Update on the SGGA

So, besides the odd refund of most (soon all will be refunded) registrations, I am sure you all have noticed the topic of the SGGA has been very different this year. No donation letters from me begging for goodie bag and door prize items, no announcement of a t-shirt contest, flashbacks of the past SGGA, or much of anything from Bourbon, Karin or myself. I'd like to explain why to those of you that don't know the reasons before I announce the changes to the SGGA and the reason for the price drop. So please bare with me, this might be long. But there are many who read this that don't know the 3 of us, don't know what normally goes on, so I have to give a little background.

For those that don't know, there are many people who help with the SGGA but for the last few years the main people are the hostess (which changes every year), Karin (Glider Daydreams), Bourbon, and myself.

This year I was supposed to be the hostess. The SGGA was going to be held in Newton Kansas. That is no longer the case. It will be in Quincy IL
Why the change, and why have the 3 of us been so quiet? I am going to try to explain.

3 years ago Karin was diagnosed with melanoma right before the SGGA, she went to the SGGA and then came home and had surgery. End of story. All follow-ups had been good until last December.

Last December, Karin was told she again has melanoma, this time stage IV, and she was referred to a doctor that specializes in melanoma. Karin was told standard treatments would not work and her only choice was to try to get in on a drug trial.

The very same day, my Son Chase, Lynsie, and baby Bentley's house caught on fire. I left the next day, spend a day with Chase and Lynsie, and then went to see Karin, and then back to see Chase and Lynsie.

On the way home I called Bourbon and told her about Karin. We were all emotionaly upset and the SGGA was not a top priority to any of us. A few days later Bourbon and I talked and I chose to resign as the 2011 SGGA hostess, I also deceided not to help in any physical way with the SGGA. My choice was to spend my limited free time and energy with Karin. She of course understood. We are both very close to Karin and agreed to not talk about the SGGA for awhile. Our thoughts were with Karin, no extra time could be spend on the SGGA.

A few weeks later we decided we had to address the issue of the SGGA. We thought about canceling it. But honestly, Karin didn't want that. None of us did. Bourbon and I spend several days talking about it and in the end we wanted to have it as close to IL, so that if possible, Karin can go. Bourbon mentioned Elena had talked to her about wanting to host a SGGA in the future at the last SGGA. Elena has had several of her own large gatherings and did a great job and she lived in IL. So Bourbon asked Elena if she would like to step in for me, host her own SGGA, set it up the way she wanted it, where she wanted it. She said yes. This was near the end of December. It took her a few months to find a place with all the requirements but she finally settled on Quincy IL and we signed a contract with the hotel. I agreed to help Elena by phone only, advice and by helping her solicit donations. But I would not be required to do anything else, and Karin would not be required to do anything. It was up to Elena and Bourbon. Elena's announcements was made in February and the SGGA was back on tract.

Shortly after this Bourbon's daughter Nikki, who along with her children lives with Bourbon, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Another long story short.... she had a large section of her thyroid surgically removed and the remaining thyroid tested. Following surgery the results came back that the remaining thyroid also had cancer so another surgery to remove the entire thyroid, a month unmedicated (no thyroid hormone replacement-very irritated Nikki) and then following that... iodine radiation treatment. They/doctors, had feared that the cancer had moved to Nikki's lymph nodes and were hoping the radiation treatment would take care of that. I am pleased to report that Nikki had a full body scan last week and they found no evidence of cancer. Nikki will have many follow-ups in the next few year but as of now they believe they got all of her cancer.

Then at the end of March Elena notified Bourbon and I that she would no longer be able to host the SGGA, due to personal reasons she was moving to Hawaii. We both understood and we wish Elena and Chuck the best on their new tropical life. However, I was with Karin who at the time was not doing well, treatments were really beating her down, and Bourbon was still in the middle of Nikki's diagnosis and still had one additional surgery and radiation to start. So, needless to say, the 3 of us were all busy and we chose to not say anything about the SGGA until we could figure out what to do,

We were committed (by money) to have the SGGA in a state that Bourbon and I don't live in and now without a hostess. Again we really thought about canceling. And I am sure there are those reading this saying.... you should have, I wish you had, yada yada. We were very, very, close to it several times. The money we are committed to is $500 just to walk away (for the hotel). We thought about just refunding everyone's money and paying the $500 and taking the loss because we just could not do everything we needed to do.

