Susan R. Opel
As part of my job description, I get the awesome honor of attending the biannual CHA Trade Show in January and July. For any paper crafter like me, it is overwhelmingly delicious to be surrounded not only by gorgeous and brand new product, but a whole building of people who completely understand my crafty obsession (and consequently feed into it)!
Now, it isn’t as glamorous as you might think. The days are long, and there’s a lot of standing that gets to the piggies after awhile. Bottles of water cost $3 and the convention food is short on nutritional value. And, really, how many ways are there to make logo wear look fabulous and stylish? But I’m not complaining. No, indeed…because it’s the hugs and the friendships that make it two of my favorite weeks of the year!
To begin, I get the opportunity to spend time with colleagues out of the office. We always have some goofy inside joke that we dwell on and even months later it causes eruptions of laughter in meetings. We’re like a cozy little family!
We really, really like each other. Really!
Seeing talented manufacturers, product designers and their representatives is another wonderful perk at CHA. We build relationships via e-mail and occasional office visits, but celebrating their success in person is so much fun!
These are the people that bring us the products we love!
And then there is the array of artistic designers (from Stamping Royalty and Paper Crafts Go-to Gals to newly published designers and Gallery Idol winners) who create the beautiful projects on the pages of our magazines! We adore getting big hugs from these people whom we’ve grown to love as friends. And as you can see, we got a LOT of hugs!
We love hosting events so that we can see lots of people all at once!
And finally, we could not do what we do without our readers and friends who have supported us and Paper Crafts magazine with such gusto. There were mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, friends from years past and dedicated readers who stopped by to say hello, buy an issue, play darts with spunky Maren or do our free make and take at the SuperShow.
Here’s to all of our new friends and Paper Crafts magazine supporters!
My feet have recovered, and I’m not living out of my suitcase this week, but I’m still excited to see what CHA Winter 2011 brings! Will I get to hug YOU then?
Susan
P.S. If you’re pictured in one of these collages, I’m sorry I couldn’t mention you by name. Feel free to show it on your own blog…just link back to this post!
Oh Susan, wish I could have been there to party with you guys! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. Hope your feet are doing well!
I would so love to be able to attend CHA – it looks like so much fun! I love how ya’ll share the experience with all of us who are unable to attend!
Loved meeting you. You have to keep me informed about crafting events in your area- I would love to come up and help with my trusty Fiskars tools. And you know you are ALWAYS welcome as a guest for us. You don’t even have to wear a prom gown (but bonus points if you do!).
Ang
Such fun times. I hope to do it the next one again, but I’ll be in Croatia then
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Great meeting you in person, Susan!!
Can’t wait to see you in Jan. I took your advice and my LSS is going to help me get a badge!
What a great post Susan. It really captures the excitement of the show. Love seeing lots of SRM’s design team members included in your photos. They are so excited to meet you and get to chat.
Really enjoyed meeting the whole crew at the Supershow. The comic relief during the make and takes was a blast. Thanks for all you do to keep us inspired and up-to-date on all the latest and greatest stuff.
Great post… .I love all the photos! And I have to agree about the food…. $5 for a slice of pizza? OK, so it had mushrooms. Oh, well. Next year I can bring you lunch “from the outside” if you want!
Wow- I had so much fun at the CHA Supershow! Susan, you even let me try at least 4 times to hit the dart board- Can you tell I’m clumsy?? Me and my friends will be back again next year- that is for sure!!!!
Susan, you were busy with the dart game when I stopped by the booth. However, I was thrilled just to see you there and I did get to meet Cath. It was such a fun time! BTW, the turkey sandwiches were really good and pretty healthy, just for future reference.
Such fun photos, Susan! Thanks so much for sharing with us sad unfortunate people who could not attend
Maybe next CHA 
Great photos Susan! Thanks for sharing them:)
Look at all those smiling faces! I don’t think my feet could carry me thru CHA so thanks so much for sharing the experience.
Hugs & blessings
Bernie
I just love this post! It was so wonderful to see you and the whole PC gang!