There’s nothing more exciting than gathering with a couple thousand of your favorite people to celebrate the joys of cardmaking, rejoice in our successes from the past year and plan for the future. This past week’s Stampin’ Up! Annual Convention (called Inspire Create Share 2015) was just that – a lot of reuniting, a lot of celebrating and a lot of new stuff. đ Over the next two days, I’ll be sharing pictures and short tales from my experience in Salt Lake City this past week. What an amazing week!
We all love to see new products and hear about new techniques for our businesses.  We love papercrafting and sharing wonderful ideas for new projects. Still, at the heart of it all, Convention is all about the people. I love the opportunity to gather with friends from all over the U.S. and Canada – and I love the chance to hang out with members of Stampin’ Up!’s leadership and staff. What fun!
Today, I’m focusing on Thursday’s night’s Awards Night. What a wonderful chance to get together with our friends to celebrate each other’s successes! So you aren’t totally caught off guard by these pictures, Awards Night was themed this year – we were challenged to dress in “The Roaring ’20’s” outfits.
Here’s Shawn de Oliveira, Mary Fish, Lisa Pretto and me – don’t we look amazing? I already know how I look, so I guess I should say, “Don’t Shawn, Mary and Lisa look amazing?” Shawn is a talented, new member of my InKing Royalty team – and I am a proud member of Mary’s Pals team and Lisa’s InkBig team.
Again, I’m looking good – we know that. I love that Jackie Beers and Julie DiMatteo joined in on all the fun with lots of beads and sparkly headbands. Both are new members of my InKing Royalty team. Aren’t they adorable?
The room was filled with great outfits. Perhaps the most elaborate, persona-changing costume of the Awards Night event goes to Candy Ford, a member of my InKing Royalty team. Candy sewed her very own 1920’s outfit and outfitted it with gloves, glasses and a hat that made it very difficult for me to hug her.
Although we already knew that Candy had achieved the status of Rising Star (based on meeting certain sales and recruiting goals in her first year), it was SO EXCITING to watch her name pop up on the jumbotron and to watch her take the stage to receive her award. Candy had a banner year and deserves every bit of the recognition she received. Go Candy!
I loved cheering on my team members. What a proud Papa! It was also a big night for me, and I felt all that love and respect returned to me. For the first time, I found myself in the Top Ten for two of the three main categories. Pam Morris, my upline, was beside me to cheer me along – and Mary Fish, her upline, sat behind me to beat on my back with excitement. I was THRILLED!
Here’s a quick rundown of what I was recognized for this year:
- 10th place in the U.S. for Recruiting (24)
- 5th place in the U.S. for Leadership (9)
- Achiever’s Bonus for sales, recruiting and leadership (I earned it twice)
- Founder’s Circle Recognition as a Top 100 Demonstrator
Here’s a picture of Sara Douglass and the demonstrators who earned the Achiever’s Bonus twice:
And here are Founder’s Circle (Top 100 Demonstrators) Achievers who were in Salt Lake City for the festivities – do you see me hidden in there?:
The Awards Night Ceremony was followed by a super-fun party. Stampin’ Up! hosted a big band, lots of delicious food and Shirley Temples for everyone. Amidst the dancing and celebrating, there were several photo opportunities. Here’s a bunch of folks from our group – we could only rally those who were in the area when we decided to play along. What a fun photo!
These are just the pictures from Awards Night – when we were dressed to the nines and lookin’ fine. I’ve got more pictures to share with you tomorrow, so please make sure you come back.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Brian
What an awesome summary. I felt like I was there with you. Helped me cure my fomo issues. (Fear of Missing Out) congrats on all your achievements Brian. You work very hard and deserve it. Looking forward to your future posts.
Great photos Brian! Love the outfit – very snazzy!
Always enjoy your recaps! Way to go Brian! You rock!
Congrats on all your achievements Brian!
You were the cat’s meow that night, Brian! Great suit! Congratulations on all your achievements! Stampin’ Up is lucky to have you!
Congrats on your achievements Brian! You and so many others are great at what you do! Hope you don’t mind me asking – where do all of your recruits come from? Online or people you know? I have been a demo for 4 years (off and on) and finally have a successful card class to keep me afloat, but I’m afraid if I ask my top customer to join I’ll not make my quarterly dues and will have to come out of pocket. I blog very frequently and am on 2 design teams but can’t seem to even get customers, let alone recruits.
