WBC - Friday classs and challenges

I must apologise that I do not have a great deal of photos for today. I spent the morning doing judging and prep for my class, and then teaching in the afternoon, so I was not "out and about" as much as I had been.

Anyway, I taught the Decor with Really BIG Balloons class today, and we had some fun, that is for sure. Here we all are with our 5.5' balloons and material.


For this class, I had to purchase all the material and bring it with me. My mum cam to my rescue and overlocked and hemmed the 4mtr lengths of material so they would be presentable. I was grateful and so were the people who attended my class.




The classroom door was not wide enough for us to fit the balloons through, so we went into the hotel foyer so we could continue and inflate the 8' balloons


After classes we had to run some challenges and a jam room for the delegates. Mala and I were put on challenges booth number two, and we had some fun. The jamroom continued until after 2am.








Mala decided we needed some aussie icons on our table at the final night dinner tomorrow night, so she managed to wangle in a kangaroo twisting contest (nice one Mala), and here are the three winners. They all went with the boxing kangaroo theme.

Sharing is Caring

The thing I love about the balloon industry in NSW is that everyone is willing to help each other out. There are two industry bodies - BASA NSW and QBN. Both are vibrant groups of balloon professionals that offer training and info to members.
At a recent training event I saw this design that was done by Maureen Egan from Balloon Elegance. She shared her design from her portfolio with everyone at the training session.



A client asked me to come up with a design for their Brazilian Carnivale them at the office. Thanks to Maureen, I had the perfect design in my repertoir.

Thankfully Maureen is simply following on from all the instructors who have come before her. When I am called on to instruct I try to share design concepts that will (hopefully) enhance other balloon businesses.

By sharing we create a stronger industry and a bigger base of decorators for our customers to choose from. As a customer you should ask your chosen decorator if they have their CBA (Certified Balloon Artist) or BASA Accreditation. If they do, they are part of a network of professional balloon artists, and you can feel confident in using their services. They can create fantastic designs like the ones you see here.

"Amazing" New Zealand

In August I had the great privilege of taking my Best of World Balloon Convention class to New Zealand. While I was there they gave me a new name. No longer am I MAD Dave Taylor, but check out the sign - The Amazing Dave Taylor! It works for me!

Auckland was first stop and our 30 class attendees did not quite fit in the photo. Such is life!

My teaching style is slightly different to others. I have attended many classes over the years and nothing is more boring that someone standing up the front talking all day. So in my class there is lots of hands on, so no-one has the opportunity to start snoring.......

Please make sure you smile when you are helping me with the demo, because you might end up on my blog....

And by the end of the day we ended up with all sots of great ideas. The taper daisy, that I am holding, the winnie-the-pooh bubble towers, the taper columns at the very bottom, and much more.

Here are the Christchurch balloonies. These are the tough ones that braved the freezing temperatures to get to class, so well done I say. A fun day was had by all.

Thankyou to all my New Zealand friends - both new and old - for making my trip such a memorable one. You guys are all great!

love your work!

BASA Qld - WBC & modern aviation issues....

I was invited up to Brisbane by BASA QLD to present my last Best of WBC for 2010! It was part of the 2 day training and also included presentations to the new CBA's. I was due to arrive in Brisbane at 3.3pm, ready for the presentations at 7pm. Thanks to the miracles of modern aviation, I did not arrive in Brisbane until 7.30pm, and was informed that my bag (along with about 70 others) was still in Sydney.

I finally made it to the hotel at 8.30pm, and everyone was very good about it, and very accommodating under the circumstances. It reminded me of a lady by the name of Bonnie Thurber - a Stampin' Up creative genius who arrived in Melbourne for regionals in 2009, to be told her bags were still on their way. She rose to the occasion in magnificent style. This video is a tribute to Bonnie. Thanks for the inspiration!

Certified Balloon Artist

Certified Balloon Artist (CBA) is the only internationally recognised accreditation within the balloon industry. It is the benchmark of industry professionals, and customers should be ensuring the company supplying the balloon decor for their event has CBA's on staff.

The reason you, the customer, should do this is because it takes a considerable effort to attain your CBA. The process is as follows.

Firstly you need to join the Qualatex Balloon Network and purchase the three kits. The topics are Balloon Basics kit, Balloon Deliveries & Bouquets kit and Balloon Decor kit. Each kit contains an extensive DVD with demonstrations and information of that topic. Once you have watched the DVD you must complete the online test and submit it for a Qualatex Education Officer to mark. Once you pass all tests with 80% or more you are eligible to sit the 4 hour practical test.

The 4 hour practical test includes replicating a design, submitting two of your original designs, constructing a column and more. During that 4 hour practical test each person will have to face a panel of CBA's who will ask a number of questions that include colour theory, design, business principles and safety. Again the person must get above 80% to be awarded their CBA.

Last week I was in New Zealand to test a number of balloon professionals that had completed their online tests, and were ready for their practical tests. 13 people took the tests (in Auckland and Christchurch) and New Zealand now has 12 new CBA's. One person was not awarded their CBA because their work was not up to the standard required. Below is a 'fly on the wall' experience of the CBA 4 hour practical test.

"Your 4 hours starts now!"

after 1 hour the designs are taking shape....

2.5 hours in and it is looking good....

"you have 20 minutes to go..."

The new (and relieved) CBA's in Christchurch!!

So, next time you are looking for balloon decor, make sure the company you use has CBA on staff. It indicates a level of professionalism and commitment to the balloon industry that you can rely on.

BASA Victoria - Best of WBC

In june I was fortunate to be invited to Victoria by the Balloon Artists & Suppliers Association to teach the Best of WBC Class. Whenever I go to Melbourne it rains, and it was good to see that the the weather was as good as ever.

25 brave and hardy souls ventured out into the elements, and made it to The Manningham for a fun filled day of balloons. One of those trusty souls was Raelene who attended WBC in Dallas earlier this year. As a WBC attendee she had the honour of modelling the beer mug....

The thing I really love about teaching is the fact that I learn so much from the group. I prepare a class, demonstrate the designs I have and then hopefully have enough time to let everybody loose. It was fantastic to see people using the ideas I presented and then taking them to another level. For example I demonstrated how to create a topiary ball inside a 24"deco bubble (yes, INSIDE a deco bubble...). Anyway one of the ladies then managed to replicate the topiary, added a stem and hey presto, she created a flower. Brilliant! It added a whole new dimension to that design. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of that, but here are a few snaps of other bits and pieces we did.

And at the end of the day, when everyone went home, with buckets of balloons and loads of new ideas, I immersed myself in this long cold one. It barely touched the sides, but was just want the doctor ordered.

Thanks BASA VIC. Love your work!