Cheers to a Happy 2014!
I’ve always loved celebrating the new year. I love the parties, the fun, the reflection, the hope for the future. 2013 was an extraordinary year to twist balloons, and I want to take a moment to catch you up on our year.
We twisted balloons everywhere — from a celebrity-filled benefit to a birthday party in a church basement. We made balloons for grownups, for kids, for dogs, and for magazines. Here are few highlights:
• We twisted balloons at the White House for our troops and the White House personnel. And yes, the President was there. He liked John’s mustache (in real life, not on facebook) but didn’t get a balloon this year.
• Together with Airigami, we made an 8-foot balloon beer mug for a beer festival in New Jersey. It was both the biggest and lightest beer in history!
• Todd was profiled in “American Way“, the in-flight magazine for American Airlines (the current issue!)
• We twisted “Balloon Americana” balloons for a fashion photo shoot by Coco Amardeil.
• Little Laffs, our new vaudeville show for kids was filled each month with families and friends. It is really nice to have a regular public appearance to balance the private events each month.
• We twisted balloons when the Brooklyn Nets made the playoffs.
• We helped Airigami with their giant balloon dragon at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for the Reality TV Show “Shipping Wars” and for their Good Morning America appearance.
• Jeff Koons debuted a powerful 8-foot balloon Venus, designed by Buster Balloon. It is now a $20,000 bottle of champagne.
• Tawney had her own balloon fashion show in Las Vegas.
• Todd was interviewed on a Bloomberg Law show.
• We hosted free balloon classes and jams for the community, as well as helping the pros manage their business with ManagerSal.com. I plan on doing a lot more teaching and coaching in 2014.
• I released an instructional DVD, called INSIDE, about putting weird things like cell phones and scissors inside of balloons. The DVD debuted at Kidabra, an annual conference in TN about performing for kids and family audiences where Buster Balloon and I taught the past few years.
Whew! That’s only what I can remember off-hand. 2014 is starting off to be a great year as well. We made the most of the snow storm by twisting the balloon snow princess above. In February we’ll be in Rochester working on Airigami’s most ambitious project yet: Balloon Manor. I’ll definitely send you pictures about the VERY Tall Jack and the Beanstalk once the crew of 75 finishes it and thousands visit it.
That it for now. Stay in touch, and have a happy 2014!
-Todd, Liz,
and everyone at The Twisted Balloon Company