CHA kicks off in Los Angeles, CA

Hi all....The time is really flying by here in LA.  Thursday morning I took a little walking tour of the surrounding area here.  I found FIDM, Wilshire Boulevard, tons of restaurants and markets and the Contemporary Art Museum.  Very cool indeed.

On my way back to the hotel, I stumbled across this crew below!  Some of my very favorite colleagues were getting out of their cab.  I spent the rest of the day with them, which was very nice.  We got them checked into the hotel and headed out for lunch.

Barbara, Roni, Roxi and Candice.

After lunch we took a run down to the Convention Center so that they could register. I was lucky that Candice was with me.  She is running the Craft Studio and she got me my display ribbon, which got me onto the show floor before it even opened.  Watching set up is always amazing.  You would not believe how fast everything gets set up.  It goes from looking like one hot mess to a fully set up and organized show floor in what seems like a flash.  I swear it's magic!

Then Thursday evening I went to dinner with 9 other designers.  That was a lot of fun! It was also probably the last good meal I will have while I'm here!  lol

Friday was a very exciting day.  It was the official kick off of festivities at the show.  I spent the day in seminars, organizing the Press Room and dropping projects off to display cases at the show.  My face is all over the place...on all sorts of signage for events I am participating in.  It is fantastic exposure.

One of those events was the Designer Round Table Discussions.  There I moderated a table on Confidentiality Agreements.  The event went well (and really fast) and was very well attended.  After that it was off to the Welcome Reception in South Hall.   I caught up with even more friends and was really pleased to see that, indeed, the canvas that I donated to the silent auction was prominently on display.

Here are some of the canvases and the story behind them.

There were about 16 of us who participated in this round robin, but only 10 of us who decided to donate our canvases.

Here is the signage that is being displayed with our canvases.  It explains them and each of our pictures are on it.

Even though I added an element to each canvas, this one I started.  I love how it came out and I may very well bid on it!

Here I am with Marisa Pawelko.  She was gracious enough to organize getting these pieces into the auction as well as all the publicity.

I also got to hang out with a few of the designers, some of whom I was meeting for the first time and others who I look forward to seeing twice a year!

Me and Laura Bray.

Here I am with Suzann Sladick Wilson.

Roxi Phillips, Beth Watson, Suzann Sladick Wilson, Vicki O'Dell and Laura Bray.

I joined the crew this time!

Once they took away the food, it was off to our designer section meeting.  It is a formal meeting to go over all the official happenings in our section.  I believe it is important to step up and volunteer, so I always try to help the council out when I can.

Of course, I ran into a few of my favorite friends there.  Here I am with Cindi Bisson.  She is a dear friend.  We have worked together for years.  As a matter of fact, she and I will be working together most of the weekend with When Creativity Knocks where she is Associate Producer.

We will be doing make and takes at Elmers and Craftwell.  Make and takes are always fun to do because you meet so many people.

Of course, I have to introduce you to Keri Cunningham....she is our rock over at CHA.  Keri is nothing short of amazing and is our direct contact at CHA.  She helps out with organizing events for designers like Craft Studio and the Designer Showcase.  I know she has been a great help to me personally as she is always there to answer a question.
Plus whenever I see her, she has a smile on her face.

Which leads me to today!  Today is Saturday...and the show floor officially opens.  I'm getting myself together shortly for what will surely be an exciting and long day.  I will be able to get some pictures and walk around the show floor somewhat this afternoon. My first stop, however, will be to the Keynote address where Nick Bilton, lead technology writer at the New York Times, will be speaking.  Then....the show floor opens.....

Artfully yours,

Theresa