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Mike Null
07-20-2010, 11:22 AM
There is an interesting new first time event for engravers. This event is intended to be a regional conference and is the brainchild of Jeff Aichinger, an Epilog distributor in New York.

For a start up show Jeff has arranged for some well respected people to host seminars and exhibit some of their wares. (Mike Dean and Tom Lazerbuzz Bernard to name just a couple)

We are providing a link to the conference site where you can pick up more details. (note: our policy is to limit such listings to the calendar but as a first time event we thought members might appreciate the heads up here)

It's a bargain too--all seminars plus dinner and breakfast for $29.00.

We'll also post this on the calendar.

Good Luck, Jeff and all exhibitors!

http://www.greatlakesengraversconference.com/

Scott Shepherd
07-20-2010, 11:39 AM
Buffalo? You can't get there from here :)

Seriously, Buffalo?

I guess we'll just have to start our own :)

Dee Gallo
07-20-2010, 11:39 AM
Thanks, Mike! Finally a conference close enough that I can attend!

:D dee

Larry Bratton
07-20-2010, 12:11 PM
Probably snow too..October..a little early but like Scott said ..Buffalo? could snow there anytime.

Mark Ross
07-20-2010, 4:39 PM
Great lakes states...

Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Winsconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York...and if you wanted to cheat and add our 51st state (C eh? N eh? D eh?):)

Easy way to remember the names of the great lakes...HOMES

Huron
Ontario
Michigan
Erie
Superior

Chuck Stone
07-20-2010, 4:45 PM
Buffalo? You can't get there from here :)

You can get theah from heah .. you just can't get back.

Frank Corker
07-20-2010, 6:21 PM
Dang! That's another one just out my gas tank limit :(

Jeff Aichinger
07-28-2010, 8:29 PM
Hello everyone,
Mike was nice enough to post some information on our October 8-9 Engravers Conference and I wanted to chime in with a bit of an update tonight.

We now have a total of 15 vendors lined up. We'll have 11 in a table top show in the main conference room. In 4 other smaller breakout areas we're going have what we call Application Rooms. You can visit these rooms and ask questions or get help on jobs that frustrate you. We will have a laser room, a mechanical engraver room, a sand carving room and a sublimation room. There will be equipment in all these areas so the experts can help solve your problems right there on the spot.

Additionally, we're going to have 9 education sessions. Speakers with wide ranging expertise will tackle topics useful for engravers, sales and marketing staff, business owners and more. We're VERY happy with the people we've lined up to speak and very pleased with the topics that they've chosen.

Last, we're going to mix in a bit of fun along the way. Friday evening we're hosting an outdoor picnic (weather permitting - and hold the Buffalo Weather jokes please ;)) followed by a cash bar mixer in the vendor room. On Saturday we're going to have some awards and gifts for various achievements.

We're offering all this for only $29 per person. I'll ask anyone who is interested in joining us at the conference to go back to Mike's original post in this thread for a link to the website. You can see all the vendors and all the education topics and then contact us if you'd like to register.

Thanks to Mike for the original post and I'll hope to meet many of you at our show!

Mike Null
07-29-2010, 6:56 AM
Jeff

Thanks for the update and welcome to SMC. I hope you'll be a frequent visitor.

Jeff Aichinger
08-03-2010, 6:55 AM
Good morning all - later today I'll be adding the details of the picnic dinner to the conference website but here's a sneak peek at our planned menu-

8 oz strip steaks
BBQ chicken
Baby Red Potatoes
Green Beans
Macaroni Salad
Honeydew Melon
Mixed greens salad
asstd rolls / breads
chips/pretzels
sodas/waters
seasonal pie for dessert

Please remember that this dinner is included in the $29 seminar fee along with access to the 15 vendor table top show and 9 education sessions. For a link to the show website, please go back to the first post in this thread. We hope to see you in fall!

Larry Robinson
08-03-2010, 12:21 PM
"You can get theah from heah .. you just can't get back. "

True, once you come to Buffalo, you do not want to leave.:D

September and October are my favorite Months of the year here. Not too hot and not too cold. Leaves are turning color. You will enjoy it here.

Ok, providing it does not snow.;)

Larry

Jeff Aichinger
08-05-2010, 5:21 PM
As you suggest John, all options are on the table in October. Buffalo usually sees some of the best weather in the country at that time of the year. That is why I'm so confident that we'll have a great time at the picnic.

Of course there are those rare and pesky fall snow storms...

The good news is that there is no one better in the country at dealing with tough weather than WNYers. If we get any foul weather, the roads and the airport will be cleared in the snap of a finger.

And our guests from the south will get to make snow angels!

Jeff Aichinger
08-13-2010, 3:28 PM
For any considering coming to our conference, here is an interesting page from the AAA that shows 10 Hidden Gems in western NY. I hope you find time to go to one or more of these cool sites while you're in town-
http://wcny.aaa.com/travel/top-10-hiddengems?utm_campaign=MEM_Newsletter_12Aug10&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MEM&zip=14001

Jeff Aichinger
08-25-2010, 1:22 PM
I have a conference update for you all today.

We have had a pretty steady stream of registrations and I think that this is going to be a well attended event. With that I'll remind anyone thinking of coming that the hotel is sold out but we do still have a few more rooms in our block so be sure to call the hotel directly and mention the conference to secure your guest room. Then be sure to contact me and get your conference registration in place.

Contact details for the Ramada and Class Act Engraving are on the Great Lakes Engravers Conference website. That link is shown in the first post of this thread.

Hope to see many of you in Buffalo in a few weeks!

