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| San Georgie e il Drago by Federico Onida and Team took first place in large sculpture at WBC 2010 |
Thanks go out to Pioneer Balloon Company for producing the 2010 World Balloon Convention. The balloon industry hasn't seen anything like it since 2004, when the producers of the International Balloon Arts Convention (IBAC) retired that long-running event. While WBC was a new creation with new producers, it felt in many ways like the best qualities of IBAC had returned. Among the nearly 600 convention delegates, many familiar faces from the IBAC days could be seen packing the hotel. We heard incredibly positive feedback from many of the attendess. And, this was a diverse crowd, as 45% of the event's attendees came from outside the US. This event truly felt like a World Balloon Convention.
As usual, we did our best to get photographs of competition pieces online. We were able to give you some insights to the entries not only after they were completed, but during the building. The one thing we seemed to fail at was truly capturing the spirit of fun that Federico Onida's team was having amongst their crew and sharing the other teams. They showed unbelievable team spirit; their positive energy carried through the room (often in the form of song or chant).
The classes also received great reviews. The content that was presented was appropriat for people at every level. Beginners were brought forward a few steps and experienced artists walked away with new inspriation. As always, the incredible parties offered lots of hands-on experience for those looking to get a taste of the work that goes into incredible, well-rounded party decor.
In some ways, this event was an IBAC reunion. It was really fantastic to see the former IBAC producers get together to give one last Crystal Award posthumously to Roberta Lever. Roberta passed away just a a few months ago. Her husband and daughter accepted the award on her behalf. The night concluded with a true launch of a new convention experience as the WBC Golden Light Award was presented to Sue Bowler in honor of Linda Bruce.
Building on some event coverage features we started at Twist & Shout a couple months ago, we made much more use of the @balloonhqcom presence on twitter as well as streaming web cams. We did our best to keep the information flowing as quickly as possible. We even presented live announcments of the winners throughout the final night gala awards ceremony via timely tweets.
Even with some timing issues and technical difficulties, the web cams were a huge hit. We kept seeing people standing in front of them while on the phone, making sure family and friends saw that they really were at a convention and introducing people at home to colleagues they have met at conventions for years. The 'Meet Marvin Hardy' web cam was a big hit.
When we hear any news, we'll make sure to let you know Pioneer's plans for a future event. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the winners.
BalloonHQ.com now has new, improved text search capabilities. As the site has grown with continuous content additions, our old search mechanisms had real problems keeping up. We haven't replaced the old search interface completely. We're interested in feedback on how the new search function is working for you. Play with it; let us know what you think.
The next project on the list is to make improvements to photograph database searching. With 80,000 photos in the database, even minor improvements can have a big impact.
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| Spring Birthday Bouquet |
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| Circus Themed Bouquet |
Tonya is the owner of Twisted Critters -N- More in Montrose, CO. She is also a regular columnist with BHQ! Tonya received the Balloon Excellence - Rising Star Award in 2009. Her portfolio shows off many of the different styles of bouquets she has created which twists together many beautiful ideas and designs.
Visit Tonya McNeill's portfolio