But then I got to thinking... what does the SGGA mean? What does it mean to me? What does it mean to others? What are the elements that are important to me/others? What changes can we make that allows us the best yet eases our load? And if we can't have it, what will I miss the most?

I met both Karin and Bourbon exactly 9 SGGA's ago. We have all 3 formed a life long friendship. None of us have missed one since. Karin came a week before her first melanoma surgery, I drug my 3 week old newborn to the SGGA even though I needed home health to come help me with a c-section gone bad, and Bourbon showed up after breaking her wrist roller skating then several more breaks after she fell out of a tree. We don't miss the SGGA, ever. It really means so much for all of us to see each other at least once a year, to see ALL of our other friends, and to meet and educate the newer glider owners. It would really be sad not to have an SGGA this year.

It really hit home that life is fragile, that what we took for granted last year is completely different this year. Again, what would I miss the most? The answer is... my friends and glider family, no doubt about it. Not the raffles, not the speakers, not the prizes or all the other things 'stuff'', just the people . So I devised a plan, and Bourbon and I combined our new ideas. We have been fine tuning the details for the last week or two.

So yes Virginia, there is an SGGA This year's SGGA will be about friends in family with a side of education, there will be a lot of changes, I hope changes that most people will like, and because of these changes, we are reducing the price of the SGGA.

As for Karin, after several months of bad news, horrible treatments, and great sickness, she now has some good news., Her CT a few months ago showed an increase in tumors, she went from 1 in her liver to 8. Her CT this past Friday showed that 7 of her liver tumors have completely disappeared and the original tumor looks better. Her health has improved, she is feeling better and getting stronger. The good news is that the newest treatment is working. The bad news is... she has to do more treatments. But, all things considered, we will all take that good news and she is strong and now knows what to expect. She is a true fighter and dong a great job. She inspires me. Hopefully she will be done with treatments by the SGGA and have had enough time to recover from her treatments, if so, she will be at the SGGA. Karin has every intention of going if she feels as good as she has the last week. It is too soon to know anything. But we are all keeping positive. That's all we can be.


I'll write a separate post about the SGGA changes in a few minutes. Have to help my husband out the door. He is on his way out of town for 24 hours of tornado assistance (he is a fireman) and I really need to pack him up, then I will be back. Please forgive all the typos and grammar errors, I am in a hurry.

This years SGGA is going to be about what means most to many of us, maybe not all, but... we are the ones doing the work so we are going to make it about what is important to us. Spending time with our friends and glider family (in my case, my real family) and educating in a less formal environment.

Price will be $10 a person. Children 10 and under are free. We encourage people to bring their children. This is a less formal setting, there is a great indoor/outdoor pool in the hotel, a great kids play place down the street, and we won't have to have quiet to listen to speakers. I am bringing Jacob this year and I look forward to meeting all of your children.

Vendors will be $25 a table. I'll go into more detail about the changes in vending later in this post.

Vets do not pay a registration fee. As in the past, if we know you are a Vet, your admission is free. We do have a few coming this year, but they are coming as attendees, not as speakers.

Registration and vendor fees were sent back so that everyone could review the changes and decide if they still wanted to attend. And, it's cheaper now. If you were refunded your registration/vendor fee and would still like to attend, please resubmit. If you were not refunded, please contact Bourbon.


I think the best way for me to explain the changes is to compare what you are not going to see/do vs what you are going to see/do.


What will not be at the SGGA this year. THis might be the way of future SGGA's. if these changes prove to be positive.

The SGGA will not start early Saturday morning, it will begin at 10 am. Registration will be a quick- did you pay, did you not pay- here is your goodie bag, go in It should only take a few minutes so the registration will begin at 9:30 am. Please pay in advance so we can have an accurate head count. Without a good head count, we can not appropriately prepare.

