Last week Nathan and I attended the annual Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild Conference. The event was held at the Westin in Indianapolis, Indiana April 17-20.


This year was our first year attending and we had a blast. It was packed full with speakers, demonstrations, parties, good times, fun people and FREE STUFF! The highlight was receiving my Cold Process Soap Certification!


Some of our soaps were on display at the soapers showcase!


We arrived a day early to take 2 special session classes that were offered. I took the soaping 101 class and it was a great review of the material I had been studying in preparation for the Certified Soap makers Exam. The exam was on that same night after the special session classes. As you saw in the picture earlier I PASSED!! What a relief to have that behind me. Nathan attend a photography class and gained valuable information on how to take better photos of our products!

Saturday was the first official day of the conference. Group Lectures and sessions filled out the day with a networking lunch to break up the day. Sunday and Monday continued with more group lectures and sessions. Some of our favorite sessions included Kevin Dunn's Little White Lyes, Lela Baker's Anatomy of a Compelling Brand, David Fisher's Creating a Mission Statement and Charlene Simon's How to Open a Soap Shop.  We filled in our free time by visiting with soap supply vendors. 

The conference was a wonderful way to meet and network with other soap makers. There were soapers from all over the world, including Hong Kong, Canada, and the Bahamas. We are so lucky to belong to such a great organization as the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild. We look forward to attending more conferences!


April 28, 2015 — jamie cunningham

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