Balloon Jams! Guest Blogger Cam Woody shares her first experience at OzJam 2015!

So what is a Balloon Jam? A Balloon Jam is where balloon entertainers, beginner, intermediate, and advanced balloon entertainers - and "twisters"- get together to share ideas, techniques and designs. In more recent years, events such as the Millennium Jam, Balloon Jam Hamburg, and OZJam have opened their doors to balloon decor, giving both twisters and decorators the opportunity to combine skills and knowledge!

Over the next few weeks I will be reporting back on the above mentioned Jams with a little help from guest bloggers Cam Woody, CBA, who attended OZJam earlier this year and Steven De Maesschalck, CBA, who is currently attending the Millennium Jam! 

Cam Woody CBA

"This year I had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of OzJam 2015 in Sydney, Australia. OzJam started out as an event where twisters could get together and jam and learn. Each year the event has grown and now combines twisting AND decor. There’s something at OzJam for everyone!

Entrance to Oz by David Taylor & Brendan Ord.

Sunday, OzJam began with a group theme build coordinated by Ray Stewart. Various instructors were asked to build a section of the decor to create the Land of Oz in the hotel. The scene was complete with all the characters from the Wizard of Oz, the Yellow Brick Road, a rainbow, corn fields, & the Emerald City gate.

The registration desk was a hot air balloon. There were munchkins in Lollipop Land, and even flying monkeys! Delegates that arrived early got a bonus day of learning. They could choose which area they wanted to help build, and learn at the same time. This also gave the attendees a sneak peak at some of what was going to be offered in the classes the following day. The results were a beautifully transformed Land of Oz.

Lollipop Land by Pip Milford-Hughs

Classes officially began on Monday with an impressive list of instructors including Phileas Flash, David and Shana Brenion, Brendan Ord, David Taylor, Amanda Griffith, Nifty Nicole, Matt Falloon, Miss Donna Egan, Pip Milford-Hughes, and myself.
A variety of twisting, entertaining, decor, and business classes were offered. That evening the cocktail party was kicked off with a Headwear Parade. There were many great entries, but Georgie Loon (Georgina Towndrow) won the first place honors with her lovely creation.

Hat Competition Winners: Tommy Brown, Georgie Loon, & Donna Dance 

Donna Dance was presented with the Jeff Hayes Scholarship for this year's OzJam. And to build anticipation for OzJam 2016 the details were announced. Next year's event will be held Aug.8th-9th at the Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport and will feature this fabulous line up of instructors: Tina Giunta, Colin Stewart, & Pieter van Engen. 

Winning Small/Medium Sculpture by Marion Mitchell 
Switcharoo Face and Body Art Brisbane

Tuesday was a day of jamming! The entire day was spent practicing what was learned in the classes and experimenting. Fun competitions were also held on Tuesday with prizes awarded for best Table Centerpiece, Small/Medium Sculpture, One Balloon Figure, Mystery Box Competition (a 10 minute, timed competition that you could only use what was provided in the box), Made by the Numbers (a 15 minute competition that allowed the entrant to choose the balloons they wanted to use), and the All Star Lineup (the winner of this competition was judged on the figures that were created and how well they managed the line). And for those of you who are wondering...YES, even the decorators jammed.

Jay Jay the Balloon Guy

The 3rd day, sponsored by Jay Jay the Balloon Guy, started with us shattering the World Record for “most people inside a balloon in one room”! After a quick demonstration by Matt Falloon on how it was that someone could actually get inside a balloon, the inflation began. When the word was given to go, everyone set out to climb inside their balloon. It was crazy! The record we were trying to break was 11 people. I believe we officially broke the record with 34 people!

Jay Jay brought in a professional photographer to document the record attempt and then the photographer was available for anyone who wanted to sign up for quality promotional photos of themselves. AND there was MORE jamming. It was a great way to end an amazing event".

If you are interested in learning more about OzJam, join their Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/OzJam or contact rachelle.fraser@qualatex.com. Good day! 

A huge thank you to Cam for sharing her amazing experience in Australia, it looks like it was an awesome event; I think that I would like to learn how to climb into a balloon! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com