According to the emails I got the day after, Pastry Live was quite an event. For Pastry Profiles it was the first live event we put together. Let me tell you there were some challenges along the way but the benefits were amazing. First, many thanks to Chef Treand, he did an amazing job. Putting together 5 showpieces and sharing lots of techniques for pastillage airbrushing and sugar casting over the course of the two day seminar.
Personaly, for me, It was great to get to know Chef Treand better, we were acquaintances and now I feel that we are more like friends. We had lots in common and age, kids, career etc… I was able to get some great insight into preparing for competitions and insight into the challenges of being the favorite in the World Championships.
I must be honest there was a lot of trepidation putting together an event like this in a down economy. Many told me it was a bad idea. I went out of pocket to make this thing happen and if it didn’t go well I was out a good bit of money. My wife wasn’t too happy about it but she had faith in me and always does. She Knew I would make it work. There was also the support of all my friends, both pastry friends and personal. Usually those two are intertwined. If I needed something they were right there willing to help. Offering equipment, waiting on packages, dropping everything to deliver things last minute. That’s what made me realize that I was on the right track. The whole goal was to build community and relationships in the Pastry
Community. I had developed many of these types of relationships in my career. Many of these friends worked with me, learned from me or were teammates of mine. Now they are some of my dearest friends. I am often busy in my personal life and career and don’t see most of them often. But it’s amazing that when I really need someone they are there for me. So as I was planning an event to build community I realized how valuable that really is. This is a business about relationships. In this business people are often overworked, underpaid, and under pressure. But when you go through those things together there is a bond that is strong and lasting. So in planning the event I have made new friends, strengthened my appreciation for old friends and realized that sometimes the greater riches are not in reaching the destination but in who you meet on the way.
