To go or not to go . . .

Cookie Con is lots of fun and learning! New friends, old friends, cookie talk 24 hours a day! 

This will be my third trip to cookiecon and I always have a wonderful time.  The people who have thought about it and decided not to go always say later that they regretted not going.  How often do you get to talk about cookies and decorating and everyone is interested and has great ideas to share? I learn so much and I get to meet people whose blogs I follow!  

The classes at CookieCon itself have tended to be more oriented to beginners (which is why they added the line-up of more advanced hands-on courses taught beforehand this year), so I don't think you'll find the content out of reach as a beginner. It's definitely a fun event - sorry to be missing it this year, but other cookie commitments prevailed!

Sounds awesome, and I wish I could come. But unless I win the lottery like real soon this is simply beyond my financial abilities - a couple of thousand bucks for a few days of cookie fun.

As a substitute I have made up my mind to go to Cake World in Hamburg, Germany this Saturday. It is just around the corner and they also have a cookie section there.

Maybe next year I'll even have the courage to enter the competion there. But maybe not

I think that if you have never been before, and are beginner, you should definitely try to go.  It gave me more inspiration, and I really enjoyed the vendors, classes, and the cookie cutter swap.  Most of all though, were the connections.  Although I have not kept in touch with most, I would reconnect at the conference. However, I found my roommate last  year through facebook and we have been friends ever since. She has mentored me because she had lots more experience with decorating. I call her when I need advice or just to see how she is doing. When we visited the area last year, we had our husbands meet. We all went to breakfast.  I am not sure if I will return this year because business has taken off and now that I have more experience I may not go.  It also depends on if my friend goes again because I would like to room with her. 

The Facebook page says they have sold out, but Karen's cookies say you the tickets are "in stock."  Does anybody which is true?

I just tried to buy a ticket and had no problem getting through most of the process, so I'd guess there are still tickets.

I have been to Cake World Hamburg yesterday, and it was a bit of a disapointment. Not that I expected a lot of cookies there, but it was unspectacular by all means. Some gorgeous cakes for the challenges, of course. But the vendors didn't have anything new & interesting. I searched for some uncommon cookie cutters and special colors, and did find neither...

In case someone is interested, I have attached pictures of the 5 cookie entries for the challenge (don't know the artists names, as they were nowhere on display, sorry). Most of them are fondant covered and painted, very little icing used. So that is what northern Germany comes up with in a cookie contest. Now I wish even more I could come to CookieCon *sigh*

Oh, but some of those entries are very nice! You should give Germany more credit! 

@ Julia

Yes, absolutely, I very much liked # 2 & 4! But still, 5 entries? We even have a cookie seller right here in Hamburg (www.henkundhenri.de) and I honestly expected to find them there at least.

Well, next year will come sooner than expected, and then I'll make a contribution for sure

Give the market some time - cookie decorating is just catching on in some places. The plus is: you can help lead the trend there!

Thanks a lot for the compliment, I am very flattered! And I blush