Orchids to Orchid

Jewelry Discussion
21

I returned from two weeks in Tucson in the wee hours of this
morning. Sadly I found hundreds of spam messages had sent my inbox
over limit and my messages have been returned to sender. I am more
than annoyed that my ISP Cox does not do a better job of filtering
spam. Well enough of that rant.

I do not know what has been posted to Orchid since the dinner, but
here are my thoughts. Hanuman and Ton have made many of us happy
beyond belief. Sam Patania and Pat have done a Herculean job of
bringing this special Dinner gathering to fruition. Many deep thanks
to them.

Fellow Orchidians have been wonderful in many ways. The donations to
the Silent Auction were items that everyone would covet. Valuable,
useful, and desired. Not a disappointment in the bunch. I managed to
win one bid, and am happy about that. I did see many happy bid
winners. The volunteers did a great job and deserve a great big hand
of appreciation. Thanks to all of you.

Recognition was made to Dave Arens and lovely wife for being the
originators of the entire Orchid Dinner gathering. Hanuman read the
list of names of attendees from the very first gathering. I guess I
go back to the second one forward.

To think that a group of people from around the world, using a list
to give and receive related to Jewelry could gather
together the 300’s plus of us, and meet and enjoy one another, is
incredible. Many cities are following suit, this has the potential
to be the greatest gathering of like minds all around the world.

Just how much longer do you think it will be to see Orchidians meet
in Basle, Munich, Hong Kong, Japan, Brazil. There is nothing
stopping us, and yes even Bangkok. Now it is Hanuman’s turn to set
up a dinner in Thailand, along with tours to Chiang Mai, and other
known gem areas. Yes it is only a dream for some of us, but for
others it is a probability.

I want to thank Kenneth Singh, Rio Grande, the Parador Restaurant,
and any others I may inadvertently leave out, Brad Simon. Karen
Christian and Metalwerx, Blaine Lewis, GIA, AJM, Kate Wolf, and all
the Orchidian’s who sent donations and were unable to attend, Steve
Satow and Rocio Heredia are two I know of, I am sure there were
others. Your financial sponsorship and donations made this a
memorable occasion. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You
are appreciated by all of us.

What I saw of the shows was impressive. I introduced a friend from
Australia as best I could. He has been waiting for a hip replacement
for over two years and was in great pain with limited mobility for
the entire time. He has a great product to introduce to the US and
beyond market and we tried to that. Me, I have had a virus since
Dec. 19 and have coughed myself raw, along with a stuffed nose that
the desert spores did not help at all. I did not socialize and meet
and hug friends as in the past, but as they said in Brooklyn, “wait
till next year.”

Thank you ALL for making this World a much smaller place, and
promoting Peace and acceptance of each other, as it should be.
Orchidian’s are setting a wonderful path and most embrace this,
thankfully. We are many cultures, colors, religions, with love and
great wishes for one another. Let’s make it contagious.

Terrie

22

All;

I would like to share my words to Orchid with those who did not make
it to the Tucson dinner. I had the rare privilege to meet face to
face 325 dear Orchidians! You were great. I hope to meet even more
Orchidians next year.

Thank you all for your support!
Hanuman

The 9th Orchid Dinner
Tucson, 5 February 2005.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Orchidians and friends.

It is with great pleasure that Ton and I join you again here at the
9th Annual Orchid Dinner in Tucson.

It is a long flight from Thailand to Tucson. However, it is a trip
we look forward to each year, because it reunites us with our Orchid
family.

As I look back at yet another year of Orchid, I want to share with
you a few of the significant accomplishments of our great community.

Our mission in 2004 was to focus on Ganoksin’s content expansion.
As I immersed myself in the process of working with various editors,
both video and text, I was constantly reminded of the important
public service of our commitment to support the needs of
our craft.

It is extremely rewarding for me to know that each one of you
appreciates our mission and recognizes its boundless opportunities.

The achievements and accomplishments of Ganoksin are group
accomplishments. Ganoksin is not the dream of one person, or two or
three people, but a dream that is being realized by all of us, one
that we are constructing together.

I am pleased to say that we had an outstanding year addressing our
vision at every level!

The Ganoksin Library grows daily.

As a result of new alliances with leading trade magazines,
publications and authors, we have literally doubled the amount of
articles available on site from last year.

In 2004 we welcomed Colored Stone magazine, PMCStudio, and SNAG’s
Metalsmith magazine. This year Ganoksin introduces European content
from GZ Art and Design from Germany.

