Who's Going to Art of Body Experience?

I posed the info about the convention in April 2013 under events, but was just curious if anyone from FPF was going? I'm so hoping I can meet some of you

http://www.aobexperience.com/Art_of_Body/Welcome.html

I'm gonna put that on my wish list...

It's not that expensive, will have great talented instructors (like MEEE LOL) & won't interfere w/ holidays!

All lovely reasons to be on my "please, oh, please" list, hehe!

Still hoping to see who's going. I know it's a year off:-)

I'd love to go... But the travel from the UK would cost more than I have...

I can't make it this year, but am really hoping if they have it in 2013 I can go. Just not in my budget this year. A local face painter is teaching classes there. Have fun!

Kara, This one IS in 2013! April, to be specific, and I'm just going to start planning on going. CAN'T WAIT!!

Think about it, if you save $10 from every gig you do...you will have money to go to a convention. Trust me, doing that will increase your productivity, skill and business skill so much that it will pay for itself 10x over. I do alot of PPF events, in one weekend with a new design, I can pay for a registration. Think about it like this...eg: convention $200, learn one time saving tip that cuts your average face speed by one minute... assume you paint 100 kids a day...that is 100 minutes saved...or TWENTY EXTRA FACES!!! Even at $5/face, you just increased your ability to profit by another $100...if you are a $10/face painter...that is an extra $200 per day that you could make from that one little tip!!
I had a hard time jusityfing costs of conventions/DVD's/classes etc at first...but when I looked at the numbers...it just made sense. Also, think of all the new products you are exposed to in the jam room...and the money saved by investing in the ones that work for you...not just buying things on a whim and hoping they work. Just my .02 worth.

But I don't have that many gigs at the moment... :'( But I will start saving from my day job (evening job) for convention in 2013... or 2014... I'll get there... Some time...

rthling wrote:Kara, This one IS in 2013! April, to be specific, and I'm just going to start planning on going. CAN'T WAIT!!

Well that's a little different! 2013 might be doable.

Gamezgirl wrote:Think about it, if you save $10 from every gig you do...you will have money to go to a convention. Trust me, doing that will increase your productivity, skill and business skill so much that it will pay for itself 10x over. I do alot of PPF events, in one weekend with a new design, I can pay for a registration. Think about it like this...eg: convention $200, learn one time saving tip that cuts your average face speed by one minute... assume you paint 100 kids a day...that is 100 minutes saved...or TWENTY EXTRA FACES!!! Even at $5/face, you just increased your ability to profit by another $100...if you are a $10/face painter...that is an extra $200 per day that you could make from that one little tip!!
I had a hard time jusityfing costs of conventions/DVD's/classes etc at first...but when I looked at the numbers...it just made sense. Also, think of all the new products you are exposed to in the jam room...and the money saved by investing in the ones that work for you...not just buying things on a whim and hoping they work. Just my .02 worth.

I understand how important conventions are. I go to Fabaic, but the thing is that its close to home. I carpool there and stay at an off site hotel. Also, I'm young, unmarried, and sometimes a tiny bit reckless with money. This year I would not be able to go because my car needs serious attention, I'm buying a house (by myself), I'm going to Fabaic, taking my whole family to Disney, and trying to upgrade my setup. Here in FL I have so much competition. I need what it takes to wow people. Also, I have a budget. I don't have extra money to spend when new things pop up. I do save when I have gigs, but it goes to the things mentioned above(especially the house). After all of that is taken care of then I can consider something else to save for.
Once my boyfriend gets through with school and I'm married it will be different. His income will be atleast ten times mine. Saving will be easy.
On a completely less personal note, you also have to factor in other cost. Hotel, rental car/flight, food, supplies, gas if you get a rental car, taxi if you don't, if you are bringing a model you might need to consider how much you are paying them, if you have kids you might need to bring them.
I'm taking my little brother to Fabaic for his 13th birthday. So, that's twice the hotel room split, twice the mouth to feed (more the four times the mouth to feed. He's 5'5 at 12 and getting taller. He eats sooo much!), and of course I have to buy him stuff while were there.

