Kendra Jane Berndt
Managing Editor of Content & Archives

I have been trying to find the words to put on paper, to describe the evening of the 20th annual Banquet. This night was 20 years in the making; 20 years of history, progression, growth, and love. So much love that I do not think I will ever be able to adequately put into words, but I ‘ll try.

For many adolescents in North America, prom is one of the highlights of high school. When I think back 20 years to my own high school prom it is definitely a strong memory, but not necessarily a happy one. My own awards ceremony saw me accepting an award. As I graciously turned around to walk down the stairs, my heel caught the stairs and with a fumbling tumbling crash I laid in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, skirt over my head in front of 900 people. So when I found out this year’s Banquet theme was prom it was like I was given a do-over.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Conference, it seemed fitting to have its own prom awards. Brett Perkins was the captain of the ship for an evening under the sea. He had the job of loosening the crowd up with his charm and good looks. He also had the pleasure of handing out our prom awards which were voted on by all our attendees. (During the online registration process all attendees were asked to complete a survey in which they nominated the person they felt best exemplified the category in question. These results were compiled and the top three in each category were put forth to all registered attendees at Conference for the final vote. The votes were submitted through the Conference app or paper ballots.)

Well, needless to say I was speechless that my peers voted for me, and even happier that I made it up and down the stairs with more grace than in 1996.

Although the prom awards were a new addition to this year’s Banquet dinner, tradition was maintained with the dedication of long-standing awards. This year’s recipient of the President’s Award was Jef Saunders. You can read his response to winning in this issue. We also took time

to say thank you to our volunteers and this year’s Josh Prentice Volunteer Award, given to Jezebel Voulé. She is a long time volunteer and we are lucky to have her as part of our volunteer family. Her response to winning can also be found in this issue.

This year, some very special awards—fitting of a 20th anniversary—were also handed out. Conference would not be what it is today without some very important and long term supporters. This year’s Banquet took the opportunity to recognize two of those very important people and their companies.

Barry Blanchard is someone that inspires me both personally and professionally. In fact, I have a tattoo as a memento of a life changing day spent with him. I also know he has had that impact on many people within our community. It is only natural that celebrating 20 years also meant celebrating Barry and the Anatometal team. This award was to thank them for their support and inspiration over the past two decades, helping make this Conference what it is. From their raffle donations year after year, to the small details like the lanyards our attendees received and the lounge in the Grand Salon this year, Anatometal finds every way possible to support the APP and its mission. Anatometal was the APP’s first Corporate Sponsor and proudly adheres to the specifications and standards set forth by the APP. They want the best for both their customers and our industry.

This year, Anatometal also received the Multiple Booth Award for their display within the Exposition.

JD Lorenz also received special recognition for the constant and consistent support of Conference provided by Industrial Strength Body Jewelry. JD started out as a body piercer in the early 1990’s. At that time he realized there was a calling for a special type of jewelry and that it was his calling to produce it. Through perseverance and hard-work, Lorenz has taken his small one-room machine shop and has grown it into one of the largest manufacturers of fine quality body jewelry in the world. Industrial Strength has been a Corporate Member since 2002 and our Conference would not be what it is without them. I am fortunate enough to say that he also had a hand in changing my life, as his generosity has allowed many Al D. Scholars to come to Conference. I was one of those scholars in 2011. Between his generosity through raffle donations and scholar sponsorship, he has changed the lives of many piercers and is truly deserving of this award.

We also had the opportunity to recognize two women that have made a lasting impact not only on this Conference, but on our industry as a whole.

The first is an amazing lady. She is a powerhouse that has always pushed the organization to grow and evolve, Bethrah Szumski. The Banquet was the perfect place to honor her with an extra special thank you for her hard work and dedication. Through her years as either a Board Member or an Officer, she brought about numerous changes that have shaped the APP as we know it today. She has recently stepped down from the majority of her formal responsibilities, but she is still organizing our Members Retreat. To show our appreciation, Bethrah was presented with more than a few baths full of LUSH, one of her personal favorites. To read about everything she has done for the APP, please see the article in Issue 71 dedicated to her years of service.

The second woman that was recognized is a lady I hold very dear to my heart. I felt absolutely honored to present a special award to Caitlin McDiarmid for her hard work and unwavering dedication to the APP. Instead of trying to think of more to say about her I will simply give you some familiar words about pie, a special adaptation to a piece by her favorite diner.

“…So why bother? Pie is never going to be as pretty as its more postured peers Cake or Tart. When roused from its nap on the cooling rack, a piece of pie will likely slump, undignified and oozing its filling while its once perfect crust slips out of alignment in rebellion at having been manhandled by a spatula. Pie is testy, it’s dough cantankerous (sometimes downright mean) in the hands of anyone who overlooks either the precise chemistry or the matronly patience to yield a pastry neither too flaky nor too firm. ‘Touch me,’ says the dough, ‘but not too much, and not there, now back away, don’t even look at me!’

… soon there would be the smell of warm butter and cinnamon… and then the most perfectly imperfect dessert would emerge from the oven, bubbling fruit through vented pastry, custard cooling and waiting to be topped with cream. It’s the tremendous effort involved in creating something so ordinary that makes pie my favorite dessert to make and to eat.

And so the answer to the question: Why Pie? is: Because Pie.”

Every Conference, every attendee, this lady knows it won’t be easy. She knows it will be temperamental. She knows there will be good days and bad, but it is worth the tremendous effort. She crafts the pie that is Conference. From everyone of us, volunteers, attendees, members: Mama Duck we love you. So why Caitlin? Because Caitlin.

