That is great Steve. Good press. Great job with the weekend. Have you relaxed yet?

This is my favorite photo from the Heartland Bladesmithing Symposium. This photo of Master Smith Lin Rhea and a young knife enthusiast appeared online in the Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper today.

A great event thanks to all the presenters. I don't plan on starting to build takedowns but Karl gave me some good ideas on how to make things cleaner and better fitting.

Have you relaxed yet?

LOL!!! No.

I spent all of yesterday, finalizing the paperwork for the symposium. I'll probably spend most of today in the office, wrapping things up. I dumped my tools in the shop Sunday afternoon and have not been out to the shop to set everything back up yet.

I have finalized the count on the attendees. There were a total of 70 attendees, including the demonstrators and my few folks helping to run the Heartland.

That photo of Lin is great! It was taken by Carolyn Kaberline, who wrote the article.

I have finished the paperwork on the Symposium and reviewed the survey sheets. See; I actually DO look at the survey sheets!! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//tongue.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

Attendance this year was the highest so far for the Heartland. We had 70 attendees total, including demonstrators and staff .

Everyone seemed to enjoy the raffle of donated items. Although, several said that it was unfair of us to use cute little girls to sell the tickets. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> Over half of the income from raffle tickets sales, was from the damascus bowie that Gary Mulkey donated. Thanks Gary!!! Why don't we have a thumbs up icon??

The surveys indicate that interest in future demos lean slightly towards advanced techniques. There is a strong interest in heat treating methods, knife design, handle construction, making and installing fittings and damascus. I will use this information as I schedule demonstrations for next year's event.

We are already planning improvements for next year. We have some ideas to speed up transactions at the Registration Table. Now that attendance is high enough to justify it, I am going to see if I can find a food vendor who will set up at the symposium to offer food and drinks throughout the event.

I want to again thank all of the Demonstrators for their great demos. You guys did an awesome job!!

I also want to thank Doug Stice and Greg Steinert for their assistance with the sound system and videos.

And thanks to my wonderful wife Mary and also Tammy Stice for their work at the Registration Table! Mary and Tammy have already made a list of changes to make at next year's Registration Table and ABS merchandise area. Things are going to be EFFICIENT at the table next year. LOL!!!

Let me know of anything else that we can do to improve future Heartland Symposiums!

Congratulations! on what sounds like a very successful hammer-in. I salute you and your team for making it a success.

The picture of Lin and the young lad, says it all!

Russell