Well, I think I've finally recovered from my trip to Detroit! What a wild, whirlwind week I had! First, I guess I should start by saying that exhibiting at consumer shows truly is a lot of hard work. Setting up the booth, lugging in product, trying to make an attractive display...it's a job! We had products from 7 companies in our booth and the owner/product designer from each was present to help the customers. Now, you'd think that this was a recipe for disaster: 7+ women, all business owners, all used to running their own show, doing it their own way, answering only to themselves, now in a situation where we needed to work together for the good of the group. Yikes! However, this group of women was top notch and not only did we work together well, we had a lot of fun at the same time. There were a couple of nights at dinner when I wondered if we were too loud, if we had become "that" table that annoys the rest of the restaurant, and there was even a night when a hotel employee came and tapped on our door to ask us to keep it down! Eek! I was always the "good girl", not the rabble rouser! What happened?! I guess I'll blame the influence of the group I was with! J Okay, I'll confess, I did my share to contribute to the shenanigans. At any rate, we had a terrific time, and I'm already looking forward to the next time we're all together.
At this show, I taught two classes per day for three days (6 sessions total). One was Stamp & Stitch which introduced them to our brand new line which, unfortunately, isn't even available yet (still in production). The other was a variation of the Advanced Techniques class that I taught at the Mesa show a few weeks ago. I just love the students at the Mega Meet. Everyone is so eager to learn and just digs right in. And I can't say enough about the Mega Meet organizer, Kate Griswold, and her staff. Kate runs a great show and it's a pleasure to be there. She really knows how to treat her exhibitors and instructors. Other show coordinators should take lessons from Kate. And the Teachers Assistants...I can't say enough good about them! My classes are very hands-on, technique driven, and require a lot of personal attention. In a perfect world, I would plan for 2-3 helpers for a class of 40. However, it became very clear very fast that if I have a good TA, I don't need so many helpers. Charlene was my TA the first two days. Yep, two days. Not "one class"...at the Mega Meet they help for multiple classes and even multiple days. Charlene was so phenomenal (when I arrived 25 minutes early for my first class on Friday morning, she already had the room totally set up) that I was, quite honestly, dreading my Saturday classes when I would have to "break in" a new TA. However, when Carol walked into the classroom and greeted me with "I love Timeless Touches products!", I knew immediately she would be every bit as terrific as Charlene. And she was! So kudos to Charlene and Carol from Michigan! And to Kate and her fabulous staff for providing the best TAs ever! I peeked at the class evaluations before leaving and I know that having such great TAs were a big part of having such good comments.
After the show was over, I spent a few days with Todd's sister, Lori, and her family. I'm afraid I wasn't a very good house guest though. I felt like a total slug for the first 48 hours I was there. These shows are starting to really take it out of me! Although, I suppose it would help if I would get more than 4-5 hours of sleep each night. It was great to be with them again and I very much appreciated their hospitality, especially that of my nephew, JL, who relinquished his newly painted & carpeted bedroom for 3 days so that I would have private accommodations.
And then, after all the wonderful happenings of the week, I got to top it all off with a visit to the brand new location of Culver's which is just a few miles from Lori's house. Now, those of you who live in the midwest and are spoiled because you can go to Culver's anytime you want, may not understand the thrill. (One of my dear friends considers a trip to Culver's to be equal to that of a trip to McDonalds..ha! I think not!) I was introduced to Culver's while at the Milwaukee Stamp & Scrap Expo last October. From the ButterBurger to the frozen custard, I was in total bliss! I'd been craving it ever since. And what's better than eating at a one-day-old Culver's location? Finding out from the manager that they're going to open 5 Culver's in the Phoenix area next year! What a way to end my trip! I was smiling all the way to the airport!
I was so looking forward to getting home after being gone 8 days. I missed my husband, my dog, and my ducks and was looking forward to cuddles from each. When they announced before take-off that we'd be landing early due to a "nice tailwind", I quickly called Todd from my cell and told him that "I'll be early, but you should probably call later just to be sure." I settled in for my 4 hour flight, bought the headset to watch King Kong (which I hadn't seen yet) only to discover that my armrest didn't work right. I think I'm jinxed. This is the 2nd time in a year this has happened to me. The flight attendant arranged for me to plug into the armrest of the seat behind me...yes, the cord was long enough, but just barely (I couldn't move my head much) and I had to rely on the passenger behind me to set the volume for me. She got a free cocktail for her troubles and a little later the flight attendant gave me my $5 back for the headset! That was a surprise! Maybe this USAir/America West merger isn't such a bad thing after all!
About an hour before our scheduled landing, when my legs were starting to cramp up, the pilot announced that we were circling over southern New Mexico. ???? Umm....why? It turns out that after a full week of near non-stop rain in Detroit, and looking forward to getting back to my "dry heat", the Phoenix airport was closed due to.....thunderstorms. That's pretty rare, so it must have been a major storm. (Todd told me later that we had a haboob which totally explains the delay.) So after about 5 hours in that cramped little seat, I finally got home, and was happily greeted by Jake and the ducks. Now it's back to the normal day-to-day work for awhile.
