships are for a full weekend ticket, but do not include your hotel room, meals or travel.) Sign up for our email list to find out when scholarship applications go live.