Let the convention begin

My last walk in the desert - at least for this trip. I'm going to miss that the next couple of days, but then there isn't going to be as much time either as the classes are starting today and we need to have breakfast, get to our classrooms and get organized before the dealers arrive.

The days are going so fast, that I can barely remember what we did yesterday. We did spend the morning during some rehearsals. I'll tell you why in a minute. After lunch, we had some "free" time whereupon I was in my classroom so I could get my class sample finished. Actually, I decorated the room before so that would be done. By decorating, I mean hang up my samples of projects I've completed.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but one of the educators was unable to make the convention, so I'm taking over her class on ruler work. Both classes are FULL - 24 students each. That's going to be a hopping class. The class I was originally supposed to teach had fewer people in it, so it got nixed. I'm OK with that. That's just life and one must be flexible.

I had managed to get the sample for the new class partially completed before I left so I was attempting to finish it off yesterday. So that was a fun couple of hours working on the sample. I'm not quite finished so I need to eke out an hour or so later today so I can get it done in time for tomorrow.

Today, I'm a helper in the classroom. There are 40 in the classrooms today for the NEW Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 2. Matter of fact, there are three helpers so that should help to keep everyone happy.

Last night was the opening ceremony. We listened to some very exciting and very upbeat speeches by the top - and I mean the very top of the company. It's refreshing to hear their plans and goals and they are NOT just for the upcoming year. Set the goals high - have a bar to aim for and go for it. I love it and can't wait to see what's coming down the pipeline in the future.

With Husqvarna Viking, it's not all about the sewing machine, although that's a very important part of the business. But it's also about the technology and marrying the sewing machine to the technology which is something that we're seeing with mySewnet which is something that I'm very excited about.  There's a new tab on the mySewnet link called Library. EXCITING!!!!!  You can click on mySewnet link and get the pulldown menu.   Click on the library button to get all the details of what's new.

If you don't have a mySewnet account, you should go and have a peek.

So why did we do some rehearsing? Because the educators did some skits to "introduce" the new products. We had been split into groups and I was in the DESIGNER EPIC 2 group. How exciting is that???  Thankfully, the skits were to be funny so we could have a bit of fun with it and not be so caught up in the logistics. We're not professional actors folks! But we all had fun and I think the audience was entertained and that's all that counts.

Two local Native dancers then took the stage. They did a hoop dance. One did the dance while his brother played the drum. Unfortunately, when we left the stage, I exited right and my phone was on the other side of the room so I wasn't able to get pictures. I know!!! It's tough to sit there and NO PHONE!!!!!  I'm sure others got some pictures so I'll try to find some from someone else. It was very entertaining and very colorful!

This is when the two brothers unveiled the FOUR colors of the Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 2. The standard and ongoing color is burgundy blush. Three special colors were also introduced for a limited time. You can't buy one of these colors any longer. There is a blue one (I've forgotten the official name, but it had Indigo in it), there's a mint green one and there's the Vivid Sunset (bright orange and pink). I had to get my picture taken with it. Of course!!!!

I match the Vivid Sunset color of the Designer EPIC 2

Oh - the other thing we had to do was to switch hotels. A small detail but necessary due to some delayed construction at the resort hotel. Now we're at the casino hotel. But the whole transfer was pretty seamless as there were big buses to transport us back and forth. The only SNAFU? I was going to leave all my luggage in my classroom. However, I decided that I could bring my backpack over since I wouldn't need anything from it.

The casino hotel lobby

Back to the resort hotel and then realized that the rulers I needed for the ruler work were in my backpack. Fortunately, the folks from Sew Steady are here and I was able to borrow a set to get my work done. My set of rulers is with my bag for today.

I will say something about the hotel system. I think they must look at me and say - you can walk the furthest so you get a room the furthest from the elevators. At the last hotel, my room number was 66 which was very far from the elevators with the last room being 84. This time, my room number is 4. Hey - did I get close to the elevator? Nope - the smaller the number, the further from the elevator! I love it and my FitBit is going to need that anyway since there's no walk in my future. Now I'm 1.1 KM away from the geocache so I have to figure out how to sneak that in one morning. It might come down to blog or geocache and I know that you all want the blog.

I'm at the end of the hallway

I do miss the open window and the balcony, but that's life. One must move forward, not backward.


We had a lovely dinner on the outdoor patio and got to visit with the dealers.

Then it was off to bed as it's going to be quite the day today as we introduce the dealers to some of the amazing features of the new DESIGNER EPIC 2 and the NEW air threading serger, NEW home, and sewing essentials (garment care, irons, presses, multi-needle embroidery machine accessories), and NEW applications in the mySewnet ecosystem. OH - I should mention that there's a NEW quilting option in the long arm area for those that don't have a large space.  NEW, NEW, NEW.

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!