Our strengthened collaboration with AJM: the Authority on
Jewelry Manufacturing, gave birth to a new and exiting mutual
project, the “Orchid in Print” book series. Focusing on specific
equipment or specific techniques, these books will offer an in-depth
look at the needs of the bench jeweler. From the ideas, tips and
lively knowledge exchange gleaned from the Orchid Archives, the first
book – titled Make the Most of Your Flex-Shaft, authored by Karen
Christians of Metalwerx – is in the advanced stages of production,
with publication due this summer.

Also in 2004, we added a video component to Ganoksin, allowing
visitors to watch live metals demonstrations. Orchid members Daniel
Ballard from PMWest, and Blaine Lewis from the New Approach School,
have helped considerably to accomplish our goal. Additional videos in
aspects of practical jewelry making are in the works.

Recently we introduced yet another feature to the site: The Industry
Trade Index, which contains over 700 websites in 168 categories. For
inclusion to the Index, each website is selected manually and
reviewed by volunteers. Visitors to the Trade Index are encouraged
to rate each site, thus informing the public of its integrity.
Additions to the Index are added daily, making it easy to search for
suppliers, schools, galleries, museums and services.

Last, based on your recommendations, we have compiled a
comprehensive bibliography of selected books and magazines covering
a broad range of gem and jewelry topics available for purchase
online.

I would like to thank Rio Grande for their valuable, continuous
support, their vision in promoting the education of both the general
public and professional circles, and for sponsoring this event.
Thank you Rio. Thank you Andrea.

I want to thank MJSA for their generous cooperation. Rich, it is a
pleasure and honor working with you all.

I want to thank Ton, Charles Lewton-Brain, Karen Christians, Pat
Glover, Christine Quiriy and Daniel Grandi for their valuable
assistance in the daily operations of Ganoksin.

Special thanks to you Pat Glover, for your outstanding efforts in
arranging the Silent Auction tonight

I want to express to the entire Orchid family, that with your love,
support and dedication, your loyalty, and active participation, you
make Orchid what it is today. Without your support, we would not be
as strong or as deeply connected as we are.

Ganoksin and Orchid needs your support. Everyone in this room
tonight is part of a very special family. We are here because we
believe that our passion for creating, designing, fabricating and
educating others in jewelry is at the very heart of what we do.
Orchid’s accumulated knowledge means that each of us is part of the
giant shoulders that support the needs of our trade.

I am honored to be part of this extraordinary family; and I look
forward for the coming year, as we are poised to provide even
greater service to the trade and the public.

Thank You.
Hanuman

23

I tried my hardest to make it to the dinner. I had pre-registered.
I got to the area where the dinner was held at about 6:20. I spend
45 minutes driving up and down E. Tanque Verde trying to match the
address with a name and couldn’t. I finally stopped at a gas
station and used their phone book to call the Savoy. I got a number
that led to a woman’s cellular voicemail. She called me back and
gave me more specific directions, but by the time I got there,
parking was a NIGHTMARE and I finally decided that what I really
needed was a glass of wine and some food. So I left.

Next year, please give better directions to first-timers. Since
there are no signs from the road saying “Savoy Opera House,” it
would be a good idea to include about the entire
complex. Also, it would be helpful to have a person (or two)
assisting people with parking, and to designate an overflow lot.

I am very sorry that I missed the dinner, missed the chance to
finally meet so many of you, and forfeited my $35. A bit more
and organization would have prevented that, and could be
easily accomplished next year.

24

I tried my hardest to make it to the dinner. I had pre-registered. I
got to the area where the dinner was held at about 6:20. I spend 45
minutes driving up and down E. Tanque Verde trying to match the
address with a name and couldn’t. I finally stopped at a gas station
and used their phone book to call the Savoy. I got a number that led
to a woman’s cellular voicemail. She called me back and gave me more
specific directions, but by the time I got there, parking was a
NIGHTMARE and I finally decided that what I really needed was a glass
of wine and some food. So I left.

Next year, please give better directions to first-timers. Since there
are no signs from the road saying “Savoy Opera House,” it would be a
good idea to include about the entire complex. Also, it
would be helpful to have a person (or two) assisting people with
parking, and to designate an overflow lot.

I am very sorry that I missed the dinner, missed the chance to
finally meet so many of you, and forfeited my $35. A bit more
and organization would have prevented that, and could be
easily accomplished next year.