I'm just saying, sometimes people have big bills. Sometimes they have limited income. Sometimes the do work their butts off, but still need to save for other things.

I'm considering it for 2013. Last year I made it to my first gathering- Lafete, and am going again this year. Partly because it's so close for me, but also because it is less of a "convention" and more of a semi-instructive monster jam. (well, Zombie jam! ) The laid back bohemian-ness of the event helps me feel at ease. Now, by next year I may feel up to a little different angle- but that will mean giving up Lafete. Can't do both as they are both in the springtime when all the good festivals are happening!

Ohhh I LOVE Asheville and have a ton of friends there, so I would have a crashpad. I might just have to go!

Kara, I respect that there are some extenuating circumstances for some people...I was generalizing to those who see the cost and don't want to pay it. And for what it's worth, I have gone and slept in my car before and ate peanut butter and bread because I had no money to even share a hotel room or eat at a restaurant... Last year's trip to Kidvention was a nightmare personally...from my mom wrecking her truck and being injured on the way to stay with my kids, to my van breaking down on the side of the interstate at 2am in a blizzard, forgetting my passport and getting absolutely ripped apart at the Canadian border...losing my wallet and the last bit of $$ I had...BUT...the kindness of others (especially Louis and his wife) helped me get back on track, have an amazing weekend, AND...that convention for me totally changed the direction of my business, showed me how to market myself in a way that I had not thought of, it's not a far stretch to say that it changed my life for the better. This month...$6k for a new roof...$2200 for DH's CPAP, $500 for orthotics for me, sigh...so I still have no idea where the $$ is going to come from, but I still have a couple of weeks to figure it out. LOL I hear ya about no expendable $$. I am horrible at saving $$ even without extra surprises.
There ARE ways to do it on minimal $$. You can share rooms with 4 people, you don't HAVE TO buy anything, you don't HAVE TO bring a model, you don't HAVE TO take pre/post classes, you don't HAVE TO eat at restaurants, I can't afford to fly, so I drive everywhere... and I bring food from the grocery store to eat in my room. I'm just saying that where there is a will, USUALLY there is a way.

I have re read this message about 45 times...not sure I should post it...but, I just want people to see that we don't all have expendable income to throw around...and I do understand people who have to choose which bills get paid each month (if any...) It's never easy, but I am investing in myself, my future and my business.

ALL those expenses can be written off at the end of the year too!

Gamezgirl, I wasn't trying to imply that you specifically had extra moneys, just that I personally didn't. I'm not bringing a model, but I buy all of my supplies for the year at Fabaic. I know where you're coming from! Lol, low budget. There are a lot of things I don't have to do. Like take my family to Disney, but I am. I deserve it, they deserve it. Family first. I personally can not sleep outside, not even in the car. I'm terrified of the dark. Though its way easier to budget for if its April 2013. I thought it was 2012.

Ha ha ha, yeah, I'm not suggesting people do that whole sleep in the car thing..it is a little extreme and silly...but I was desperate and did what i had to. LOL

Well you get props from me! I'm a baby. Oh man. I definitely need to make sure the smileys that I'm using. That is not what : x means to me, lol.

Just wondering who exactly is going to this? I know MelodyFPL and I are both registered. I don't fly, so I'm driving my van down.

Gah!!! I want to go so badly, but don't know if I can swing it. We are doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, and, well...

It isn't in the budget.

But if festival season does well enough, my business will pay for it.

'I'm going..

yeah..!

Linda what day will classes be...there is really no info on the web site...just say 7th thru the 10th are those class days...? looks to be more spendy for me than the vegas trip was...and

Barb, Contact Terra & ask her. My guess is the schedule isn't finished yet. I just know it's from the 7th - 10th:-)

rthling wrote:Gah!!! I want to go so badly, but don't know if I can swing it. We are doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, and, well...

It isn't in the budget.

But if festival season does well enough, my business will pay for it.

Make a Convention Envelope! We've done(and are still doing) FPU & are slowly going debt free. Right now we're building back up our emergency fund (we had a few car emergencies & an A/C emergency this winter... but it was great not using a credit card for these things:-)