I'll never forget the energy I felt at my first Bead&Button Show as editor. I had been to the show several times, but 2007 was the best: I could now talk to people as a member of the magazine staff. On Friday, the show floor opened to the public. My day started with 5:30 am makeup for a local TV show, following several days and evenings of constant activity. By 8 am after the local-TV interviews, Kalmbach Publishing videographer Keith Bauer and I were off and running to the first of 19 video interviews we would shoot that day. I was tired to be sure, and had just started to get my voice back after a long illness. Our video diva, Editor-at-Large Linda Augsburg, had planned to shoot the videos but she was ill. It was one of those pure-adrenaline days — you know the ones, when you collapse at the end thoroughly amazed and gratified.
Keith and I had a list of exhibitors to interview for a new feature on the Web site: videos of artists and designers. The videos enable beadandbutton.com visitors to  see and hear from  the  talent  in the jewelry-making world. As we met with each exhibitor, I asked about creative influences, trends, design, and motivation for their work. By the end of the day, we had miles of footage featuring people like Carol Perrenoud and Virginia Blakelock, pictured here. The videos were great fun to shoot and the subjects were a joy. Each individual's personality is reflected in the interviews. Best of all, they are all quite different and offer some really valuable and interesting information. You can see the first three we have edited under Community, Interviews. The rest will go live in phases in the weeks to come.
We completed the exhibitor interviews that day, and in addition, I had checked in on the editors demonstrations, plus had a long, translated meeting and lunch with a group from a prestigious Japanese cultural organization. As I left the show floor, I heard my name. My husband had dropped in to the show with our friends and house guests from Holland. His words, "Feel like a rest?," were music to my ears!
The day ended perfectly. We had dinner along the river at one of Milwaukee's easygoing outdoor cafes, followed by listening to an outstanding jazz quartet. Our well-traveled European friends found it all very exciting.
I can't wait until next year.