There will not be long announcements at the beginning. No awards, no formal announcements of who is who, who is new, who isn't new, etc. Instead, we will play a get to know you game.

There will be no speakers. You will not have to sit for hours and listen to what others think you should, or should not be doing with your gliders. There will be no slide shows, community organizations speaking to the group, seeking your help or donations. There will be no squirming in your seats waiting for a bathroom break Bourbon is not allowed to touch a microphone LOL You may come and go as you please.

There will be no donation letter. I will not beg and plead for donations for door prizes or goodie bags. If you are a new or old vendor and want your items to be see by many, I'll gladly accept them for door prizes and goodie bags, but I will not waste a minute of time begging online or calling my friends and asking for help. What comes in, comes in. What doesn't, doesn't. This SGGA is focusing on friends and community, getting to know each other, and learning in a causal, hands on atmosphere. The SGGA is not prizes or goodies oriented this year,
There will not be a raffle, auction, or anything like that.

At this time we do not have centerpieces and we may not. If someone would like to make centerpieces this year, we of course would love it and will give them away, just like the door prizes.

There will not be a lunch provided. However, we will provide an hour and a half break for lunch. There are so many great places to eat right around the hotel.


What will be at the SGGA this year.

Pre-made BML and HPW-complete. You will need to provide your own veggies and fruits.

We will have a welcome packet when you check it. It will have limited items in it, Information from the city of Quincy (local attractions), how to reach Bourbon or myself, and a simple agenda.

I believe we will still have a Friday night party hosted by LGG. I have been playing phone tag with Laurie all day, but I imagine with all they have planned they will still want to host it. If not, that will be announced later. I am excited, and a little scared , to see what the LGG girls are going to do.

We are going to have name tags.

We are going to have goodie bags, But, they may be smaller or limited as the SGGA is not going to purchase items for the goodie bags this year and we are not going to beg for items. But we will have goodie bags, I have received a few items already.

We will have door prizes again this year. Last year we encouraged everyone to bring something and for all vendors to donate something, that way everyone would win something. We fell a little short,I think less than 10 people didn't go home with a door prize. But this year there may be much fewer items without my prompting and posting and begging. Everyone will be issued one single ticket for a door prize. Everyone will have the same chance of winning a door prize. Door prizes will be given out throughout the day, you do not need to be in the room to win. If you win, your item will be marked and given to you when we see you next.

There will be a get to know each other game in the beginning, then demos, vending, and a toy making station where you can make toys for yourself or to donate to a rescue. Demos, vending, and toy making areas will be available all day (except at lunch). We will end the day with a speedy greedy Suggie game.

Rescue boxes will be set up. Not only for toys just made, but if you have anything at home you'd like to donate, or if you win anything you'd like to donate, boxes will be available.

Demos. We have had several people offer to do demos. 1/2 of the demos will be set up for the morning session and the other 1/2 set up for the afternoon session. This way the same people are not tied down to 'work' all day, they can mingle and enjoy some of the other activities. However, we will have a nail trimming and emergency demos set up all day. Nail demo- there you can have your gliders nails trimmed and you will be taught how to trim nails, Emergency demo- there you will be taught how and wen to use an e-collar, jacket, and other emergency supplies. We are going to need a few more volunteers to help with these stations so that no one has to do it for very long. If you have any other ideas of demos you would like to see or if you would like to set up your own demo, please let us know. We would love to have you. Please contact Bourbon (not me) if you are interested in providing a demo topic, if you'd like to have a demo, or if you'd like to volunteer 30 minutes to an hour at the nail trimming or emergency stations.

If you are a rescue, a community, or research group/organization/business, whatever, and you would like to set up a table among with the demos, please contact us. A table will be provided to you at no charge. If you plan on selling items to support your group/organization/business, please sign up for a vending table. You can have both a demo table and a vending table but will only be charged for the vending table.

In addition to demos, there will be people that feel they have additional knowlege in one area of glider care/emergency/bonding/breeding/rejection/etc. These people will be easy to identify by a button and have volunteered to talk one on one to anyone that has questions.

