August meeting schedule and summer round-up

I know you've all been waiting on tenterhooks to hear the results of our June membership drive.  I have to apologize for not updating this blog in some time, but as it turned out I had a baby in mid-June (who knew?) and have been on a steady diet of coffee, optimism and hope since then.

Let's get the really important stuff out of the way first.  August is almost here!  July has flown by.  BWI of Atlanta is having its usual three meetings in August, and hopefully soon will be adding a fourth in Gwinnett County.

Our regular Saturday meeting will be August 10th from 10 - 12 at The Solarium in Decatur.  Why not August 3rd?  Because on August 3rd BWI of Atlanta is making a special appearance at The Big Latch-On!  Babywearing and breastfeeding go together quite well so we'll be representing ourselves at that event.

Our regular Friday meeting will be August 9th from 11 - 1 at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta.

Our regular Monday meeting will be August 12th August 19th from 10 - 12 at New Baby Products in Atlanta.

Onto the results!  Our members came through and the drive was a huge, and I mean HUGE success.  We gained over 50 new members and more members are still joining.  We've been putting that money to good use.  We were able to get the following:

- BWI of Atlanta membership cards for all members
- BWI of Atlanta static cling decals for all members joining or renewing during the drive
- 2 keep calm and wear your baby t-shirts
- A $25 gift voucher to Comfy Joery
- A $50 gift voucher to wovenwraps.com
- Sleeping Baby Productions ring sling
- Kalea Baby ring sling
- Standard/standard Kinderpack with kool knit
- Chimparoo mei tai
- Babyhawk Oh Mei! half-buckle mei tai
- Didymos Jack size 6
- Lenny Lamb bamboo rainbow size 6
- Didymos bleu nino size 4
- Natibaby hemp blue/green clovers size 6
- Infantino wrap and tie
- Vatanai Koira 4.5m
- Vatanai Orkney 4.5m
- Vatanai Glaciar 3m
- Wrapsody Bali Stretch Alyssa
- Pikkolo

I am blown away by how many members joined us and how we have been able to expand the library.  Checkouts are at an all-time high and people are spreading the word about Babywearing International of Atlanta.  All thanks to our members!

There are more things to talk about, like the wrap workshop and the upcoming carrier-specific members-only workshops, but I think this blog post is long enough and I will leave the rest for later.  See you at the meeting!

Next meeting: 5/4/13

April was a whirlwind of activity but it looks like May is going to be just as busy. Here are the upcoming meetings:

- Saturday, May 4th at the Solarium in Decatur from 10-12
- Friday, May 10th at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta from 11-1
- Monday, May 20th at New Baby Products in Atlanta from 10-12

We've got a bonus meeting this month.  Actually, it isn't a meeting - it's a class.  BWI of Atlanta is pleasantly chuffed to be offering a workshop on shorties led by Aisling and yours truly!  With warm weather coming up, we'd all love to be wearing less, and that includes our wraps.  Short wraps have been used around the world for centuries.  They're economical, lightweight, and traditional.  Why not learn how to use them?  Wrap workshop: Shorties 101 will commence at New Baby Products on Tuesday, May 7th from 1:30 - 2:30.  No shorty, no problem!  We'll have some there.

If our class is successful, we'd be happy to offer a continuing series or repeats of the class around the Atlanta metro area.  I'm looking forward to laying a lesson plan out and getting some teaching on next week!  Having a large repertoire of carries has been one of my passions when it comes to wraps, and other than being a mom, my day job is as a teacher, so when hobby meets career passion, it's a beautiful thing.  I'm excited!  We'll be covering the following topics:

- Slipknots
- No-sew ring slings
- Rebozo
- Simple hip carry
- Half-Jordan's back carry

If there's time, or if the class is particularly skilled, we will also cover knotless ruck.

As always, see you all at the meetings!