All of our meals for this weekend were provided to us. Including breakfast if people actually got up to enjoy it. Breakfast was being served from 7:30AM-8:45AM. Sessions would start at 9:00AM sharp. They had "hot seat" drawings for those that were on time and in their seat! Prizes were given to the people whose names had been called. Being the early riser that I am, I made sure to get there for breakfast! There was always a huge selection and undoubtedly, something for everyone.
Our Friday session started with announcements followed by a "Welcome" from our Founder and CEO, Jill Blashak-Strahan. Later, a keynote speaker,
Robin Creasman, a motivational speaker, was our next guest speaker. He has done and see it all when it comes to meeting and knowing well known performers. It was fun to listen to him tell his stories and make the jokes about different things. Watch the video on the link I provided; it tells alot about his experiences. I thought he was an awesome speaker! He told us how we can use different tools to make our business grow and to become the Rock star that we can become.
Robin Creasman with a few consultants on stage singing with him.
Robin....
After lunch, we attended different breakout sessions in different rooms, with keynote speakers from our own Tastefully Simple consultants. We had the opportunity to pre-register for these sessions before conferences to ensure a reserved seat. I'm glad I did. I happened to be in a session that had Kim Schultz as the guest speaker. You can read about her
here and
here. She is a multi-talented person and had the entire class involved in improv demonstrations. Me included. She has an improv studio in New York and Minneapolis both. The class was packed and had a line outside the door in case there was room for more inside.
It was great and so much fun to see how people let down their own personal walls in order to be in front of perfect strangers.
That night, we had our awards celebration dinner. When we arrived, music was being provided by
Melissa Greener of Nashville. I had never heard of her and quite honestly, I wasn't overly impressed. Just sayin'.
She was performing while we ate our huge meal. It was delicious as usual! Here's what we had:
Top plate:...dessert- Mini caramel tartelette with a shortbread crust and a zest of sea salt, Key lime pie with graham cracker crust and toasted meringue and raspberry coulis, New York style cheesecake. Yummy!
Bottom plate....salad- Mixed green salad with Radicchio, Asian pears, spicy peanuts and Lemongrass Dressing. Yummy!
And because I was so involved in my salad, when they brought the main course, I forgot to get a picture of the plate! It was beautiful and just as yummy! It was: Fillet of beef with Merlot wine, Grilled shrimp with roasted garlic butter, mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. Needless to say, we were very full when we got done!
Once dinner was over, awards were given out, just like
National Conference last summer. Then back to our rooms we went. It had been a long day and I was ready to kick my shoes off and relax. Tomorrow would be another activity-filled day with a busy agenda.
On the way back to our room, I got a picture of many of the hundreds of pretty lighted decorations that hang from the huge, tall ceiling in the hotel. Isn't it pretty?
