Picture This

We got back from our vacation last Friday and between all the excitement of getting the new iPad2 (this goes at the top of my list of favorite things EVER) and picking out plants for the garden, I haven’t had a moment to get my wits about me. I find myself getting stressed out simply due to the sheer busyness of my life. All the catching up when one returns from a trip is taking place plus starting to plant the garden (should finish tomorrow), getting a mammogram, taking urine samples in for Amber, paying bills, cooking meals and a thousand tiny things too numerous to mention. It makes me wonder how people with kids manage so well. In the midst of this, a brilliant idea came to me.

 

I don’t really have the time to do a post about this justice but can’t hold it in anymore either. I am absolutely loving Instagram! It is like Twitter with pictures. You can “like” others’ photos as well as make comments and even have whole conversations. You can follow different people and check out their photostream. I’ve always loved looking at people’s pictures, no matter the subject. I find it is the quickest way to learn about people’s lives and get to know them as individuals. It is so great to get to peek into people’s homes, see them, their kids, pets. yards, their collections, etc. I am one of the biggest Instagram cheerleaders. It’s like Twitter on crack. Now that I’ve convinced you all how wonderful it is, get ready.

 

I think we should have an Instagram Convention! Where anyone who wants to from around the country can come together and meet. We can take pictures, of course, but also just get to know., in person, the people we feel we know via Instagram. Silence (you can hear a pin drop). I was afraid of that. I don’t have anything set in stone yet but wanted to send out feelers to see who was definitely interested, who might be interested and who has no interest.

 

First let me say that I in no way feel like I should be the one running this. I’m great at coming up with ideas. I don’t think I’m the big cheese on Instagram (I’ve only got 112 followers where some have thousands). I don’t want to step on any toes or overstep by even suggesting this. The reason I am calling it a convention instead of just a party is because it’s the first one (that I’ve heard about). It’s such a long story but I was a co-host for the very first Slam Convention. Slams are little booklets with questions that you sign with your name and address and answer questions, then send them on to other swappers. There was probably 100 in our slam community and 13 came to the first one back in July 1997. It was Nancy’s idea (host) and she asked if I would help. I didn’t know what I was getting into but said yes. She provided the location, a cute 2 bedroom house in Gulf Shores, AL. My husband took off work and helped me load the car with all my baking & cooking supplies and we drove the 16 hours to AL.

 

It was a very informal setting with people arriving on Thurs. & Friday and leaving on Sunday or Monday. People were flying into Mobile, AL & Pensacola, FL and my hubby and Nancy would take turns taking them to or from the airport. I spent the entire time cooking which I loved. Between the 2 of us, Nancy and i were able to provide food for everyone, including desserts. Due to the expense of buying airline tickets, a lot of people didn’t have extra money for lodging or food. Nancy was able to set up cots in the LR and let several sleep there. Others got hotel rooms nearby. We’d get together every day in the morning and have lunch and dinner together. I made up games to play, gave out prizes, had a ceremony giving out awards for different categories, etc. People would break up into little groups to do different activities like going to the beach or shopping. I thought it was planned really well for being the first one.

 

I just wanted to throw out the idea and see what suggestions people had. I have no intention of doing this alone so anyone who wants to cohost, I’d be thrilled. We need to decide the venue, if someone had a location they could provide or would want to open their home. Or if they knew of a hotel that would give especially good discounts. Or maybe renting a huge beach house where the parties involved would kick in X amount per person.  I live near O’hare airport so picking people up at the Kiss & Fly lot would be easy for me. I could possibly arrange a hotel in the suburbs near me (trying to afford downtown Chicago for several nights is not in my budget). I’d be more than willing to cook. It keeps me from being nervous meeting new people.

 

If anyone likes this idea and wants to be the one to run it, please do! All I want is credit for the idea. Maybe instead of an individual convention, it should just be a party at a blogging convention? I’ve never gone to a blogging convention so I don’t think anything I could put on would rival a sponsored party. Everyone wants plenty of notice so a year from now would give enough time to get time off and make plans. Sometimes I wonder if I can handle the challenge but then I think about how much I love having something to look forward to.

 

Please let me know in the comments if you’d be interested and what the criteria for you to attend something like this would be. Like you’d only go if it was in a certain city or state, or certain month of the year, or if you could bring your family, etc. If you don’t want your thoughts made public, email me at edenbabe@aol.com and I will keep it on the down low. Thank you so much for reading this and any feedback is welcome. As I said, I just came up with the idea and haven’t had time to flesh it out or even bat it around with anyone.

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