Glass Craft and Bead Expo, Las Vegas

[BeverleyH]

I wondered whether anyone could give some idea whether this show is worth attending or not (as a visitor rather than exhibitor).

http://www.glasscraftexpo.com/

A friend and I are thinking of going but it's a 12 hour flight for us (plus jet lag!) so I want to be sure it's got something to offer. My friend's into glassy things (other than beads) and I'm the beady one so it looked like it had something for both of us.

Alternatively as I'd really like to go to The Gathering one year, would I be better waiting for that perhaps?

Any thoughts/opinions?? Thank you.

Bev

[zen-mom]

I would wait for The Gathering. Not that Glasscraft isn't good but if you're choosing between one or the other...

[Geneva]

Hi Bev,
The show is the only one of its kind. The classes are great and there are Demos and how-to' through out the day in the stage area. (I'm one of them up there and there are several more from this forum.) The bead Bizzar filled up 2 months ago and that area is huge. All of the large vendors will be there with product and you can have any of your questions answered. I have several vendor friends there with stained glass, hot glass, and lampwork there. I will have a tutorial going in my booth on how to drill holes in beads and fused glass. I really think this show is worth going to if you are into glass of any kind.
Hope to see you there.
Geneva

[glassymom]

Dh and I went for the first time last year. We combined it as our first vacation in 23 years with out the kids WOO HOO and the glass show for me!!
I spent 1 day there and was SO overwhelmed but I was just getting into glass, got my hothead kit there, made my first bead there! LOL
We are going again this year and I am SO excited, this time I know what I'm looking at and what to look for!! LOL I did have a great time there tho even for someone so new!
sue

[A_Glass_Bash]

OMG I adore this show!! it's got tons of stuff to do, see and have fun with..
Great classes, great shopping, great food, great shopping.great people, did I say great classes and great shopping?? On Sunday there's awesome deals to be had at the auction (including trips to other glass events) and there's raffles for free tickets to other glass events... LOL What's NOT to be loving about it??

[Jeri]

The Gathering is great, and so is the Expo. Differences include that the technical vendors at the Gathering are primarily or entirely bead oriented, at the Expo there are plenty of technical bead people, but also technical stuff and booths on every other aspect of glass (fusing, stained etc). There are more classes at the Expo, and again, they aren't just bead focussed. I'm biased because I teach at the Expo, and I think that the bead classes are every bit as good as the Gathering BUT you have to see if the teacher you seek is there (and at the ISGB site you can see who will teach at the Gathering). Finally, I think Las Vegas is a bigger non-glass place (at least for me, please don't kill me) than Minn. and so the non-glass attendees might enjoy the destination more. Of course the Gathering has things like the Instructor's seminar, a larger bead bazaar and the socializing with tons of fellow beadmakers, and that is all unbeatable. Tough decision, but if you come to the Expo, please come by and say hi, I'll try to provide some bead socialization!! Jeri
www.jeribeads.com

[A_Glass_Bash]

LOL Well said Jeri..

I haven't been to a Gathering to compare it too.. I have been to 3 Expo's.. and I totally adored them... I have met a few people at the last one from Scotland that seemed to have a great time at the Expo... LOL

[BeverleyH]

Thank you everyone for your great replies!

We are currently trawling through the website to see if there's enough to keep both of us interested.

I've been to Vegas a few times (in fact I got married there), so know that I'd love that but it's a bit of a trek from England so have to think about the jet lag and all that. (Last time we went 2 years ago we did a long weekend and spent the first two days in a haze of tiredness after trying to stay up all night on arrival to 'catch up' with the time zones). NOT recommended. We were absolutely 'cream-crackered' (PM me for translation if needed! ;))

I also have to think about the costs of bringing back all the glass I'll want to buy too!! :oops:

Thanks again and if we do go we will certainly stop by and say hello.

Bev :)

[Dave]

Hi Beverly,

Yes, this is a great show. I think Jeri started to answer your quesiton, but didn't say that there are several glass artists there that do a lot of other stuff besides beads. Last years winner of the contest was Tsai, who made this beautiful Leafy Sea Dragon, his whole booth was amazing, also there are glass flutes, bowls, marbles & paperweights and figurines. So I think both you and your friend will find something. However, as for the number of artist, there are only a fraction of artist selling than those at the gathering. Plus there are really no organized socializing events like there are at the gather. Mostly you come, browse and shop, take a class or two, and then go play blackjack. Hope that helps.
-
Dave

[pattyglass]

Thank you for all the good things you all said about the Glass Expo here in Las Vegas. This year we have a couple of really cool social events...we will be bowling on Friday and the KBW Foundation Dinner on Saturday.
We have the best instructors and awesome exihibitors with the most up to date materials. Come and check us out....

