We are recapping our July in-person event here on the blog, what we call Reunion. Not all of our blog team could make our in-person get together (we missed them and hope to catch them next year!) Those of us who could make it are sharing our experiences here on the blog. I get to go first with a little behind the scenes peek at what it takes to get reunion up and running.
I was the “person on the ground” for the event. I helped with a bit of pre-event planning. I also was the recipient of various Amazon orders for the weekend. Plus I picked up Alice from the airport and worked as driver for pre-event tasks. I hope you have fun with me/us as I share details from our Portland, Oregon / Vancouver, Washington adventure.
Location
Since Alice isn’t local she has to have someone to help organize. The first order of business was hotel shopping. I was able to scout out potential hotels. The only problem was that everything in Portland itself was way too expensive! We try to keep the event as practically priced as possible.
We know not everyone can afford to fly, pay hotel costs, and the event price on top of all of that. That is why the event moves around the continent every year. That way each time we have the chance of being within driving distance of different members! However, event space costs money no matter where an event is held! Since I wasn’t helpful suggesting hotels, we needed more help.
Luckily, one of our dedicated ScrapHappy members is also a travel agent and found us a great location. We were just over the state border of Oregon — and the Columbia River — to stay in Vancouver, Washington. The venue was spacious. We had plenty of tables for roomy scrap space. There were also extra tables in the back for make-n-takes, sharing tools, and a swap zone. Perfect.
With a location confirmed, Alice and Alison had work to do on more event planning. They will each tell you their experiences in separate posts. I just know that my next role was to expect boxes from Amazon. These would be our decorations for the weekend. With a theme for the event of “keeping it weird” — there is a whole story that Alice will explain! — I had no idea what would be in the boxes!
Decorations
What was in the boxes? Decorations & basic party supplies. There were monsters, monsters and more monsters. Avocado themed elements showed up as paper plates, napkins and table toppers. There were some weird purple rope looking things. Did Alice buy us all monster wigs?? Nope, they were table runners. Finally, there were decorations for photo op backdrops. We were surely going to party weird style. If you don’t know why avocado’s, I bet Alice explains in her post [link coming].
Those decorations had to get transported to the hotel space. Plus someone had to set them all up! Alice, Alison and I all got to work setting up. We placed table decorations, place setting, and monsters all over. In the background you can even see the glittery selfie backdrop! Alice didn’t allow any peeking before the doors were set to open. Oh, the anticipation! I was just as excited as everyone despite knowing some clues to what the weekend had in store.
Shopping Tasks
Speaking of store… The day Alice arrived in town was another day for the on-the-ground organizer to step up. I picked up Alice from the airport bright and early. We set off to accomplish all the rest of the tasks that needed doing.
We had to have plenty of snacks for the weekend. Alice kept choosing items until the cart was overflowing! Why didn’t I take a picture of that?
With snacks and drinks tucked in the trunk…and the backseat…and the floorboard, we checked Target off the to-do list. Next up: t-shirts. Alice orders reunion t-shirts for each attendee every year. They get printed by a shop in the local area. So off we went to pick those up. Plus there was another surprise waiting at the printer. I won’t spill it all since Alice needs something to share in her post, LOL.
A Special Outing
Since I’m local I was able to arrange a special treat for our reunion. In the nearby town of Beaverton, Or is the Whimzees Scrapbook Studio. Yes, our neck of the woods has a real brick-and-mortar scrapbook store! What a treat to get to work with Twila, the store owner, to set up an after hours visit with my scrappy family! Twila loved having all of us visit and we loved being there and shopping!
Super extra bonus? Yes!… There is a mixed media art store right next door to Whimzees, called Pandemonium Art. It just so happens that Twila works closely with Pandemonium and we actually got to visit both stores!
Pizza Party
A pizza & pajama party were the plan for Saturday night. As the on-the-ground person I had a car to get this next task accomplished. Alice planned and ordered the pizza and I drove her to the restaurant to pay. While we were there we caught the pizza crew hand tossing the pizza dough! It was an unexpected moment among all the expected fun. You never know what you’ll discover during reunion!
Donuts gotta be weird!
Okay, again I’m not going to spill all the details. Alice has to share the weirdness of this one. If you have ever been to the Portland area, you may know about Voodoo Donuts. It is an icon in the area because of its weird donuts. Thankfully we have a location in Vancouver too. That made it easy for me to pop over in my car and pick some up.
This was just a brief view of reunion. There is so much more to tell. I hope you come back for Lindsy’s post about being an attendee and a teacher! That’s right, reunion has classes as well. It really is a jam packed weekend. Maybe you can join us in the future. It may not be as weird, but it’ll be a good time all the same!