Vending tables and demos will be set up Friday night, doors can be locked so your items will be safe. If you are unable to set up Friday night you have from Saturday at 9:30 to 10:00 am to set up. Afternoon demos can be set up at lunch. If you have a detailed demo please let us know and we will schedule you for the morning session.

Vending tables will be placed around the outside of the room so that everyone can mingle with both vendors and demos and vendors can join in on the demos when they slow down. I imagine vendors will only be really busy right after the morning get to know each other game, and after lunch. I encourage all vendors to bring a bell that can be picked up and rung. That way if you have walked off and someone needs you and you hear a bell, turn around to see if it is your table It is not a huge room and I think it will be easy to see if someone is standing at your table ringing a bell. If you'd like to share tables, that is fine. You can share responsibilities. Each vending table is $25, we don't care how many people are sitting/vending from it.

Biggest change. You do not have to have glider related items on your vending table and all glider foods (well packaged, labeled, and safe from spoiling) will be allowed. We do not endorse any product and think we should all be adult enough to choose our own gliders food. If this causing any problems we will not allow this next year. Non-glider related items are allowed as long as G-rated. I know my 7 year old son will be there so please don't bring anything children should not see. When you sign up for vending please inform Bourbon what you are planning on vending anything that is non-glider related. Examples- Arbonne, Scentsy, purses, fabric, tote bags, hand crafted items that are not glider related but are really cute, things like this... are all allowed. Clearly, adult items will Not be allowed. Please keep these things in your own hotel room. I don't want to have to explain anything to my youngest son. ANIMALS will not be allowed to be sold at the SGGA. You can not buy a vendor table to sell animals. As always, people often make arrangements to pick up gliders at the SGGA, that is different, and always allowed.

We have several rooms available to use at the SGGA. The largest room will hold the vendors and all the demos if possible. It just depends on how many people attend, vend, and how many demos we have. We will not have an exact number until right before the SGGA. We are planning on using the overflow room for a toy making stating and encourage everyone to bring toy making supplies to share.

Many of us have lots of toy making supplies but don't know what to do with them, others of us have tons of toy making experience but of course can't afford to make toys for all of us. Our hope is that everyone attending will bring something, many things if possible, including a few drills and such and that we can all enjoy in this room. We can talk about making toys, what is and isn't safe, and make toys. I know Lynsie has a ton of beads, I have strips of fleece and lots of small plastic toys and baby toys. If we come together as a community we are probably going to have a great time.

We are going to reserve the last part of the day for a round of speedy greedy suggie (santa) game. Everyone that wants to participate should bring a WRAPPED unmarked gift with a value of $20. It can be glider related, or not glider related, please bring something you would like to receive yourself. Rules will be changed from the typical greedy Santa game to accommodate a large crowd and they will be well posted and explained prior to the start of the game so everyone will know how the game is played. You are not required to bring a gift, but if you don't, then there will not be enough to go around and you'll have to sit out. I always try to bring extra items, like Sissy pouches, to donate in case someone forgets to bring an item. But if you really want to play, please remember your own gift, I can not guarantee I will have enough to go around. Children of any age will also be able to play this game as long as they bring a gift, are old enough to open their own gifts, walk and talk and understand they may not end up with what they want. Smaller children often get upset when they have an item stolen from them, so please use your own judgement, only you know your own children and what they are comfortable with.


I am sure I have forgotten a ton of stuff. For that I am sorry. I had most of this typed up at work, but I am at home today and the tornado warnings have been issued for my area and I am typing as fast as I can. LOL. I don't know how long I'll have power/internet tonight. I will be available tomorrow between calls at work to answer questions. Please post your questions on this post, not in a pm to me. My pm box is filling way to fast these days and I can't seem to keep up. Also, many people who have gone year after year know at lot of the answers to common questions and if posted here, both Bourbon and I can see them and answer them.

My hope is that we will all be able to enjoy this less stressful environment while educating each other.

We need to focus on each other, our gliders, and not the hassles of a formal setting.

