Dear IBBA Members,

I'm still rejuvenated and whizzed up (as Linda would say) after returning home from California. I have not travelled to the West Coast since I was 23 and I won't tell you how many years ago that was!

Special thanks to the approximately 60 attendees who came from far and wide to learn as a group and to enjoy each other's company! It was wonderful to meet so many people full of enthusiasm to learn more about the industry.

I want to extend my deep gratitude to Linda Rogers who worked endlessly behind the scenes and carried a very heavy load over the past few months to make this convention happen. There were several obstacles and a few cancellations that caused her to spend much more time in developing the agenda-- which she did on her own. The 30 days prior to the Convention was just chock full of all kinds of details and logistics to sort through and she took overall responsibility for these challenges. Thank you Linda for your extraordinary dedication to this Convention.

A very special thank you to Sydnie Smith who performed some guardian angel details that are little known. She received boxes upon boxes shipped to her home via Fed Ex. In order to carry all the boxes to the Conference Grounds she arranged to obtain a special van. She cheerfully received countless boxes that filled up the van and on Thursday (before the Convention) drove to the San Jose airport to pick Linda and myself up and then drove all of the contents and the two of us to Asilomar one day ahead of the Convention. We experienced some challenges in locating Asilomar and then once there, we were --thankfully--able to convince their staff to help us unload all the boxes into the meeting room a day ahead of time. If that wasn't enough, Sydney ran more errands and purchased office supplies that would be needed at the convention and promptly returned with what we needed. You cannot imagine how grateful I am to her. She is a delight.

There are so many others to thank who worked on specific tasks before, during and after the Convention including Kathleen Ziemer, Master of Ceremonies, Jon Timko with help from his wife Cindy, audio visual/sound system wiz, Anne Collins, Auction Coordinator, Zane and Maggie Greathouse Auctioneers, Nancy Hobart, Registrar and Saturday Morning Cheerleader, Fran LeMasters, Sponsorship Program, Nora (Donston) Snyder and Sydnie Smith, Auction helpers, Paul Chesterfield, website communications, Felicia Tappan, Goody Bags, Bobbie McGee, room reservations and bookkeeping and Jodi Hopper for initial planning and great support.

All sponsors are listed on our website and I thank them as well.

Special thanks to the lead cars that guided us to the overwintering sites and to all those who helped with car-pooling!

Special thanks to those who donated to the Auction, we made a profit of between $1,700 and $1,800! Not bad!

Special thanks also to Deborah Jacobs who tolerated a room mix-up and who then graciously took boxes home (after the Convention) to Fed Ex out for us.

The Convention certainly improves every year as we build upon the foundation of the previous conventions. This convention was in a very natural environment and it felt a bit more like a retreat than a formal Convention.

The grounds and the Conference Center overlooked the Ocean, many rooms had ocean views. There were sprinklings of deer on the grounds every day not to mention smaller critters. I loved the foliage, shrubs and trees-- and wanted to take a Monterey Pine Tree home with me.

It was a delight to finally meet Barbara Bosco and her very charming husband; her jewelry is dazzling!

Paul Cherubini was very engaging and the Fireside Social with tasty hors d'oeuvres and drinks later on was a good way to finally meet each other and have time to socialize in a very rustic and beautiful building.

Saturday was jam packed with informational presentations and all of our speakers were outstanding. I think Dean Kirkwood surprised us all with his special gift of keeping us "wowed" throughout his presentation. He sure did share a lot of secrets when it came to special knowledge in how to really market your business to the max!

Dr. Frank Davis appealed to the scientists in all of us and we came to appreciate the years and years of research and attention to the finest details that bring us to understand what is needed to have successful rearing diets and the importance of contamination free rearing systems. We need to give special thanks to our Sponsors who enabled us to bring Dr. Davis to the Convention.

Zane, thank you for encouraging us to consider a Sponsorship Program - I'm glad we did!

Dale McClung was fantastic and shared his gregarious laughter with us all. I'm more motivated than ever to try some of the other species for rearing.

Our 'last minute' guest Laura Ward opened up a whole new world for us and I believe without her, we would not have realized certain specific direction(s) we need to take to market the industry and the IBBA website (which will bring customers to us).

Fran LeMasters was a joy as usual and just seems to delight in sharing all of her secrets! As she spoke to us in describing how she works her business, she would suddenly think of very insightful bits of information (some comical) to share that caused us to consider different ways of doing things and ways to be creative and to save money.

Our special guest entertainer/hypnotist kept us giggling all evening!

And Zane Greathouse added his special charm with a farewell message on Sunday morning. Thanks Zane!

After all this, we will still be able to review and study everything from the convention thanks to presentations being put onto CD and to the video-taping of the Convention -- again thank you to Linda Rogers and Jon Timko for this.

Linda, another thank you for ensuring that goodie bags and cd's are sent to sponsors as appropriate.

An extra acknowledgement to Jon for privately donating a gift of a beautiful butterfly release industry video clip to all the attendees and sponsors of the Convention.

Lots of people headed out for touring after the convention and I was with a group of four that observed (out at sea) a surfacing humpback whale and the delightful sights and sounds of many seals playing about on the rocks.

Thank you to you all for a wonderful Convention. Can't wait to see what the next one brings and where we will be going!

Melanie McCarthy
President, IBBA

A Special Thank You to all who contributed to the success of the IBBA's 2005/2006 Convention at Asilomar in Monterey, CA. Our volunteers, sponsors and presenters did a truly fabulous job and without this help the convention simply would not have been possible.

Our sponsors provided the extra funding to be able to pay speakers to give high quality presentations for the best learning experience possible. A great deal of new material was presented that will raise both the quality of rearing and the level of sales.

Our volunteers each gave of themselves in a special way to make all the pieces fit together like a finely engineered patchwork quilt. The end result was a thing of beauty. It was a real joy to work with so many nice people that were so willing to give and help.

From my heart, a Texas sized thank you and hug to each and every one of you for your contribution and generous help. I am truly thankful to have been part of the magic that comes when people's hands and hearts and minds work together for the benefit of everyone.

Linda Rogers
www.timshellfarm.com
www.butterflyboutique.net