[WestCoast]

This will be my first time at the glass expo.....can't wait, I have my classes all set and will be ready to do some serious shopping on Friday at the booths!!!!!:-D

[pam]

After doing both Glass Craft Expo and the Gathering for too many years to count, the differences are more than they are alike. Glass Craft Expo is a show for all kinds of ventures into glass, with a small portion of them being bead making, while the focus of the Gathering is the making of glass beads. There are many classes at the Expo on hot glass beads by various artists, but the Gathering finds the BEST artists to demo and teach classes. The cost of classes are kept to a minimum at the Gathering as ISGB is a non-profit org, while Glass Craft Expo must make a profit. The Gathering is a total meeting of glass beadmakers and the vendors and every class and demo and seminar relates to glass beads. I love Glass Craft Expo because of the diversity, but I love the Gathering especially because it is so fucused on glass beads.

[Lewis Wilson]

This is a great show. it is way beyond being about just beads. It is about all things glass. A lot of tool people . For lampworking, fusing, kilns, grinding and polishing.
I am teaching a couple of class. So are many on this board.
Well worth going to.
Go to the " Classes ' section of Lampwork Etc and see my post about classes.
Lewis C Wilson

[ShepherdCreations]

Ok, Paul and I are going, but I am going to have to seriously get to work to be able to afford the plane tickets for AGI i August...:-({|= We're going, hope to see you guys there. Hope to see lots of LE'ers there.

[limelightlampwork]

If you're thinking about going to Glass Expo next year, my advice is DON'T DO IT!!!!!

Why, you ask? Because Creative Endeavors, the organization that does the registration/coordination, has, as of yesterday, charged me a total of $1,855.00 for what should be $920.00 in classes. I won't bore you with the nitty gritty details, but this is AFTER they supposedly corrected the problem.

EVERY contact has resulted in error, compounded by error, upon error.

So, while I thoroughly enjoyed the classes I did get to attend and would readily seek out these instructors again and recommend the CLASSES to my fellow lampworkers, I will NOT be doing so via the Vegas Glass Expo. I would encourage you to seek your continuing education though other venues.
__________________
Joy

[ShepherdCreations]

Yeah, the classes seemed overpriced, and weren't all the instructors I'd most want to take classes from, so I just went for the exhibitors, costing me gas plus $22 for tickets to take my mom. She had a great time with me as we strolled through and looked at all the wonderful glass goodies, tools, raw glass, and supplies. I got to meet Bill and Laura Rasmussen and Lewis Wilson, plus Bob Snodgrass's wife, so I had an AWESOME time!

[pattyglass]

The reviews from the Glass Craft & Bead Expo in Vegas this year were awesome!
Joy, you will see that all has been taken care of. Everyone worked hard and sometimes errors happen...... but time and patience usually make it work right.
Thanks to all who made the show a success!!!

[A_Glass_Bash]

Patty Thanks for saying HI I sure wish I could have been there this year!!

I am so sorry that you had a bad experience Joy.. That makes me sad. Because Patty and her group have done nothing but make my past experiences pleasant and enjoyable and I will tell you I had one of the crappiest experiences ever there the one year. I thought about going home right there and then because of it too. But They managed to fix the issue as much as they could and I actually ended up having a great time the rest of the period. Please don't let one event like this sour the whole thing and make you unwilling to give them a second chance.

[pattyglass]

Thank you Arlene............and yes, we will always try to help and do the right thing... sometimes it just takes a minute to sit back and figure it all out.
Hope to see you in 2008.

[chrisann]

I have to say that when Patty noticed my registration was messed up she called me right away and fixed everything for me. My good friend Melody has had a booth there the last couple of years and has been going on and off for many years. I've gone 3 times and had a great time every time. The class prices are higher than some other places to take classes but the whole thing is not just about taking classes and the venue overhead is much higher than just going some place to take classes, you have to take that into consideration as well. I'm sorry your experiaence wasn't the best but I would recomend this show to anyone that loves all kinds of glass art and likes the vegas atmosphere and loves interacting with a bunch of glass people, IMO it's great.
chrisann

[Jeri]

This year my DH and I were fortunate to teach 5 hot glass classes at the Glass Craft and Bead Expo. We had a spectacular time, the students are high energy and interested and the Expo staff bends over backwards to smooth any bumps in the road. It must be incredibly tough to coordinate the scheduling of 100's of classes, and they pull it off with great success and great cheer. If you haven't had a chance to attend this show, think about it for next year, it is a great time for all! Jeri

[thecatspurr]

I attended the Expo and took my first flameworking class from Molly Heynis and she was fabulous. Her attention to detail was on the same par as mine. I had a little trouble with the registration process, but sent and email to the Expo people, received a phone call and all was corrected. It was my first time to work with glass and my first time in Vegas. I thought the Expo was great and now I want to go to the Gathering I see everyone writing about. How do I find info on the Gathering?

[Jeri]

Hi - I'm glad to hear you had such a good time at the Expo. Look for Gathering info at www.isgb.org and in the forum maintained there. Please PM me if you need any help. Jeri
www.jeribeads.com