Adam Orton
08-26-2010, 12:54 AM
Hmmm 3 hours away and it's a nice scenic drive. Conference looks kewl and I have never met another laser foo... I just need a caregiver to keep an eye on me.. Hmmm that might be doable.. As I will have to pay the caregiver do I get a cut rate on them?? They wouldn'd be a laser foo..

Doug Griffith
08-26-2010, 1:07 AM
Dang! That's another one just out my gas tank limit :(

Rodne could swing by for a fun carpool.

Jeff Aichinger
09-08-2010, 9:15 AM
For any SMC members still considering this "Roadtrip", please know that we just secured another small block of guest rooms. That's the good news. The bad news is that those rooms are likely to be taken within the next week or so. After these are gone, you'd have to stay off site as we don't believe any more rooms will come available.

Remember, $29 gives you - 16 vendors, 9 seminars, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast and tons of face to face networking with 70 or more other engravers.

The Great Lakes Engravers Conference website link is in the first post of this string.

Hope to see you in Buffalo on the 8th.

Jeff Aichinger
09-30-2010, 6:08 PM
Well, much to my pleasant surprise, I am here to announce that we've sold out this year's conference! Thank you to all of the professional engravers and those looking to join our industry who signed up to be in Buffalo next week.

Thanks very much to all who helped promote this event, especially SMC's Mike Null who has been a great proponent of our conference. I know too that Catania, ID Plates, JDS, and especially Epilog have worked hard to help us fill up the show.

Now, it's up to us vendors to make the show great for all you engravers who are coming! We have high expectations that this will happen.

Mike Null
09-30-2010, 10:38 PM
Jeff

Congratulations! Please give us a report after the conference is over if you don't mind. I'm sure some of our members will do likewise.

Good luck!

Jeff Aichinger
10-11-2010, 9:25 PM
Hello all - I wanted to stop by to report that our conference seemed to go mostly well. We had 2 good days of fun and education and in the next few weeks we'll make a decision as to doing this next year or not.
If we do a conference next year (which is likely), we may add a feature that was suggested by a SMC member. This person filled out their survey with a request for a way for SMC members to have their own little private gathering. We actually received similar requests for other small meetings and I really like this idea so we'll try hard to add this room to our conference floor plan in 2011.

While I have a moment, I'd like to congratulate a few people.
Award winners were as follows-
Best Speaker Award - Vince Frank, Catania Medallics
Best Vendor Booth - Laser Buzz
Best Name Badge - Alex Laser
Best Question from a Professional Engraver - Jennifer O'Brien
Retailer Bringing the Most Attendees - Niagara Awards
Retailer Traveling the Farthest - Daryl Thompson, Anguilla B.W.I
Who thinks that next year, we should have a Carribbean Engravers Conference??
Our Awards and Door Prizes proved to be very popular. Again, thank you to the vendors who donated so many great items for give away.

Thanks to all who attended, including several SMC members. I will hope that even more Creekers travel to Buffalo next year to join us!

Dee Gallo
10-13-2010, 6:06 PM
I went to this conference and wanted to say it was a lot of fun! I certainly hope there is another one next year and it can only get better and better as more people find out about it. There were more people there than I got to talk with, the vendors and presenters were approachable to discuss things with and the food was great, Jeff!

The only disappointment was that most of the presentations were geared towards what the presenter was doing (bigger accounts), which did not always mesh with what the audience wanted to hear about (small home-based businesses).

It was especially good for me to see in person the products we all have catalogs for. The vendors were not really hawking their wares, but simply answering questions and handing out catalogs. They seemed very happy to meet end-users, even though we were all small time customers, not big corporate buyers. I liked that.

I got to meet a couple of Creekers (hi Ken, hi Bob the lurker), wish there were more of us there!

cheers, dee

ps- YES, let's do a Caribbean Engraver's Conference!!!

Mike Null
10-13-2010, 6:26 PM
Dee

Thanks for your report. I was hoping some Creekers managed to go to this conference.

You probably met Tom Bernard there (Lazerbuzz) His products are excellent for home based shops.

I belong to another forum and the remarks there were quite positive as well.

Martin Boekers
10-13-2010, 8:25 PM
Now if we could get a Midwest Conference going.;)


Marty

Dee Gallo
10-13-2010, 10:01 PM
Dee

Thanks for your report. I was hoping some Creekers managed to go to this conference.

You probably met Tom Bernard there (Lazerbuzz) His products are excellent for home based shops.

I belong to another forum and the remarks there were quite positive as well.

Yes, I did meet Tom, and he brought quite a few examples of his designs which people really liked a lot... especially when he gave the samples away at the end! He was very nice and friendly to talk with and gave some good insight into running a laser business. I got to see the guns he designed which are really cool, they would probably be super if you made one with opaque acrylic too.

:) dee

Mike Null
10-14-2010, 7:16 AM
Marty

I believe Terry Viles, the Epilog rep for the midwest, is looking into doing a similar show.

Martin Boekers
10-14-2010, 9:37 AM
That would be great! Keep us posted!

Scott Challoner
10-14-2010, 1:11 PM
I would seriously consider a Midwest show too. I had hoped to make the Great Lakes one, but my mom turned 75 Sunday so I chose peace in the family instead.:p

Jeanette Brewer
10-14-2010, 7:17 PM
That would be great! Keep us posted!

Marty,

You should email Terry to let him know you'd be interested in/excited about a Midwest Conference. Terry indicated he'd be putting something together IF there was enough interest...

I'll PM you his email address.