I am going to break this up into a bunch of posts to keep them from being too long. So much was packed into the three days and each day was distinctive. Overall, I thought the conference was fabulous, well organized and rich in content. The quality of the presenters, panelists and speakers was tremendous. The location was easy to navigate, and it was exciting to be in the same building with the ACC Craft Show. If there was any disappointment for me, it was that I didn’t get a chance to meet some of the people I had hoped to meet, or visit longer with people I only see at these type of large community gatherings.
Registration was smooth and easy. I worked the registration table for the first hour, and everything was so well organized all we had to do was hand out envelopes. From there you proceeded to the Big Room, a very large meeting room filled with round tables which was the center of the event and the place to mingle and meet. Tables were set up to handle souvenir pick up, volunteer check-in and auction item drop off. Quick and easy.
The first day included a talk and fantastic slide presentation by Kathleen Dustin on the history of polymer clay from the bead perspective and a panel discussion on craftsmanship with Rachel Carren, Sarah Shriver, Alison Lee and Donna Kato. Jeff Dever led the panel discussion, which was excellent. The discussion really focused on the need to balance creativity, innovation, craftsmanship and commercial needs.
In the evening, there was a special preview of the “Gallery” before the shopping began. It was amazing to wander through the many many tables covered with a stunning variety of polymer clay work by more than 60 artists. Then the shopping frenzy began. I was volunteering in the Gallery when the doors opened for shopping and it was crazy. People rushed around to the tables they had scoped out earlier and shopped ferociously. I would guess that over half the total Gallery sales were made in that first hour. Conferences like Synergy are a rare opportunity to purchase work by polymer clay artists from around the world, many of whom don’t typically sell their work.
More on the first day workshops later. Since I was having way too much fun and took hardly any pictures, here are some links to people who were busy with their cameras:
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