WHEW!  It’s almost 10pm and I’m just home from Day One of Convention!  What a full on day!  Two more to go!  I’ll keep it quick and share a few photos with you tonight, and more tomorrow.  Very tired and heading to an early bedtime, thanks to a child of mine who decided to be up in the night for no reason last night!

This morning, Managers and Above (that’s me!) got VIP access to Memento Mall, so first crack at all the goodies!  I bought my fair share, and then promptly left my bag behind at my first class.  Thanks to a friend picking up my bag for me, I know it’s safe, we just haven’t connected for me to get my bag back yet.  Once I get my bag of goodies, I’ll post some photos.

After Memento Mall, we went to a Leadership class and learned about coaching our downline and time management.  Very valuable information in all of my jobs, not just Stampin Up!

Once that class was over, I bolted back to the hotel and went for a quick run on the treadmill, and had some lunch (and a shower) before heading back for the afternoon General Session.

Our first performance was by Cate, Bec and the whole Australian Demo Support team singing the Convention Song “I AM”

Next up, our first speaker, Shelli Gardner herself, CEO and Co-Founder of Stampin Up.  Always inspiring, always humorous, always grateful.  I love listening to her speak:

We then had the privilege to hear Michael McQueen from NextGen speak to us about a new target Market, the 25-25 year olds.  He highlighters the differences between the generations and gave us some tips on how to reach Generation Y’ers.  He was fascinating, and very enjoyable to listen to, especially with his changing glasses trick.

Brian Pilling, the US Demo Training Manager did a stamping presentation for us, featuring some new, sneak peek products such as Firm Foam Inkpads, the Diagonal Score Plate, and new stamps and punches.  In fact, you can ORDER the new Diagonal Score plate for the Simply Scored from tomorrow for only $20.95, so if you want to get your hands one, send me an email!

After the general session, we had all of 30 minutes to go get changed (if we chose to) and get back to the Convention Centre to be bussed to a secret location for Manager’s Reception.  We literally didn’t know where we were going until we turned onto the street that took us to Parliament House!  It was a beautiful venue for the reception, and I got to rub shoulders with some of the Top Demonstrators!  I felt very special!  I got my photo taken with Shelli and had a lovely conversation with her.  It’s a bit blurry and I’ll try to get another one tomorrow.

Me with Sarah Klass.

Me with my friend Tracey Eaton, from my Festive Friday Design Team (also a bit blurry, but will get more photos tomorrow)

That’s all I can share for today.  I have many more and I’ll try to share more tomorrow, but they are keeping us very busy here!  LOADS of speak peeks and new product announcements to come!