Tastefully Simple Conference Day 1

As most of you know, I'm an independent consultant for Tastefully Simple. I sell America's favorite survival item....food. And just in case you're unsure of the product, here's my web site. www.tastefullysimple.com/web/smccloud

I try to improve my skills as a consultant by attending their conferences. These conferences include sessions to help us with recruiting, selling, and coaching our own team members. I currently have 5 under me. I'm officially a Team Leader. One more recruit and I'll be a Team Manager. (I believe there are 3 more levels over Team Manager.)

That being said, I attended the annually held National Conference in Minneapolis, MN. It was held July 22ND-25TH. My own sponsor Teri drove and we left early Thursday morning for Minneapolis. Some of the sessions were beginning that afternoon. Each consultant in attendance could attend the different sessions that they felt pertained to them or whichever ones would help them the most. The general sessions were scheduled for Friday morning and Saturday morning. The afternoons were reserved for what they referred to as the "breakout sessions." Other consultants from around the different regions that have been very successful with their own businesses had been selected to talk during these sessions.

Once we arrived at the Minneapolis Convention Center, we registered and were given our packets that included our name badges and achievement ribbons from the previous incentives. We also were given booklets that would tell us our daily schedule for the entire conference....all 3 1/2 days worth.

We went to a session right after arriving. It was later in the afternoon and there weren't many other sessions that day that we wanted to go to. So we left to find our hotel and get checked in. It was about a mile away but still downtown where the convention center is located.

We stayed at the Aloft Hotel. It was actually located just a block north of The Mall of America Field, aka, The Metrodome, home to the Minnesota Vikings. Neither one of us had heard of it before and it turned out to be a newer hotel with very modern and contemporary furnishings. They also had a free shuttle service back and forth to the convention center for us. It saved us from having to plug quarters into the parking meters all over town.


We already had previous plans to meet our Team Mentor, Tami, from Burnsville, MN. It's a suburb in the Twin Cities that I myself used to live. We were going to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe also located downtown. Teri and I drove to the area it was located and found a parking garage. Incidentally it was located directly across the street from Target Field, the Minnesota Twins baseball field. From there we walked for awhile to look at some of the various outdoor market items and wandered in and out of a few stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue. Eventually it was time to head for The Hard Rock and started making our way in that direction. I had forgotten just how beautiful Minneapolis is. Even though I lived in the Cities for roughly five years, I only headed downtown a few times. But man, the sky scrapers are shiny with all the windows and very unique with their individual shapes. The streets are clean and filled with bicycle riders along with all the cars and pedestrians roaming around the streets either window shopping or just hanging out alongside the buildings. One thing that hasn't changed that I remember vividly is the fact that most of the drivers are very rude! Sheesh! Lighten up people! I felt sorry for our shuttle driver on a few occasions!


After having a bite to eat and purchasing a Hard Rock Cafe souvenir, we went back to our hotel. It had been a long day and we were ready to relax and get some sleep.

One of the MANY decorations that we spotted in the convention center welcoming our huge group of over 1700 people!

Looking south from our hotel lobby, I spotted the Metrodome....home of the Minnesota Vikings. If you look closely, towards the lower left and just under the dome, you'll see the Minnesota Vikings sign.

This is the largest box of beer bread I've ever seen! If you look closely at the lanyard around my neck, you'll see the ribbons I was given for this year's incentives. These change with each year.

Here is Target Field....home of The Twins. You can barely see the Twins sign just under the large lighting structure.

Where we spent the majority of our time while in Minneapolis.

The welcome sign out in front of the Convention Center. I had to time my photo just right to catch this particular sign. It was scrolling through many events.

The Hard Rock Cafe....just across the street from.....(scroll down...)

First Avenue. The bar that home-towner Prince used to frequent. I've been inside before with my friend Mary many years ago!

We had a long day ahead of us on Friday. I was ready for sleep for sure!