About this Event
CRAFTED & CONNECTED #2
A LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA HAPPY HOUR MIXER
for Food Content Creators + CPG Founders & Professionals
📅 Tuesday, Sept. 22 | 6:30–8:30 PM
📍 Venture X Brambleton Quarter
23710 Schooler Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20148
🎟 FREE for Attendees —
📦 CPG BRANDS —
🎤 Hosted By: +
⭐ Sponsored By:
🤝 Partners: | | |
🥤 CONFIRMED BRANDS SAMPLING — SO FAR
Subject to Change
🥒
🧴 (Mblue Labs)
🍿 (Fine Snacks Inc.)
🧃
🥨
🇮🇹
🍅
🐻
🥟 (Latin Goodness Foods)
🥤
🍪
+ Kashmir Saffron House
Yes, those are their Instagram links — because it's that kind of event. 📱
🤳CONFIRMED CREATIVES ATTENDING — SO FAR
Subject to Change
🍻 THE EVENT
Our first-ever Crafted & Connected Happy Hour Mixer in Arlington, VA, this June brought together 40+ local food content creators, 15 DMV-area CPG brands and 25+ CPG professionals.
The event was a huge hit for both groups, and our fireside chats about the CPG industry, content creation and social commerce were well received — until a building-wide fire alarm cleared out the place and cut us a little short. Kind of a funny ending! 🔥😂
Since then, we've received lots of requests to create more connectivity between these two overlapping and complementary industries. So we're bringing Crafted & Connected to Loudoun County for the first time this September!
Once again, we'll bring together food content creators and CPG founders & industry professionals from across the greater DMV to:
🤝 Network and build new relationships
🥤 Discover and sample local products
📱 Create unique content
💡 Exchange ideas and industry knowledge
🛒 Explore the fast-growing world of Social Commerce
Decision-makers from retailers, distributors and investment firms will also be in attendance. Everyone is invited to make their way out near Dulles Airport and join us!
🎤 CONTENT & CONVERSATION
Our content will be moderated by Abbey Fish, Founder of — the leading conference and community for food creators and brands.
Abbey also consults with organizations on creator marketing and brand experience, including the Specialty Food Association, producer of the Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC and Winter FancyFaire in California.
Her work and research focus on the evolving Creator Economy and how creators influence consumer behavior, product discovery, brand trust and modern commerce through content, community, affiliate marketing, livestream shopping and platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram.
🤝 THE FORMAT
This time, we're reserving MORE time for product sampling and networking. We may have a fireside chat or two, but they'll be limited in time and may take place in a breakout room.
The focus is on giving creators, brands and CPG professionals plenty of time to meet, sample, create and connect. More details TBA!
🚀 DC STARTUP & TECH WEEK
is once again a partner for Crafted & Connected! This event will serve as our lead teaser for both the CPG Track and the NEW Creator Economy Track, which kick off Monday, October 19 in DC.
The 11th Annual DC Startup & Tech Week runs October 19–23, 2026, bringing together founders, entrepreneurs, investors, creators and innovators from across the DMV. More details TBA!
🏢 THE VENUE
We'll be taking over the entire space at Venture X Brambleton Quarter, a beautiful new coworking space in Loudoun County.
📍 Venture X Brambleton Quarter
23710 Schooler Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20148
🍺 Beer | 🍷 Wine | 🥤 Mocktails | 🍴 Dinner food details TBA
Come ready to eat, drink, sample some great products and meet some interesting people!
📦 BRAND SAMPLING DETAILS
We have space for approximately 15 local DMV-area Food, Beverage, Beauty, Body and Pet brands to sample.
• Approx. 3' x 3' of table space for active or passive sampling — tables provided.
• NEW: Each sampling brand will donate approximately 25 units of product for our Bundle Bags for participating content creators and panelists — a great additional promotional opportunity.
• Sampling booth fee: $40. Brands will not be invoiced until the week before the event.
• The event will be curated to ensure a diverse mix of categories.
• Please note: Brands featured on the event flyer will not necessarily be attending.
📦 INTERESTED IN SAMPLING?
🎤 ABOUT OUR HOSTS
is the leading platform for the food creator economy — connecting a community of 15,000+ food creators and 250M+ collective reach with the brands, tools, technology and partnerships that help creators and companies grow.
is a free-membership community of 500+ DC, Maryland and Virginia CPG founders and industry professionals. The group hosts in-person networking events, runs the CPG Track at DC Startup & Tech Week each fall, and shares local brand updates and advice from industry veterans on LinkedIn. .
⭐ SPONSORED BY RELISH
is a creator-led commerce platform built for CPG, Retail and Restaurant brands that want more than reach. Relish pairs products with everyday creators, generating hyper-local, native content that drives discovery, foot traffic and real sales.
Tech-enabled. Human-driven. Built for scale.
🤝 OUR PARTNERS
🚀 — Where founders, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators come together to build, grow and celebrate the DMV's startup ecosystem. The 11th Annual DC Startup & Tech Week is October 19–23, 2026.
🌱 — Backs and builds the next generation of food brands through the First Run Accelerator, First Run Angel Network and First Run Fund.
🍴 — A woman-owned food-tech company empowering local communities by creating a more sustainable and inclusive supply chain.
🔆 — Helps product brands launch and scale on TikTok Shop. Affiliates • Content • Ads
🍻 COME CRAFTED & CONNECTED!
Whether you're a food content creator, CPG founder, industry professional, retailer, distributor, investor or simply interested in where food, brands, creators and commerce are headed — we'd love to have you.
Come sample. Come create. Come connect.
🎟 FREE FOR ATTENDEES —
📦 CPG BRANDS —
Event venue & nearby stays
Venture X Brambleton, 23710 Schooler Plaza, Ashburn, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.