Making Joyful Noise: 2013 National Conference!

Last October, I joined a team of wonderful women and became an independent consultant with Thirty One Gifts. I had the chance to go to the National Conference at the end of July and it was great (besides the huge case of nervousness/ missing my family - first time to be away from all three of them overnight)! I took a LOT of pictures...I narrowed them down but not very well, so go ahead and skim. :)

My name badge! So fun to get this in the mail and get ready for conference.

First session. Picture up a the stage!

So beautiful and fun!

They shot t-shirts out of this "cannon", which was awesome...til I was walking to my seat after a break and got hit right in the side of my face! Hahaha. I was seeing stars for a while...and everyone around me was mad at the girl who picked it up off the floor after it ricocheted off my face...and kept it. It was a very sparkly cute shirt...I'm over it, though.

I took pictures of some slides that showed 31's partnerships with charitable organizations, which I love about our company.

There were also some special guests from China, where products are manufactured. It was great to see video of the town, people, and buildings where everything is made. I am thankful for the relationships our company has overseas and the fact that employment and good working conditions are very important.

We saw all of the new fall products revealed, and they are GREAT. Some real "31 families" showed products in action.

Even the pets were involved...to show the growing pet line of products!

One of my favorite new bags...I own it in plum. :) There's nothing like it - it's patent pending!

Here she is, company founder and fearless leader, carrying her "namesake" tote!

Mmm...lunch.

New friends that I traveled down to Atlanta with.

This is Gloria Mayfield Banks. She is something high-up in Mary Kay and I thought she was an AWESOME inspirational speaker. So sassy. She had her own personal intro rap/poem...which of course, was the best part.

Cindy Monroe's husband used to be a worship pastor before he jumped into 31 himself. He played great saxophone and led worship at the end of each general session. Do the jumbotrons in this pic give you an idea of the amount of people? Huge.

Our Senior Executive Director, Abby. She's wonderful!

This was our other main speaker, Jason Dorsey. He's known as the "Generation Y Guy". He gave a LOT to think about and was hilarious - check out some videos of him speaking.

31 donates a lot of time, resources, and money to organizations that directly relate to women. This makes complete sense, since we strive to "celebrate, encourage, and reward" women. This year, they announced a partnership that will be focused on families...with the Ronald MacDonald House. A new Ronald MacDonald House just opened near us and I am excited to find out about opportunities to help there!

Cindy and Scott had very encouraging words for consultants from all walks of life.

We had the chance to visit an area that demonstrated our monogramming...

and also had rooms set up with new products.

This was one of my favorites - she is showing how the Suite Success Tote unzips at the bottom so that you can slide it onto the handle of your rolling luggage.

That same bag also includes a thermal pocket!

This year is the 10th anniversary of 31, so they showcased some old/original products.

There was also a quilt made of retired prints!

I didn't know until conference that this "purse cooke jar" was the first item sold.

We got to leave a little message on giant boards that will be in the home office.

Loved this fun confetti!

Heading down to awards!

This is our National Executive Director. She gracefully told us her story, encouraged us with scripture, and presented awards to those who had moved into leadership roles.