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| Chinese Dragon designed by Guideo Verhoef and created by attendees and instructors at the 2006 Decorator's Workshop |
This year marked the first time that BHQ was invited to provide event coverage for Ballooniversity and the Decorator's Workshop in Athens, Georgia USA. The event hosts, Bob and Maxine Burton and the entire staff of burton + BURTON (over 300 employees!), went out of their way to ensure that the event provided a down-home, family feel.
There were a record number of competition entries in this, the 24th year of the event. But, the primary focus was providing a fun setting in which attendees could learn and network. All competition-related scheduling, from building to judging, was completely finished by the end of the first day of Ballooniversity. That left two full days for workshops, completion of the final night banquet decor, and enjoying the festivities.
It was great to see so many friends and colleagues from the US and abroad, and to get a chance to talk to some long-time BHQ contributors face to face for the first time. (There really are people beyond this big gray screen on my desk. :-) Many people were heading home for a short break, or taking the opportunity to travel about the country, before heading west to Las Vegas for Summer Balloon Camp. "See you next week!" was the standard parting comment. It's great to see these separate regional events growing in size and drawing national, and international, support.
Ballooniversity instructors and attendees were a solid mix of newbies and big names from both the decorator and entertainer communities. With so much mixing of people, artistic styles, and design approaches, a lot of good natured teasing came about. At the informal instructors meeting, Gary Ledbetter joked that the theme for the event was to "Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome" ... a sentiment clearly appreciated by anyone who has been involved in planning a large event.
Lots of people wanted me to take pictures of their classmates working with the 'wrong' balloons for 'blackmail' purposes. After spending a day teaching round-balloon framing methods, Todd Neufeld stated that he'd been forced to become a 'twacker.' After helping Steve Jones with his large competition entries, his round-balloon crew decided they'd become 'squeakers.' No matter what the label, it's great to see balloon professionals expanding their skills and generating new ideas to grow our industry.
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| A couple poses for a romantic and fun picture. |
Hongseok Ko is the owner of Balloon4U in South Korea. His portfolio is full of colorful, unique, and beautifully detailed sculptures. Make sure to visit his portfolio to see the bubble-chained hearts.
See Hongseok Ko's BHQ Portfolio.
