A NEW DAWN FOR TABLETOP CREATOR HUB!

Written by: Jodie's Dice Farm

Welcoming you to our brand new and improved website

A brand new Tabletop Creator Hub is upon us, a new era, a new dawn. The Hub has a brand new website - with more improvements than you could shake a quarterstaff at. We want to welcome you with open arms to the new website, introduce all the new features, and let you know what it offers: from the directory, down to the gallery.

Big changes have come in the way the site can be used; with many small features added to make your lives easier when looking for the best brand for your nerdy needs. The creator directory now has three different search functions: category, location, and brand name. You can even search in these by typing what you’re looking for rather than scrolling the full lists - making it faster, and easier, for you to find what you’re looking for. The same search functions can be used to find certain brands' images in the creator gallery, a board-style showcase of what our brands do. We didn’t stop adding search functions there - of course, you can also search by category and location on our discounts page too, where our brands offer exclusive discounts to be used by you! Finally, there is the articles page - where you are now! Once you’ve read through this, you can find all the articles from the old site that have been moved over, along with new articles every Friday!

Now that we’ve given a basic introduction of what’s new and what’s cool, let us get down to business: our chat with Tabletop Creator Hub founder Kerry!

Hi Kerry! Could you introduce yourself a little, and tell us what led you to start Tabletop Creator Hub?

Hi! I guess it all starts with Tabletop Crafter. I launched my own small business on Etsy back in 2017, sewing dice bags (and actually make-up bags, too). Well, one thing led to another and that business continued for over five years. During that time I launched the #dndadventcalendar on Instagram, where I collaborated with other small businesses to offer giveaways through December. The first one ran in 2018 with only around 22 small businesses. Now it runs with around 200+ businesses! The importance was always on the small, independent artist, and using it as a platform to expose them to new audiences, as well as spreading some Christmas cheer!

This discovery of a love for working with and supporting other small businesses is what eventually led to the Hub. At one point I had wanted to create a store that sold products for small businesses all from one place, but I quickly realised just how much that would be to take on. Eventually, at the end of 2021, the idea of a web directory came to mind. A place to discover small businesses you might never have found before, where you’re not just limited to the brands that sell via Etsy, or the ones you’re exposed to via the algorithms. It’s always been important to me to foster a feeling of community and collaboration, and that was a huge driving factor behind the Hub, too.

To start with, what can one find on the Tabletop Creator Hub?

Front and centre is our directory of creators. This is a collated list of small businesses whose works are inspired by tabletop RPGs and fantasy, with a splash of general nerd culture. Each brand has their own profile that they have full control over, and you’ll be able to find all their own links to stores and socials there, as well as a short bio, and some product pictures.

A brand new feature of our new site is the Creator Gallery, which is the place to go if you want to just peruse some gorgeous product photography and see what people have to offer at a quick glance.

You’ll also find special Hub-only discounts and articles on the site!

How many brands are on the website at the moment?

As we speak, there are currently 216 profiles published! We have creators from all over the world, not just the UK and the US, but Australia, Europe, India, Asia… One day I hope we have a creator from every country! While there are currently 216 published, there are a handful more that are still working away on their profiles before they go live, and we’re always open to new creators joining!

Walk us through how a user can interact with the site, to really get the most out of it.

When you first land on tabletoprcreatorhub.com you’re met with a carousel of Featured Creators, these are brands who have kindly donated to the Hub to help us cover our overheads like web fees. All brands on the site have the option of a free tier, but those that want to go a little further get to see themselves on the front page. Take a scroll through these creators to see if anything strikes your fancy. Then, still, on the front page, spy the latest brands to sign up. If you’re a regular here, this is a great way to immediately spot the new brands to discover.

I then suggest if you’re here for a quick visit, to head straight to our Creator Directory. You can filter the list by product type and location, or if you’re looking for a specific brand, you can search for their name! If you’re just browsing, why not filter down to your continent and take a look at what’s on offer? Many of our brands' ship internationally, and of course, with digital pieces, it doesn’t really matter where they’re located, but we understand the importance of both keeping shipping costs down, and shopping locally.

Some of our brands are also offering special discounts for Hub users, so next head to the Discount page to take a look. If a creator is offering a discount here, you’ll also see this on their profile, so don’t worry about missing it!

We also wanted to make the site a space for learning more about TTRPGs, getting inspired for your game, or helping you to discover the perfect product for whatever occasion. So for some reading material, head to our Articles section. Every article is written and edited by members of the Hub, so you know they’re written with passion and enthusiasm over clickbait.

What is your favourite feature on the new website?

Honestly, for me, it’s each brand having their own profile that they can control. On our old site, due to how it was made, everything that was on there was manually coded in by myself and my partner in crime, partner in life, and partner in Hub - Ryan, which meant new brands didn’t go up quick enough, and any changes, no matter how minor, to a profile had to go through us first. Now brands can add new product images, refresh their bios and update the categories they appear in when they need to, which means you get the up to date info quicker. It also means I can spend my time on bigger things, like some of the top secret projects we’re working away on.

What does the Hub offer that say, Etsy and its competitors don't?

I guess the main thing to remember is that Hub isn’t a marketplace or a storefront. This means that we can focus on showing off our brands without worrying about how to push sales. None of our content is organised via an algorithm, which means you’re not missing out on any content just because a piece of code thinks you don’t need to see it. We’re built on and by community, our creators have a support network in the form of a Discord server, and we put their mental health and wellbeing at the top of our priority list. We don’t require payment to be listed, nor to be featured in things like articles or our social platform posts, and we don’t push creators to jump through ridiculous hoops for gold stars (looking at you star seller badge). You’ll also find us out in the real world, too. Already we have supported creators at local conventions, and there may just be an event of our own in the works… We don’t just want to present you with a list of “here’s some Instagrams you should follow or shops to use”, we want to create an experience, and help our brands to flourish.

It says that the brands are vetted, what steps are taken to ensure shoppers' safety when choosing hub brands?

This is one of my personal core requirements of the Hub actually! Each creator is someone that I personally have spoken to and interacted with in some capacity, and all brands that have applied have been run past our vetting team, made up of some of our veteran Hub members who actively champion our ethos. They are well versed in their area of expertise and the communities surrounding those, so are able to flag problem people, or detect potential discrepancies. This means that every single creator listed on the site is a real human, pouring their real heart and soul into their work, they are trustworthy, and you know that if you shop with them, you’re going to receive something wonderful.

How do you see the Hub growing in the next few years?

We’re always welcoming new creators to the Hub family (lovingly nicknamed Hubbitses in our Discord), and we regularly reach out to creators that we come across, both in-person at events and on social media. So, I see our numbers growing rapidly, especially now that I can switch focus from manually updating the website, and can put my energies into the community. My end goal is to fill the directory with every creator that deserves a space there, that fits within the purpose of the site of course, and since there will always be new brands, it will always be growing!

As I alluded to, we do also hope to branch out and grow in the physical world, too with more presence at conventions and events, as well as hosting some of our own.

Finally, please let us know anything else you’d like to add that we haven’t touched on yet!

Mostly I just want to thank everyone for reading, and say that I hope you enjoy the site. It’s a labour of love, and we just want to make the world a brighter, nerdier place.

And that’s the rundown by the heart of the hub herself; we hope that you can spend some time looking around the site and that you come back to see us again!

To keep up to date you can follow our socials; find us on Instagram and Twitter - or even better, just bookmark us so you can keep returning! Enjoy adventuring through the site, and find some great artists and creators here. It’s what we’re here for!