I am not easily impressed, but my friend Sammy Davis impresses the hell out of me. I first met her on Twitter, of all places, and we took our online friendship offline by meeting for 50%-off sushi in the East Village; over rolls and edamame, we learned that we actually have mutual friends and aspirations. Sammy recently left her job at a very prestigious publishing company to focus completely on her vintage clothing business, Sammy Davis Vintage.
Sammy and three other women (Kim Last, Daphra Holder, and Laura Trimble) have organized La Femme Fete, a holiday sale and event taking place this Saturday, November 21st from 5-8 PM at 347 W. 36th Street in Manhattan. Impressed by how hard she’s been working on organizing this event, I sent Sammy some questions about the holiday sale and the ways that she is using social media/the Internet to promote and organize it.
What is La Femme Fete?
La Femme Fete is a presentation of the organizers’ collections in an engaging environment where women can socialize, network, and start thinking about their holiday purchases. Complimentary cocktails will be provided by VeeV, music by DJ Kristine P, a photo booth by photographer Chris Reed, and a runway/walking presentation styled Daphra and myself with makeup by Tyshon B. The event will have various components that not only make it a “sale,” but an unofficial official launch party of sorts – complete with the drinks, the tunes, and the style that encompass an event of this nature.
Who are the women participating in this event?
I’m a vintage curator and stylist of women’s vintage and consignment pieces. Daphra and I, who will be presenting the women’s vintage collection, “Happy Hill Vintage,” will be collaborating to present a runway show of our favorite pieces.
Kim Last makes handmade jewelery: earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc. Her designs are born in her mind and made with her hands. She has some fantastic new pieces from her collection, Kim Last Designs, which she’ll be debuting – made fresh over the course of the past few weeks!
Laura Trimble is a watercolor artist. In her collection LATin NYC, she uses her initials (Laura Anne Trimble) to combine her passions for whimsical watercolor and her life in New York City. She paints stationery that is representative of small New York pleasures; think the Mr. Softee truck, Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park, to name a few of her favorite scenes.
How did you meet them and how were the four of you able to collaborate?
Kim and I met when we won a scholarship with New York Women in Communications in 2006. We were both in college at the time and pursuing study abroad opportunities in London, England the following year. Coincidentally, when we both moved to London in the fall of 2006, we literally moved within a 10-minute walk from one another! In London, we became close friends and have stayed that way ever since.
The rest is networking history, but we all met through the relationships that we’ve made living in this crazy city called New York. Laura Trimble was first introduced to me by my running partner, Rachel Mount. Laura went to Princeton with Rachel’s ex-roommate and current boyfriend. I met Daphra through a good friend who noticed that she was Facebook-ing about “vintage.” Daphra was also a NYWICI scholarship winner, but NOT my year. She was a scholarship winner the same year as my friend who introduced us, so we are all still NYWICI members, but I didn’t know Daphra until I was told that I “should” know her. We had a drink one night this summer, commiserated about selling vintage at the Brooklyn Flea, and, within weeks, I took her to my hometown in Lancaster, PA for a mini vintage road trip.
And here’s the twister: Daphra also went to Princeton and graduated the same year as Laura. They were in the same SORORITY together, but never that “close” until La Femme Fete brought them together!
How have you used social media to help you organize and promote this event?
We wanted to keep a strictly-guarded invite list at first, and we only used an online invite system, Paperless Post, to create the RSVP list.
But, to create hype, excitement, and desire to attend – because you know how you can RSVP for something and then decide to never show – we have been mutually Facebook-ing, blogging, Tweeting, etc. about the event. I’ve been the main pillar in this department – blogging about the La Femme Fete organization process on Sammydvintage.com (again, that “reality TV” event-planning idea).
I see you have a Twitter account for this event – what has been your strategy with Twitter?
We’ve been generating buzz on Twitter, even if “La Femme Fete” is an inactive Twitter account. Our alcohol sponsor, VeeV, has tweeted with me once or twice. I’d like to reach out to them via DM and see what strategy we can do this week to promote their brand to my network, and vice versa. I think that I will get into the La Femme Fete Twitter account and make it active, so that we can begin to accomplish a social media strategy and game plan. I’ll keep you posted.
Our original strategy was to use the Twitter account as a way to communicate what we were doing at any moment around planning the event. Think “reality TV” event planning, only in digital form. Unfortunately, we haven’t had time to really “use” the Twitter account. We don’t even have a picture! But, I’ve been Twittering @lafemmefete to drive some general interest in my network on Twitter. And it’s worked! I had a few people last night request an invite because “they didn’t get one.” That to me was worth it.
How do you think hosting a live event will boost/add to your sales and online presence online?
I’m excited for the follow-up Facebook messages, tweets, and general pings about my brand. The idea is that, to get a buzz around your product, you can’t always accomplish that successfully online. You have to be in people’s faces. In their hearts. In their minds. In their wallets!
With such an over-saturated market – and the Internet has facilitated that saturation – you have to differentiate yourself in real-life form. I am not only someone who sells a great product and can help you make the right decisions around your buying power, but I’m someone that is a brand.
I know that the other event co-organizers are super psyched for follow-up sales. Kim & Laura both have Etsy shops. Daphra and I are still working on our “online presence.” It takes a lot longer to launch a clothing store online! But the goal is there and, with La Femme Fete, we can gauge interest, make connections, and grow organically within our network.
Because we are aware that women won’t bring enough cash with them, we will have two or three laptops available for online ordering from Kim Last jewelry and LATin NYC stationery and prints. I think this is a great way to encourage immediate sales – or women can walk away and never go home to officially buy what they promised. It’s a tough market, but to make your buying power easier in your mind, it’s important to give all the resources up front and make them easy to use.
(Photos by Ryan Varjas)
I never properly thanked you — via the comments !!! — for this article, Laryssa!
La Femme Fete vol. 2 … coming soon!
xoxo
SD