Forgot to add, for common non-glider related items, such as Scentsy... we can not have everyone set up selling the same thing. So only the first two of each item with their paid vending will be allowed. We will update the SGGA website as often as possible. If you have questions please contact Bourbon.

The website for the Sgga as a reminder
http://www.sgga.info

registration please if you are registering for vending BOTH registrations MUST be filled out, if you are adding another to your table that can be done at the same time or noted then another registration filled out for the second person

you CAN pay for all at the same time with the one screen ,

important links..

Main SGGA Website

Registration

Vendor Registration

Location Info

Airports/Car Rentals

we are looking at the usual of 125-150 items for goody bags that has always been sufficient enough in the past extras will be passed out as part of door prizes

Have to edit again. We will allow two of each non-glider rellated item to be vended unles your company policy only allows one of each. Then it is first come first served.

Scentsy has already been taken. Sorry for any confusion. I didn't know.

SGN WAKE UP!!!! Where is all the excitement??? Come on people, LETS GET EXCITED!!!!

I was so rushed to post everything before the storms hit (things are looking better here) that I forgot one of the activities.

We will have brand new room size screened tent in one half of the toy making room. It is a big room. Bourbon says she will make herself available all day for bonding tips in or out of the tent. The tent can be used with anyone, it doesn't have to be with Bourbon. It will be for anyone who is new and fearful of their gliders, or gliders who are fearful of their owners. This will be a safe enclosed enviroment for all to use. There will be an area to sign up to use the tent the morning of the SGGA.

If you plan on using the tent, please have a fecal (snap prefered) done on the glidesr you bring the week before or of the SGGA. The tent is being provided for a safe area to get the gliders out for a brief period of time. We don't want to provide a safe area and then cross contaminate with a sick glider. We can not be responsible for any contact your glider has with other gliders waste.

Also, if there are any artists that would like to make a Logo for the 2011 SGGA centered around friends and family, please submit your artwork to Bourbon at the SGGA email she has listed. Please no photos. These should be in by June 15th. Following this I will take the best logo and place them on a SGGA t-shirt which will be available on Cafepress. The artist who makes the chosen logo with be able to selct any t-shirt with their logo from Cafepress, the SGGA will purchase it for you and make sure you get it. You do not have to attend the SGGA to submit a logo.

I'm naming myself Official SGGA Photographer 2011 if its an a new type of SGGA I can QueenBee myself.

LOL. You have the job just as long as you don't charge the SGGA.

Wouldn't dream of it.

Alicia, could you or someone post the addy to send goody bag stuff and door prizes? Pretty Please. You better get lots of pics Lauren! *tear*

Send to me.

Alicia Rudd
608 n Elm
Newton, KS
67114

Cora, you make me sad We need to get you up on a webcam or something at the SGGA.

I LOVE this concept!!!! Not that I don't love the speaker/conference part of the SGGA, but the thing I love most are the long-lasting friendships that are made!!! I'm so glad we are focusing on something a little different this year

Makes me think of this song



Can't wait to see everyone in July and I have no doubt that this will be an SGGA to remember

Hey Alicia, I just completed everything!

See I do still know how to post!

Woooo Hoooo. Now just don't forget the Disney pictures.

Jacob is going to be so happy (and so am I).

Yea!! I get to see Kathy!!!! Cora, wont be the same without you there girl. I believe in miracles, so I wont write you off just yet.

URAQT..... You know I just cant wait to see you again!!

It is going to be a WONDERFUL FUN LOVING time this year!!!

Anyone wanting to see, touch, hear, hug, kiss, play with , etc etc etc with Bentley.... I will be setting up a vendor booth. Time with Bentley will be $5 for 5 min, if you would like 10 min the price is only $7. I'm sure there will be a line, so first come, first serve.

Line for Bentley:
1)Lauren (12 hrs)

Umm not.

I am first in line and I don't pay. LOL.

No pictures for you then!

desertnana is second!

Now the rest of the line can begin! LOL

9 weeks to gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I am trying to think of a way to get there, I cant stand it!

Cora there has to be a way! Train? Carpool? Time travel?