From: Zane Greathouse
To: IBBA Mailing List
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006
Subject: Convention Highlights and Thank Yous!

The unconventional convention is history and I'm still catching up on my rest, but I wanted to post something before another day passed. We are still finishing up paperwork but we should have final numbers regarding money, attendance, and evaluations by next Monday.

Your IBBA Convention/Ft. Lauderdale began with an IBBA seminar for beginning butterfly breeders. It was very well attended and the students were enthusiastic. This seminar was different from any we have ever had before at a convention. This event was put on by the IBBA for the benefit of our industry and members. It was a money maker for the association rather than for an outside vendor. This was done out of necessity, and the results should be examined by the BOD to decide whether we will want to do the same for future conventions. Bobbie McGee did a beautiful job with our handouts and Christopher Singer was kind enough to share his experience using cages and sleeves. I learned a lot from the participants.

Friday morning: Butterfly World is North America's first and oldest butterfly exhibit. It is one of the world's most beautiful. Ron Boender, owner and founder, gave each of us a behind the scenes tour of this wonderful facility. It was fascinating. Ron did this at no charge. What a valuable experience for anyone who is interested in rearing butterflies. The rest of Butterfly World was beautiful. The flight area with its Bird Wings and Morphos, the Hummingbirds and Lorakeets, the insect museum and bug zoo, and the gift shop were wonderful as well. It was hard to say good-bye to this Mecca for butterfly enthusiasts.

On Friday afternoon many of us trekked west to the Florida Everglades for an up close and personal view of Florida's wild side. We loaded up in an airboat and flew out into the glades where we encountered cattails, sawgrass, birds, and a gator. We learned about this natural system and the people who call it home. After the ride there was the 'Gator Show' with the guy who was missing a few fingers. The drive back to the hotel turned into an adventure for a few of us as they missed their turn and found themselves touring Lake Okeechobee.

The official kickoff for the convention was Friday night. With last minute registrations we found ourselves needing an extra table (that was a good problem)! Dinner was tasty and was followed up by an entertaining and informative presentation by Dr. Wayne Wheling. Wayne did a great job. He made himself available to us all weekend long and spent a lot of time at his laptop getting many of us signed up for our E-Permits. He was still at it Sunday morning. You can't get better service than that.

Saturday was incredible! Kathleen Zeimer was our daytime MC and she kept us on track and entertained. Our presenters did a great job. Panel number one was on PR and Marketing. Ken McGrath shared his 'personal marketing' style with us (I'll never forget the license plate holder). Renee Cooke taught us how to do press releases and Kathleen Zeimer shared her expertise on handling an interview. After the three presentations the audience asked our three experts questions for thirty minutes. I got a lot of great ideas from this panel. I hope you went home and put your press release to work.

Our second panel discussion was on disease prevention. It started off with a guy in a white lab coat whose topic was "Common Sense Disease Prevention" who was followed by the dynamic David Fine, "Controlling Parasites and Parasitoids" and then long time South Florida grower Steve O'Neil, "Rearing Using Large Containers." The questions and discussion that followed was even more informative.

What followed was one of the most important things about this convention, a two hour lunch break for networking, and network we did. Honestly, is there anything more valuable at a convention than the relationships you foster?

Saturday afternoon featured Kathleen Zeimer's hands-on workshop on butterfly releases. Those hoop cages everyone made were beautiful and practical (and we later sold them at the auction). Thank you Kathleen. Kathleen put on a program by herself that we were hoping to have three instructors for! Mike Rich (he is one smart guy) then taught us about 'Super Nectar' plants. Mike donated his plants to the auction later that evening. Felica Tappan then shared the cages that she uses. We learned how Felicia adapted containers to meet her needs. Felicia was asked to do this presentation when we saw her "cages" and she graciously did so with little to no notice. These presentations were followed up by our 'disease prevention workshop' where we discussed in greater detail cleaning, sanitizing, cross contamination, equipment, pathology services, and safety.

After an hours break we were on to the evening's activities, and I mean activities with an S. We had a fashion show (delightful), a photo contest (approx. 30 beautiful entries), dinner, 3 separate silent auctions, a live auction, and a Dutch auction. There is only one guy in the butterfly world that could have pulled this off: Thank you Rick! Rick Mikula was fun, entertaining and he kept things moving. I'm sure that Rick wants me to also give a big thank you to Andrew. He modeled the sarong, the sleeves, and the cages. Andrew you are something else! For many of us the evening didn't end with the auction's final sale. I heard that some of us were still networking into the wee hours of the morning!

Sunday was wonderful. Speaking as the convention chairman, I have to say that I've never seen a more beautiful sight than having all three of my speakers show up. Yippee! Those three speakers were panelists for 'Butterfly Production.' David Fine talked about rearing on a smaller scale for special circumstances. He showed us how to get eggs laid in a 16 oz cup. Rhonda Stephens showed us her farm and shared a ton of practical information. Dean Kirkwood then told us all his secrets for growing Painted Lades on artificial diets. After these three presentations we were able to question and discuss production issues for thirty minutes.

Next was Rick Mikula's presentation on 'Programs For Audiences With Special Needs.' His new props that he uses with blind students were fascinating. Rick had us spellbound as we cried and laughed with him. His presentation was emotional, entertaining, educational, and unforgettable.

The morning ended with the 'State of the IBBA' report and our first ever 'Member's Forum' where attendees had the opportunity to interact with the BOD members as they asked questions and discuss the IBBA and our industry. I must say that the discussion was lively and friendly. Kathleen then closed the meeting and we turned in our evaluations and got our T-shirts.

Felicia Tappan lead the IBBA's first training workshop for wedding professionals on Sunday afternoon from 1 till 4. She trained a number of South Florida wedding professionals in the art of handling butterflies. Felicia has developed a program that any IBBA member can use in their own community to train and certify wedding professionals. This feat will have long term consequences for our industry. I cannot thank Felicia enough for the work and leadership that she has done. Her contribution to the IBBA and our industry will benefit each and every one of us.

I am very proud of this convention. It was not perfect and there is no one who knows that better than I, but we did some very special things.

1. We virtually eliminated any conflict of interest concerns. The volunteers at this convention put the interests of the IBBA ahead of their own while they were volunteering.

2. The beginners workshop was an IBBA event.

3. Sponsorship is beginning to be an important part of the convention. Sponsors paying money for advertising helps to keep our convention prices low.

4. Time for networking was a priority and was built into the schedule.

5. The panel discussions gave us variety, flexibility, and experts who we could ask questions for 30 minutes!

I close with a big thank you to all of you. This convention could not have been done without the help of many, many people. Many of the people who helped were not even able to attend. Many who attended stepped up and helped without being asked. Many of my heroes were behind the scenes. Thank you to all who attended. I appreciate that you had the confidence to spend the money and time it took to attend. Without you there truly would not have been a convention. Thank you each and every one. I'll be doing my best to send out some personal thank yous in the next few days. There are many that I have not mentioned by name. Please reach out with me to thank everyone who worked hard to make your convention a success.

Sincerely,
Zane Greathouse
Convention Chairman: IBBA Ft. Lauderdale, 2006