I flew in yesterday afternoon from Santa Barbara, which means I left a city still in the midst of a wildfire in the hills above town. Las Vegas is about 110 Fahrenheit so it sizzles in a different way!

Sometimes people associate the IDEA convention with workshops and the Expo, but it’s just as much about friends. In less than 24 hours I’ve met up with all kinds of great people. First there was Nancy from Lompoc who has been teaching for over 27 years, and has been to every IDEA convention but one since they began. Amazing. Then I shared a taxi with Linnae, who came up to me (I look just like my sister) because she was trained by my twin sister at UCSB several years ago. Now she has a full-time job in the fitness field.

Years ago, in an expo hall just like the one here (maybe it was here—hard to remember exactly) my sister introduced me to a guy named Raymond. He was the owner of the music company Multitrax, and was looking for a writer for his CD publicity text. I have been writing for them ever since, and every year we meet up during the convention and have dinner. This year we went to Nobu, which I recommend for future visitors.

And the most surprising friend meet-up of all came when I was just walking along the hallway near the Expo and recognized the woman coming toward me as Monica Sancio from Venezuela. Do a web search andy you'll see she was the national aerobic champion from there sometime in the early '90s, if memory serves. I met her back then because I got to be a judge for the aerobic competitions and was rewarded with a honeymoon in Venezuela. I hadn’t seen her since, and dang it if she doesn’t look exactly the same! All these people, plus the many others I ran into today and yesterday, are all friends I made through coming to the IDEA convention. I’m not special–my point is that anyone who comes here has lots of chances to meet great people from all over. I even met a guy who lives in Kuwait and teaches at the same school where the children of one of my childhood friends attend. Is that an example of a small world or what?

Another wonderful person to know is Carrie Ekins, whose precon instructor training I attended today. An American who has lived in Germany long enough to forget English words such as “spatial awareness,” Carrie did a full-day workshop for her Drums Alive program.  If you haven’t taken any of her classes, first of all, get going! What are you waiting for? You will go away from her courses plain ol’ happy, I tell you. Now, let me explain Drums Alive to pique your interest for future. You get to drum with real drumsticks on a large fitness ball. Sounds straightforward enough, right? Add music from all over the world, rhythm, a few basic moves, alpha and beta waves, laughter, stress release and above all, Carrie’s infectious warmth--and you have the perfect way to spend a convention day.

It’s 11:00 pm now, and time to plan for the official start of the convention in the morning. Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about the Expo Hall, my chance meeting with Angie Bunch, the founder of Culture Shock (if you don’t know about them, do another search right away) and how I spotted IDEA senior editor Joy Keller mixing up some tasty soup at the Vita Mix booth. That is some extreme multi-tasking!