I enjoy attending a week long lace conference. It gives time for classes and other activities. The shopping opportunity is great. The type of facility will make a difference in cost for rooms and classes. Also for food. Some years my budget just can not support a hotel conference.
Lacemaking is not a speedy skill. It's even slower when learning a new style or technique. A one day class/workshop barely gets the basics explained. Our local group likes to schedule workshops for 2.5 days (15 hours of instruction). A basic class at IOLI is 12 hours for a half day class or 24 hours for an all day class. A person who is new or works slowly may choose to take just one 12 hour class and have the other half day to work independently on the project. Some of the more complicated laces allow for all day under the eye of the instructor. The week also gives a chance to see some of the local sites, exhibits, and shopping.... plus just meeting and getting acquainted with other lacemakers. In some cases, just getting away from home/family/job/etc is a great morale booster. The drawback is the cost. Travel (plane) costs are beyond our control. Some years it's higher than other years. Attendance does seem to be down some in the years that travel costs climb or there's been a security scare. Some people attend only the conferences that are near where they live. The IOLI Conference changes each year to a different area of the country so is not always near the same people. It's nice when it's close enough to drive to, because a person has a chance to take more things. In recent years, if my memory is correct, the conferences have varied from 125 to 300 people. It's hard to predict so tentative plans have to prepare for 300 but be organized to break even on expenses with 125. This affects the teachers in the extreme. Enough have to be committed to serve the 300, but many have to be cancelled if only 125 registrations come in. People who live near can bring an ice chest or cooler with food, so the expense of restaurant meals is reduced. These days, many hotels furnish a small refrigerator and a microwave in each room. A quick shopping trip can stock up the basic foods. The hotel room cost can be shared with a friend or two. This can cut the hotel bill in half or thirds, or even fourths if you have 3 compatible friends. There's no way around the basic registration fee and hourly class charges. You can control whether you take 12 or 24 hours of class. Even with the economies I've mentioned, a week conference adds up to a large expense amount. I made a rough calculation that it would cost me $1500-2000 if I attended this year's IOLI. (A scheduling conflict made it not practical this year but I can always dream, and start saving money for next year.) Booking a school/college can be more cost effective but the housing facilities are not as elegant, and no room service. I've known a few lacemakers who were fussy about this, but I spend so little time in my room that 'fancy' is not important. Our local regional conferences are held at colleges during summer break. They are 3 days with room, food, and classes in close proximity. These usually have fewer than 100 people. A larger IOLI conference might not fit as well. It would be an idea to explore, though. While a cruise conference sounds neat, I have doubts it would be any less expensive than a hotel conference. Are there any cruise ships tied up to a dock somewhere that could be used like a large hotel? If it's not moving, there shouldn't be any fuel costs. Location is a key to any conference. Lace conferences take so many classrooms that's it's a real challenge to find a place. When we hosted IOLI, we explored all kinds of ideas, and the only place we came up with was a hotel... and only one hotel in all of Portland had enough room for us. Many hotels are built to hold lots of people, meeting together in large rooms, not divided up in a multitude of classes. Ideas are welcome. Keep them coming. Alice in Oregon.... tired of winding bobbins. Glad I've reached the end of this batch. ----- Original Message ----- From: Karen Thompson <karenhthomp...@gmail.com> I am curious what other lace makers think about the IOLI Convention format since the enrollment seems to be down this year. What could the reason be? Is it too long to have a full week? and therefore too expensive both in terms of days off and hotel and meal expenses? Or why do you think? Karen in Washington, DC on a beautiful sunny day - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
