2006 Annual Conference

May 9 - 11, 2006 Portland, Oregon

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The 2006 conference was terrific! Over 120 people were there, making this one of the biggest HSMG conferences ever - and certainly the biggest three-day event we've ever held.

Sponsors - Thanks!

First of all, a huge "Thank You!!" to all the companies and individuals that sponsored the event and individual parts of it, as well as those who contributed to goodie bags and raffle/door prizes. These generous members are listed to the right - please take some time to click the links and visit their sites.

Hotel

The hotel (Red Lion on the River) was great. Nice, but casual enough to feel comfortable hangin' around and talking soap. We had the entire downstairs ballroom and adjoining rooms, which was perfect for our group. Food was excellent and there was a LOT of it!

The hotel was right on the river, giving excellent views and a nice outdoor space to walk around on breaks. The restaurant and bar had decks overlooking the river and bridge; it was very pleasant to sit outside.

Monday

Monday night was the start of registration. The whole registration process was very smooth with badges, very cool goodie bags and pre-ordered items handed out at the registration tables. Also available were conference shirts, mugs, aprons in several styles and lots of books. The Conference Ground Crew were on hand in their yellow shirts to assist attendees with whatever was needed. Jim Ranieri, from our Management Office, was on-hand to keep all the finances straight.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning started out with our keynote speaker, Catherine Failor. As the author of several books and a long-time member of the Soap Guild, she's practically a legend in the soap making community. She spoke on "The Evolution of a Passion", sharing her insight into the building of a soap making business and how, as you grow and evolve personally, your business tends to grow and evolve with you. Catherine sold her soap making business and used her artistic genius to create the unique designs that are now Milky Way Molds which many of us are familiar with. Now she has expanded and is actively promoting her new endeavor Garden Molds. Catherine was kind enough to donate 4 of her Garden Mold kits as raffle prizes.

After a presentation by Sharon Ruck and lunch, we loaded up on two motor coaches for a field trip to Essential Wholesale. Dennis and Kyla gave tours of their facility and talked about the different actions they have taken over the years to grow and expand their business. In just a few short years (7) they have gone from a small do-it-your-self business with the square footage of one kitchen cabinet to a large warehouse filled with mixing vats, storage of lots of drums and pallets of materials, a shipping center, purified water system, and a complete graphics design and labeling unit. WOW!

Returning back to the hotel, we went went our ways for dinner and then joined back up for some networking time with desserts and book signings. For all who wanted sweets, we had an ice cream sundae bar and our own coffee (and tea) barrista station. Catherine Failor, Kevin Dunn and Casey Kellar all autographed their books for the attendees. It was a great time to just sit and network with other soapmakers after a full day.

Continued ....