Instagram with Abbie Preston: Abbie will discuss why Instagram is an important social media platform to engage with as a visual artist. She will go over setting up a personal and business profile, Instagram stories, hashtags, quality images, and inviting language to use when creating a post about your work. She also will discuss helpful Instagram tools that give insight, engage with followers, and bring more viewers to your profile. Abbie Preston Edmonson is an object maker and entrepreneur living and working in Houston, Texas. As the owner and designer of Box Sparrow Studio, she currently creates wheel-thrown ceramic works for the home. You can find her most days creating out of Studio D at Hardy and Nance Street Studios in downtown Houston. Abbie is a graduate of Valdosta State University in Georgia, receiving her BFA in Studio Art in 2009 with an emphasis on drawing, painting, and ceramics. Website: www.boxsparrowstudio.com Instagram: @boxsparrow.

Facebook Business Page with Lee Steiner:  A Facebook business page can promote your creativity to more than just your ‘friends.’ With plenty of features to customize, your page will give you a social media presence that highlights your best and freshest work. Lee Steiner is a lifelong artist/maker who grew tired of apologizing for her clunky website and instead found a way to show off her studio, work, events, and even her online Etsy shop. Domestic Papers is her East End Houston studio where she makes her Vintage Vibe handmade books. Lee also teaches bookbinding workshops for museums and art organizations. Lee’s a long-time member of WiVLA and serves as the current board president. In 2016, she received the WiVLA ECO Fund Grant for her project, "Locked in Love: a story project," which also has a Facebook page! See Lee's work on Facebook and Instagram @Domesticpapers, and in her shop www.domesticpapers.etsy.com

Twitter with Debbie Blumberg: To Tweet or Not to Tweet? You’d have to have spent the last couple of years living in isolation to not have heard of Twitter and how everyone from politicians to celebrities to your local meteorologist seems to be tweeting. While the Twittersphere is exploding, is it a viable social channel for writers and artists? This Twitter 101 session will explore how this social channel works as well as some of the accepted conventions when using Twitter. After this primer, you’ll either be tweeting with the best of them or nodding knowingly with those who do. #ICanTweetToo Deborah Lynn Blumberg is a writer, editor, content strategist, and the co-president of Texas ASJA as well as a WIVLA board chair. Visit her @dlblumberg and www.deborahlynnblumberg.com

You Can YouTube Too! with Donna Durbin: After 25 years as a professional artist, entrepreneur, world traveler, and teacher, Donna is now the owner and founder of Clear English Coach and the online course creator of The ABC’s of an American Accent. After years of promoting her art, she’s expanded her marketing and technical skills to include videos to teach American English pronunciation and accent reduction to international professionals. Smartphones, iPads, and laptops have built-in cameras making it easy for even YOU to create videos to promote your artwork, document an exhibition, or demonstrate a technique. The world is your audience on YouTube, Facetime Live, and Vimeo. Think of technology as a new creative tool to expand your visibility, attract attention, and share your creative vision. The learning curve may be steep, but online classes, YouTube tutorials, persistence, and willingness will pay off. Don’t be left behind. Learn how to use video to create your own social media presence across the globe.

Mail Chimp with Keri Bas:  Keri Bas will introduce MailChimp and its email marketing features, as well as touching on the basics of email management systems and best practices for your marketing communications. A correctly automated MailChimp account can make the effort of a few volunteer hours do the work of a dedicated marketing team. Keri is the Publicity & Community Relations Chair at Visual Arts Alliance, and a Texas Representative of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc (SAQA). She works primarily in textiles, exploring the intersection of painting and stitching. Her studio is in the East End neighborhood of Houston. Find her online at paintedhippo.com, and on Instagram as @paintedhippo (mostly art and quilts) and @zephrene (mostly cats and food). She also can be found on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and other social media channels.

Zoom with Marie-Hélѐne Nguyen:  Zoom has proven itself to be an invaluable tool both in and out of the workplace, expanding our creative world and serving as a lifeline for artists from all disciplines. From meetings, to webinars, to workshops, Zoom can bring the artist - and the art - into the viewers’ own living rooms. Marie-Hélѐne will discuss the basics of Zoom, including setting up a meeting vs. a webinar. She will also share helpful tips for hosting fun and engaging online events on this platform. Marie-Hélѐne is an Executive Administrative Assistant in Education and the Programs Chair for ClayHouston. A lover of clay, she enjoys wheel throwing and filling her ceramic pieces with homemade food. You can find her and her favorite things on Instagram @mixiebear.