Scent Event

I know, I can be obsessive sometimes, and planning for this scent event is really kicking the obsessive demons into high gear.

I'm worrying over every little detail -- seating, what perfumed food samples to provide, what products to showcase, what to talk about! Mostly what to talk about. Folks are popping out of the woodwork to help put this together, offering catering services, help decorating, sending out flyers and invitations, help as "wait staff". It's overwhelming but oh, so welcome. The one thing, the most important thing that nobody else can do for me is put on the talk. That I have to do on my own. Sweaty palms, blushing skin, trembling lips and all.

*So, what will I talk about? My journey to and through NBP? Is it that interesting? What I "know"? My level of expertise? Or do I just pitch a sale? No, that doesn't sound right. When I teach soap making, I pepper the lesson with a lot of "when I first began making soap" anecdotes -- like "when I first began making soap, I used tallow" then going into details about what an absolute joke that was; the house filling with the scent of rancid fat; the kids bouncing into the house thinking mom was making homemade pork rinds; the hard as a rock, curling edged, lavender and greasy diner scented soap that resulted from all that work.

Poring over old notes might help with the anecdotal stuff, and cracking open the newest version of the perfume book can offer a current eye on the issue. Do I scare the beejeezus out of them with IFRA notes? Or speak of the glory and mystery of ancient perfume making? If I were to do all, it would take an entire weekend and my schedule doesn't allow for that kind of privilege . . .

I'm off to fougere land to put together a few ferny things. Mosses and ferns and black earth and sweet flowers, irridescent blue dragonflies standing tip toe on the end of a cedar branch, and speckle backed lady bugs crawling from the stump of a dessicated redwood. Ah, fougere.

Right now I'm babysitting Bug, one of the newest members of the family, and she's really distracting me with her grumbling, rumbly, snoozy snoring, breathy moans of sleep. Time to sign off.

*The really funny thing is, I actually wrote a great piece on marketing in person that outlines exactly what you should talk about while conducting an exhibition/scent event -- goes to show the obsessive control of the fear of letting people down can be paralyzing. Guess I'd better get to reading my article, eh?