well i had to give the competition a chance!! Actually i did use the mocha i have the pictures of my creation on my mobile...................but i will NOT be posting it!!!

At least i know now why dee sculpture beat mine!!

Here are my thoughts on TMJ done from memory, will have a look through my note book when I get time to see what else I may have missed off;

I thought I’d write some thoughts on “The Millennium Jam” but they are only my thoughts & others may differ & like to put there version of accounts so that we get a few differing views.

To start of it was absolutely excellent & more than what I’d hoped for.
This is all done from memory & for those that don’t know I took an organised trip with nine people coming over on Eurostar & two more meeting us there.

In the past we have travelled on the Friday so that we could help with decorating the foyer, this year for the first time there was an industry awards ceremony on the Saturday so that all the foyer decorations were done on the Friday leaving my group who a lot had not been before slightly twiddling there thumbs. Although the main hall for the industry awards was being decorated on the Saturday it all seemed well under control & those from my party that wanted to help seemed surplus to requirements.

This was not a problem for me as it was nice just to wait around the reception area meeting old friends from previous years & catching up on what ‘s been happening, in fact for me a very pleasant day.

The Sunday & Monday seemed very light in the lecture area for twisters, I appreciate The Millennium Jam is for decorators as well but a more even spread during the first few days would have been nice especially as Dr Bob had four classes after being up & I’m guessing very stressed preparing for his fashion show entry on the last two days.

The industry award evening was very good with some excellent balloon acts & a very nice buffet meal, we were the last table to get our food & there was still the full selection to choose from & it was still hot. The only thing to say & it really is a minor point was that we were only half way through eating our main meal & the evening entertainment started as the first table had been to get there food a good 15 mins before us & it was slightly awkward to eat in the dark, but no worries we managed.
First up was what I was told later was a motivational movie clip for the qualatex people. Various balloon sculptures from all over the world being made by various artistes.

Tom with some help from Rafael were the compeers for the evening & what an excellent job they both done. The audience seemed to warm to them straight away in a difficult setting for the acts.
The dance floor was left empty of tables I assume to make it easier for later on in the evening for the dancing. I would have preferred for a few tables for the earlier part of the evening to be set up here so that the performers were not having to reach back about 20/25 feet to the front row of the audience, so making it more difficult for them. To move a few tables later on in the evening would only have taken a few moments & I’m sure would have made the artistes far more comfortable on stage. Having said that it didn’t look as though it caused a major problem as the show was excellent with everyone around me seeming to have a great time laughing & joining in & we were sitting at the back.

So what did I see? From memory & no particular order;

Dave Bartlett, no balloons but absolute golden nuggets of information for the working pro. For me probably the best lecture for information that I’ve sat through.

Tomate, some very good information on trying to find your character on stage & how to develop it. Some good advice for those just starting out on this road.

Don Caldwell & his little wrist friends;
For me this seemed to run very slowly with Don waiting far too long for people to get pictures of every step in the building of every sculpture.
The majority of what was shown was on his latest DVD & things could perhaps have run a bit smoother& quicker with just picture stops just at the end of every sculpture or even right at the end of the lecture.
Don to me seemed very cautious & not fully himself which may be due to lot’s of things, jetlag?

I think I’d better review Don’s second lecture now as I thought they were chalk & cheese. The one on magic & balloons being very informative with lot’s of very good & usable ideas.
Don seemed so much more comfortable in this class which was later on in the week compared to his wrist friend lecture earlier in the week, perhaps he got to know a few people or maybe he’s at his best when performing which is what he did in this lecture.
This lecture & Dave Bartlett’s were my favourite from this year’s list.

Dr Bob,

I believe I saw two of Bob’s four lectures. These were scheduled after Bob had been making his fashion show dress & being up all night previous to the fashion show.
So what with lack of sleep & the stress the previous night with the show Bob was obviously not at his best. I did wander in & out of his class but the costumes he made were very good if a little on the over elaborate side but he said he made these for the birthday child at party’s etc when he pre makes a lot of his wearables rather than in front of people & line work.
A lot of the costumes could be streamlined down & be great for line work.
Perhaps Bob could have done two of his lectures on the Sunday & Monday so giving him a day to recover from taking part in the fashion show as personally I thought it wasn’t fair on Bob to be under so much pressure as after the fashion show he had to prep for his lectures & there was a lot of prepping that he done, but I also thought it wasn’t fair on the delegates seeing Bob not at his best as he is an excellent twister with a lot of great ideas.

The second of his lectures I have to say I walked out on as it was all to do with using the qualatex odd shapes, bee bodies, geo’s, donuts etc. I did go back in after the class to take some pictures but got the view that the class was just to try & sell more of the qualatex odd shapes. Others that sat in on the class also made the same comments to me after so this was not just my view.

Addi Someck

What a great class, full of energy. Addi’s so loud even without a microphone, hats & wings is what was talked about & I know from others reactions that this class was great fun, enjoyable with a lot of very good information passed on.

Sean Rooney

Sean is a real talent & I watched just one of his classes, getting a bubble in a balloon but just so that others that sat in the class know that I was listening, it perhaps should have been called according to Sean as getting a balloon around a bubble.
Sean is very informative and a few of us during the week spent a nice time with him having a coffee & discussing balloon related ideas, this was another highlight of the week for me.

The fashion show was amazing, I don’t think any words could do it justice; you just had to be there (Full Stop)
Tom & Rafael again done a great job compeering, Tom did make perhaps some border line remarks which did get an intake of breath from the audience & I too was fortunate??? to get a mention here as well.

The Thursday night gala show

There was no stage competition this year & I think two acts competed within this gala show for stage performer of the year.
Manon won the title this year with an act that would take quite a while to set but she has wonderful mime skills & is a joy to watch, 75% of the act was new & as she told me "very crazy"




A question to mull over; should those teaching take part in any of the competitions???

In Don's defense I have to say this really is a no-win situation to be in as a teacher. Step-by-step classes are just hard to teach because of the variety of people that show up for them. You get everyone from the raw newbie to the masters sitting in. If you wait for everyone to get the pics they want the class drags, but if you don't wait then people get frustrated with you and feel like they have been cheated out of important photos. Someone always feels the class could have been better "if only".

As for Don seeming a bit cautious and not fully himself... I have heard that Don is actually quite shy in real life and only starts to shine when he preforms .... perhaps you guys scared him in the beginning.

In my opinion, the important thing to remember about classes of this nature... "Did you learn anything new that you will use?" Learning even one new design or concept to me is worth the time of a class.

Happy twisting,
Bonnie, The Balloon Lady

Bonnie,
Those were my thoughts entirely.
The reason I did the write up was to try & be as fair & honest as I could about what I thought about the whole convention & if I'd have just said everything was brilliant etc this would not have been true to my thoughts about a convention that I truly hold very dear to my heart.
It would be nice for others to do a review of what they also thought as this would give a more rounded review of the event & what went on & not just from my thoughts
At the beginning of the week Don did seem quiet but he soon warmed up & his magic lecture & gala stage show were very good.
I also enjoyed a few good talks with Don about the business & enjoyed his company immensely.

I also spoke with Dr Bob at the event about what I wrote in my review, I do wear my heart on my sleeve but I also like to think that people know where they stand with me.

Graham Lee