25

Hanuman, and all,

I’m so glad I made it to the dinner again this year, so that I could
meet old friends and make new ones. I’ve already got it on my
calendar for next year, of course. Thanks, everyone, for showing up
and being so nice, itmakes it worth the trip out there even if
nothing else happens all weekend.

This is the first year I made it to the Catalog In Motion, and I
could kick myself for having missed it last year and in years
previous. It was great to have so much expertise and so many tools
all in the same place. I’d like to thank them, also, for being very
friendly and generous with their time. Friday night I got swept up
in a mass-migration to a Chinese restaurant and only realized after
we were seated that not only was it a Rio Grande employee outing, but
that they were paying my tab anyway and were welcoming me into the
group. Lovely people!

Loren

26

I’ve been crying in my beer ever since I had to cancel my plans for
Tucson at the last minute, and I keep waiting for someone to post
some pictures from the dinner that I so sadly missed. Surely some
of you had digital cameras at hand? How about posting some pix so
we can identify faces with the names we have all come to know?

Surely there are many of us, including our international friends who
couldn’t be there, but would like to see what, and especially who we
missed!

We will soon post pictures from the Orchid dinner. Please stay tuned
hanuman

Tess

27

This strikes me with an ideal. Since many of us cannot attend the
dinner, especially our friends not in the US. Maybe next year the
dinner could be set up as a webcast type thing. That way we can heard
the speech given by

Hanuman. We all know and love him on the internet but it is nice to
but a face and voice to a name.

Just a crazy ideal!

Rodney
RC Gems
Still working on the web site!

28

Hi Everybody!

I just returned home from my first Tucson Gem show experience and my
first Orchid Dinner. Wow! I met Charles Lewton Brain, and Dr.
Aspler and talked to so many people it made my head spin. The place
where the dinner was held, the Savoy, was beautiful. Everyone made me
feel so welcome. I was a little scared to go, but I am glad I did.
I mostly lurk on Orchid, but you are all making me feel a little
braver. I liked the Western music and watched some couples dancing
the two step. The silent auction had some really cool stuff. I bid on
a few items, but got outbid, which was bad for me but good for
Orchid. They selected the raffle winner, and she was in the audience.
Wow, she sure is lucky.

I can’t wait until the next Orchid Dinner. If you are thinking about
going, just GO! The whole experience is amazing. I feel like I have
a big family.

Thank you Orchid for having this event!
Angie C

29

Perhaps with net hub technology there could be Orchid dinners held
in several forums at different locations, With interfacing We can
communicated although on line at least we can add a face and a
moment to the experience! This would serve to open the doors for
discussions, teaching, and new ideas to be shared! Perhaps there
could be a way to have juried shows in several locations competing
at once. This would also serve to make it easier for people to be
involved.

Food for thought

Ringman

30

Hi Gang,

Just to show how small a world we live in, I’d like to relate an
experience that happened to me this morning.

I was helping to get ready for the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society
(TGMS) show in Tucson (the granddaddy of all the Tucson shows)
today. This morning when we stopped for coffee, a few of us were
visiting & the gentlemen sitting beside me said ‘My daughter really
got lucky Saturday night. She won a completely equipped jewelry
set up.’ When I asked him where, he said at the Orchid Dinner.
Imagine his surprise when I told him, ‘I pulled your daughter’s name
from the hat!’

We all had an ‘O my gosh!’ reaction over the story. Turns out I’ve
know her dad for several years from working on the TGMS show
together.

Now if someone would just tell me, ‘I pulled your ticket for the
lottery!’ (BG).

Dave

31

The Savoy Opera House was elegant. It was a great atmosphere for the
warm friendly Orchid members. There was a country western band that
was very good. Only problem was they were too loud. It was really
difficult to hold a conversation for us old folks that may not have
the hearing that younger folks have. I haven’t learned to lip read
yet. The band was told to tone it down a step and it became a little
easier to hear conversation.

It was a little difficult to find the Savoy Opera House but with
patience all arrived. Maybe next year a map to the dinner can be
posted.

The organization of the get together was very well done. I noticed
that some name tags included e-mail address and other did not.

Everyone was warm and friendly. Orchid is a fantastic being which is
alive because of Hanuman’s devoted effort.

There were a bunch of things for the silent auction. Several hand
made items were included with the tools and classes. No one walked
a way disappointed except those who did not bid high enough to win
the items.

Look forward to seeing all next year.
Lee Epperson USA