The Latests Blog Posts at AOA

Ah, another year of the AOA Student Design Competition is coming to a close. The eight finalists will be coming to the AOA National Fleece Show in Denver in a few weeks. It will be great fun to meet them in person, spend some time with a group of 18- to 21-year-old students getting ready to launch their careers in designing fashions and textiles, and hopefully utilize alpaca fiber as they go along. That's the hope.

Have you ever stopped to think about how things might be different if you never existed? What would be different? What effect has your life had on this world and the people around you? Sure...obviously your family would be totally different, but I am speaking more about other people you have come into contact with, companies where you have worked and organizations you have belonged to.

Isn’t it exciting when a new issue of Alpacas Magazine arrives in your mailbox? All those lovely photos and informative articles — what a great excuse to skip barn chores for the afternoon! I expect many readers have thought exactly that. On the other hand, have you ever wondered what’s behind each issue’s arrival in their mailbox. Here’s the “behind-the-covers” story.

The AOA National Show is a large event, but not as large as many conventions that I have planned in my career. However, it has something that other conventions do not…animals. Adding animals to an event brings in a whole other set of challenges and a dynamic that often requires some creativity to manage. It also means traveling a lot of ground dealing with issues at the show. Most days, I have already walked nine miles by noon.

The task of preparing for a training clinic requires a great deal of time and effort but the result is such a satisfying accomplishment. It is a relief to begin the first day of the clinic because that means the first phase of prep work is finished and we are in the on-site clinic phase. While they are required, the judges also find these clinics very valuable and some even come more often than required. A few years ago there were judges flying in from all over the world to attend a halter clinic in Ohio. It was winter and the snow piles were taller than me! I was sure we would not get everyone to the venue (I absolutely remember pacing the day prior to the clinic). What a wonderful relief it was on the first day when everyone arrived! All twenty-seven flights landed on time! Whew! The rest was downhill!

First, let’s be clear about something; there is no shortage of people who have had some issue with a registration over the years. After more than 230,000 alpaca registrations and dealing with tens of thousands of different alpaca owners who are taking blood samples…

The desire to create is inherent in human nature. We crave the challenge and relish in development of a new idea or project. There are many reasons people create. Some do it for the intrinsic value they gain from creating something, some do it to benefit others, and some do it for personal gain and benefit, which is also okay…

Right now there are many exciting things going on each and every week. However, because Andrea Harrington, our Conference Manager was in the Lincoln office this week, we spent a good deal of time discussing the National Show. This combined with the announcement of the location of the 2015 National Show…