Would love some advice! Again, congrats on all of your achievements! You deserve it!
Holly, Thanks for your comments and questions. While I have quite a few local-to-me team members, most new members come from relationships I have built through my blog – either customers or former demos who want to rejoin. I have recruited my big customers over-and-over again and don’t regret a minute of it. As a team, we are stronger and can better support one another.
Congrats Brian! You have quite the resume when it comes to Stampin Up! Are you a full time demo?
I have a full-time job – Stampin’ Up! fills my nights and weekends with lots of work and joy.
Congratulations Brian! All of your hard work certainly paid off:-). And way to rock the zoot suit!! Very snazzy:-)
So very proud of you, Brian! And I’m so blessed to be part of your team! Thank you for all you do for us!
Brian, I can’t begin to say how proud I am of you and all that you’ve accomplished. The accolades you received on Awards Night is just the tip of the iceberg. Watching the livestream I paid very close attention to when you walked across that stage and thought about all you’ve accomplished in the relatively short time you’ve been a demo. You’re an inspiration Brian and more than being proud you’re my upline, I’m proud and happy to call you my friend.
Your Mom must be beaming!!! Great Job, Mr. King
Love, Love, Love being part of your awesome Team! You are more inspiring and helpful than I could ever have imagined.
I’ curious Brian, where did you find that suit. Perfect for the occasion.
Hey Barbara, I’ve had it for years – bought it in a specialty suit shop in Charleston years ago. It’s quite crazy and wonderful, huh? đ
Congratulations, Brian! *So* happy to hear about all of your accomplishments!!!
Oh Mr Handsome – strut your stuff! LOL Absolutely loved your outfit and the ladies look fantastic. What a fun time! OF course, you worked your butt off to get the recognition you deserve and it’s nice to see you had fun while being rewarded for all that work. So proud to know you Brian. Hugs.
Wow, congrats on all the awards! You totally amaze me!
Congrats, Brian, you soooo deserve to be recognized for your awesomeness!
EEEK! Fun times by all, Brian! Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful pics, too!!
Big Yay for you ! You deserved each and every one of those honors . So proud of you and you looked so dashing in that suit ! You should get an award for shortest time with SU and yet achieved all that !
We love ya ! Great pictures ! TFS !
WOW Brian! You all look fantastic! Congratulations on your much deserved recognition! It was an honor to see you at Convention, and get that famous Brian King hug! What a fun time we had. I wish though, that my girls had not pooped out, because I really wanted to go to the After Party. I brought all sorts of “20’s gear” with me, and not one piece ever made it out of the bag I brought it in. Darn it! đ Anyway, congrats again! You inspire me more than you know. I will cherish that photo we took forever! đ
I can attest as I was there that Brian looked very handsome! It was amazing to see the awards banquet and congrats to all of your achievements they were well deserved! It was an Honor to meet you!
Your outfit was a total hit and was perfect for you! Soooo enjoyed watching you cross the stage several times that night…so proud of you! Great pictures, thank you for sharing them! Congratulations to your team!
So proud of you! Your hard work and dedication has paid off greatly!!! Thank You for all you share with all of us who fallow you…..
Congrats on your achievements, as well as to your Mom, who consistently is your best supporter.
Looks like great fun! Congratulations to you and your team!!
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I’m so proud of you, Brian, for all your achievements and awards. I know how hard you work to attain them. You deserve them all and more! And thanks for the shout out! I was all great fun. (Yeah, I didn’t think ahead about hugging while wearing the hat. It kept getting knocked sideways. And let me tell you, I had a serious case of ugly hat hair when I got back to the hotel room, so I’m glad it never completely fell off!)
Dear Brian,
congratulations for all your great achievements! You did a great job!
I am looking forward seeing you on our next cruise!
Will you be in Brussels in November?
Hugs
Jeanette
(your German friend đ )
Jeanette – Hi! Thanks for your kind words. I will not be traveling to Brussels in November – lots of traveling over the next couple of months already. I know y’all will have a great time! Woo hoo!