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| Garden Vampire by Fiona Fisher |
After 20 amazing years, the producers of the International Balloon Arts Convention have decided to retire from the convention business. IBAC has seen many changes and been responsible for quite a few more in the professional balloon industry during those 20 years. Other conventions have arisen over the years, each with their own special focus and way of doing things. But so far, none have acquired quite the following of IBAC.
It seems that everyone that ever attended an IBAC has some story to share and some special memories of their experiences. Over the years, thousands of balloon artists have met and exchanged ideas and friendship through the forum created by the IBAC staff. BHQ is no different. IBAC was the first convention the Balloon HQ team attended. In fact, it's where we all met face to face for the first time. BHQ existed prior to our meeting at the Hyatt in Chicago, but IBAC provided a way for us to get to know each other better and to meet other balloon artists from around the world without depending on what was then a slow and inefficient computer network.
In 1997, all three of the BHQ owners met in Chicago and posted the first IBAC photos online. In 1999, IBAC became the first convention we provided live coverage of, posting photos online as the event took place. We developed a great relationship with the IBAC producers over the next several years, working closer with them each year to document the convention and keep those unable to attend informed of all that was going on.
Marie, Jay, Rocky, and Terry, we hate to see it end, but we understand. It's time for you guys to take it easy. We look forward to seeing all of you again at other events when you're not as stressed as you've always been when you were the ones throwing the party.
Last month we mentioned that RSS feeds would soon be available for all to use on BHQ. Those of you that are familiar with RSS and already have an RSS reader, feel free to go right to our list of available feeds. They include the two discussion forums, the photo database, the monthly columns, the classified ads, and the upcoming events.
For those that are not familiar with RSS, the idea is that you can get updates on things without remembering to visit certain web pages regularly. Your RSS reader (some web browsers have this cability built right in) will check for you to see if there are updates. You are then presented with a list of new items since you last checked and you can choose which things you want to read in more detail. For example, my web browser tells me that there are new classified ads since the last time I looked. I can now look at a list of items. If I'm interested in any of them, I can jump to the page that has more information. It's similar to having a program running to tell you when new email has arrived. RSS doesn't change the way the web works. It's not a huge change to the way you already do things. It's just one more way of saving a little time and making things slightly easier.
So how do you know if you're software can handle RSS? Just visit the BHQ RSS page. Some software will offer you a chance to subscribe as soon as you visit the page. Other software will require you to click on the links listed. If your software can't take advantage of RSS, don't worry. We aren't removing any of the old methods. This is just to make it easier for those that are interested.
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| Outdoor Wedding Arch by Joyce Boston |
Joyce Boston of Saunemin Illinois uses balloons to create atmosphere, excitement and movement to a space. Her elegant wedding creations were recently put to the ultimate test when she provided decorations at her own son's big day.
See the Joyce Boston's Balloon Art portfolio
