Wisconsin

The Wisconsin chapter hosted their annual Professional Development Retreat January 22-25 near Whitewater, WI.  Major kudos to Sue Tenney, for masterfully out-maneuvering the ice dams along the Rock River (which forced a cancellation at the original location) by securing new venue, Kettle Moraine Retreat, just a few days before the retreat!  The two ‘rules’ for this annual event:  no client sewing and have fun!   Projects included sewing gifts for family members, brushing up on various skills, muslins, and various garments for personal use.  And food…there was lot of food, too ;) 

Heartland

In January, the Heartland chapter enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Nashville, IN during their first annual chapter retreat.  Many garments were sewn, much food was eaten, and many wonderful memories were made.  In February, the chapter enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at artist Sylvia Gray’s studio in Westfield, IN learning the art of Shibori Dyeing.  Each member was able to dye yardage of silk to take home.  It was extremely educational and the take-away will be very beneficial to our businesses. Coming up, the Heartland chapter will be hosting a bias class by author and teacher, Julianne Bramson.  It will be July 14-15, 2016 in the Indianapolis area.  While it is open first to chapter members, the remaining spots will be made available to ASDP members in March.  Please contact Joyce Hittesdorf if you are interested.

Great Plaines

We met at Do Space in Omaha NE.  This is a new community technology library with digital workshops.  This just opened in November and the only facility of its kind in the US.  This facility is funded by private donations thru a nonprofit organization and use of everything  and all classes at Do Space are free.   We are especially excited that Do Space has 3D printers, a 3D scanner, a laser cutter and large format printer.   Our heads were just spinning thinking about things to do with the 3D printer and laser cutter.  The only cost for any of this is the cost of supplies.  Many of the computer classes and workshops they offer will be great chapter programs.  I know, this sounds unbelievable, but this place is amazing.  It has over 200 computers for use by the public.  Their website is dospace.org if you are interested is checking it our.

Colorado

The Colorado chapter welcomed a New President and a new member at large to our board.  January, Clara Dittli showed the members how to measure a body for a skirt and then how to draft out are own personal pattern.  February we explored the Denver Art Museum.  We also headed for the Mountains for our 14th Annual Sewing retreat.  In March, Dot Treece, will demonstrate how she repairs fur coats. April meeting Carol Kimball will be introducing the members to the art of fashion sketching.  Also in April Clara Dittli will be leading our Spring workshop, The Couture Skirt.

Oregon

Our January meeting began with our semi-annual election of Chapter officers, and thankful recognition of out-going officers.  Here is our new slate of officers:  Robin Bolton, President; Michelle Davis and Elizabeth Miles, Co-First VP for General Meetings; Suzanne Olson and Jennifer Phillips, Co-Second VP for Website/Communication; Tania Naef, Secretary; Judi McKamey, Treasurer; Krysti Emerson and Marsha McClintock, Co-Membership Chairs; Tricia Crockett, Education Chair. Tricia would love to share the Education Chair job; any volunteers? The educational content of our meeting focused on setting goals and refining vision.  It was offered by Brandon Cordell, a chapter student member currently working on his MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of Oregon.   Here are a few practical comments he made about goals, based on his studies and his military experience:

1. Always have goals.
2. Always set them high.
3. Goals give you direction.
4. Expectations give weight and conviction to your statements.
5. What you aim for often determines what you get.
6. This carefully about what you really want (your passions or core values).
7. Set optimistic and justifiable targets.
8. Be specific.
9. Get committed.  Write them down and discuss them with friends.
10. Carry your goals with you.
11. Force yourself to improve your skills to match your goals.  Ask for feedback, get mentors.
12. The way you spend your time reveals/points to priorities within your core values. 

Brandon also told how he has developed multiple business plans using the nine-part Business Model Canvas developed by Steve Blank.  A free template can be found at strategyzer.com.  Using this template you can build a successful company, using a "guess, test, search, prove" methods for each aspect of the business. Everyone attending the meeting was energized by the practical tools Brandon offered to help us run our businesses successfully in 2016.

New England

The chapter started the year off with our annual holiday gathering in January – held post holidays to avoid conflicting with other festivities. Donna Fortier and Janee Connor hosted a tea at Janee's home – complete with cream scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and raspberry jam among many other yummy goodies; with a vast variety of teas served in Donna's collection of china teacups. 12 chapter members enjoyed the afternoon, touring Janee's studio and looking at her current projects, and swapping fabric gifts from our stashes. The discussion was casual but really lively, with the topic of how we set our pricing rate front and center. This set the stage for February's meeting, a program on Alterations Pricing presented by Janee Connor. Held at the Charleton Sewing Center and open to non-members as well, the presentation included a review of the $NAP Tool for Alterations Pricing from JSM Tailoring tools, along with an overview of methods for estimating pricing for custom garments. The chapter's April meeting will feature Gail Yellen in her only Boston area appearance this Spring. The program entitled "It's all about embellishment... I know how to do it, but where do I put it?", will take place on Sunday, April 24th and is open to all ASDP members and the public. Attendees will learn some of the techniques Gail uses on her amazing garments, come away with suggestions for beautiful designs, and be more confident in deciding what will or won't work on a garment.  Contact cathieryan@comcast.net for registration information.