Tastefully Simple Conference Day 2

Today we were starting our day with breakfast at the convention center, provided by Tastefully Simple. One of the larger halls was set up with a sea of tables and chairs to accommodate the "just over 1700 consultants" that came for this convention.
Around the perimeter of the eating area was a section set up for our shopping convenience. When I talk about shopping, I'm referring to shopping for items that have our TS logo on them. A company called Merrill Corporation provides a very vast selection of articles for us to choose from. Anything from clothing to kitchen wares to awards for your team in recognition for their achievements, to things we can use to market our business. You name it, they may just have it. There were tables everywhere! And by making our purchases there in person we were saving shipping charges that we'd pay if we ordered anything on their web site.
Along another wall were other vendors such as Propay, other TS tables that had some of our product on display and fun things like pictures of other conferences in other locations around the U.S.
Our breakfast consisted of baskets that each held fruit, egg and sausage biscuits, yogurt and coffee, juice or tea. We'd walk through various lines along many tables that were filled with the baskets of breakfast and then find a seat at one of the tables. Our general session (for all consultants all together) was starting at 8AM.

The breakfast crowd is gathering before general session begins.

At 8AM we were sitting at tables that had been arranged by color coding. Each consultant had been given a card with either green, blue, orange, red or yellow. We had to find a table with the color to match our card and thus we were networking with other consultants from across the U.S. It was also a great way for us to meet others.

When we walked into the hall I could hear music playing. A band called Urban Myth was set up and already stirring the crowd awake for the day.

Urban Myth

The band was present throughout the conference to play "filler" music. In between speakers and announcers, for the "walk of fame" achievers, (consultants that earned awards) and also for the beginning and end of each general session.

After the welcome on Friday morning, the A Cappella group, Tonic Sol-Fa performed. They have a song called "If I Can Dream." But I wasn't able to find a decent video of them singing that one. So I found another one that sounded very nice. The only instrument they have on stage with them is a tambourine. All the other sounds come from them! They are awesome! I was very impressed!

The CEO and founder of Tastefully Simple, Jill Blashak-Strahan, was next on the agenda. She is an awesome speaker with many inspiring messages. She gives a lot of advice based on her own experiences. She's witty, charming, genuine and has a heart of gold. You can tell just how much we as her consultants mean to her as individuals. Her wish is that we can all take our businesses and get anything we want from them. "Dream Big!" she said. That was our focus....the sky is the limit.

When she talks about the company or any individual alike, her emotions take over and it affects many others as they listen. She has a lot to be proud of. Tastefully Simple is debt free and there aren't many business owners that can brag about that.

And with our theme being to Dream Big, Jill made an introduction of our next entertainment. This singer was Jill's inspiration for "dreaming big". Lana Boner is from Texas and has a CD available which includes a song called......wait for it......"Dream Big." ! You guessed it!!! You can hear her songs if you click her name below the next photo.

Lana Boner- Her song "Dream Big" was the theme for our conference.


Jill during her speech.


There were several big screens scattered throughout the hall for a better view of the stage and all it's activities. Here is Jill with the closeup.

Tonic Sol-Fa in action.....all A Cappella.

Later during the morning, another well known speaker, Sarah Ban Breathnach (pronounced Bra-nick) was introduced. She has been on the Oprah Winfrey show a few times and writes (or has in the past....I can't remember what she said) for the Washington Post. An accomplished writer, she has some great advice for us on how to create our own happiness and be successful, no matter where you are or who is around you. I didn't get any photos of her unfortunately.

After she was done, we had some product unveiling's of the new products that will be available in our new catalog beginning September 1st. We were very excited to find out about the new items. We even sampled a few things during their intros.

Then it was time for lunch. We ate a meal consisting of some new products. From there we dispersed into our breakout sessions. After attending 2 sessions we were had a little time to kill before heading upstairs to a party hosted by my own team's Senior Team Mentor. There were 71 of us there. We had a small recognition ceremony with awards and then ate our evening meal consisting of items from a small taco bar that was prepared just for our group.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel. We were tired to say the least as it was almost 9PM. We'd been going strong since getting up for the day at 5:30AM. Tomorrow would be another long day. After our regular conference finishes for the day, we will have a Victory Celebration to attend which will include a scruptious dinner. Stay tuned for those details!

I couldn't help but notice this building as we drove through downtown Minny. Cool, huh?