I would like to extend a very special thanks to Prince Cyrus and Blessing To You, who were responsible for creating the weights and necklace that Caitlin was given.

Cyrus and Blessings To You also won the Single Booth Award for the second year running. Blessings To You, as Cyrus explained in his interview with Kimberly Zapata in Issue 68, is something that comes directly from his process of creating something for someone as a talisman, an object to carry and direct intention. This year the Amazonian collection was released—pythons, sloths, and, orchids oh my—all helping to raise awareness of the Amazon rainforest and the endangered species within it. This collection was so great I couldn’t help but get a pair of sloths for myself.

As we finished our dessert and got our dancing shoes ready, the Creative Innovator Award was handed out, seeing Jimmy Buddha and Diablo Organics winning for the sixth year in a row. You can read a full interview and photos of this year’s winning entry in this issue. This year, a first time exhibitor and entrant into the innovators competition, Dustin Allor of Phoenix Designs, won the Technical Innovator Award for her double daith spiral design. Learn a bit more about Dustin and how she has always been a trendsetter within our industry in this issue.

I am sure that many of us could have danced until the wee hours of Friday morning. This year’s Banquet and prom was a night filled with celebration, great memories, streakers, and a special feeling of community and family. In fact, the entire room even sang “happy birthday” to a little girl in Germany! To me all of this adds up to the perfect culmination of the events of the week. This year’s Banquet acted as the perfect night to capture the emotions that charged the week, celebrate the people that have contributed to our Conference and industry and without whom all of this would look very different.

Tiffany Diamond
DV8 Body Art

From remote tribes to the rich and famous, jewelry has always played a significant role in personal adornment. While jewelry has been hand-crafted for thousands of years, it is n art that continues to evolve. The desire for unique modern body jewelry has inspired artists to create stunning pieces, these one off productions are sought after by collectors and take body jewelry to the next level. A truly unique piece was recognized at Conference this year. The ‘Double Daith Spiral’ designed and fabricated by Dustin Allor, brought attention to this first time vendor by winning the Innovator’s Award.

Tiffany Diamond: Congratulations, Dustin! Looks like your company’s debut at the 2015 conference was a success! Not only did you win an award for your unique daith spiral design, but I noticed quite a few of your pieces swinging from the lobes of my colleagues!

Dustin Allor: Thank you! I’m still feeling a whirlwind of emotions about it all! Shock, awe, floored by the recognition for my design and honored that people felt my work was winning material. I was speechless when it was announced at the APP Banquet! Had I had my wits about me I would have said thank you to a few people who have helped me recently, such as my super supportive husband, Gabriel who has been picking up my slack so I could focus on conference prep, my friend Philip Montoya for his guidance and help on outsourcing production, and my jewelry instructor Carianne Schulte who took extra time to help make sure I had everything together in a timely manner for the Expo. Seeing people wear my designs is thrilling and the best compliment ever! I have been designing in a vacuum for quite some time, so going to Conference and getting such a great response validates the path I’m on.

Tiffany: How long have you been designing jewelry?

Dustin: I have been designing jewelry since I was a kid. I worked at a bead store for a couple years as a teen and, really, I don’t remember a time in my life where I wasn’t making some form of jewelry. At one point I worked at Dakota Steel which gave me insight into the manufacturing process for body jewelry. Five years ago I entered into the jewelry program at Austin Community College and my skills have advanced significantly because of it. I find that making jewelry is a way for me to fit many passions and things in my life together, in a way that really makes sense.

Tiffany: Can you tell me about the process you used to fabricate the ‘Double Daith Spiral’?

Dustin: It was absolutely grueling! The gold was a 24k pamp (a flat rectangle shape used by the Swiss when minting pure gold) that I melted down, alloyed to 18k and then poured into an ingot. From there I forged it until it was small enough to put it through the rolling mill, gradually reducing the size until it could be pulled through a series of holes in a drawplate, making it round and reducing it to the gauge desired, all while annealing it numerous times through each step. After I had the wire made, I hammered some out to make the bezel setting in the middle, bent all the pieces, soldered them together and set in an opal. The opal, I bought while visiting Australia ages ago, which goes back to jewelry-making giving purpose to things that I’ve had around forever. It was a lengthy process that was a HUGE pain in the ass, with numerous mistakes made, and although I’m glad to have learned to how do it and had that experience, I will be buying my wire premade from now on!

Tiffany: What inspired you to create this piece?

Dustin: I needed to create a piece of jewelry in gold for one of my classes and wanted something I could wear and would keep. I have had double daith piercings for ages and years ago had John Pecoraro of Pierced Out make a custom steel spiral for me to go through both piercings. It was a spiral made out of one wire, not two like my design, and I never quite got it to fit correctly before I lost it. After sorting through other design possibilities for those piercings I decided to revisit the spiral idea with a different take and a little more decoration.

Tiffany: This isn’t your first innovation, Dustin. I remember seeing your picture on the cover of a 1997 Body Play magazine showing off your split tongue! What gave you the idea and how did you execute the bifurcation of your own tongue?

Dustin: Body modifications have always resonated with me and I was a crazy teenager who started piercing at a studio after finishing an apprenticeship. I was living in my VW van in Santa Cruz, I was curious about how my body works, and how far I could push it and myself. Tongue spitting was totally uncharted territory, a leap into the unknown, and I was curious as hell. No one had any answers or experience with it so I had to sort it out on my own. What gave me the idea was the line of thought that if lizards could have forked tongues, why couldn’t I, why couldn’t I split my tongue?. When you think about the logic there, it’s about as ridiculous as thinking if I cut holes into my lungs I should be able to breathe underwater like a fish! After watching how tongue piercings healed and going over possible scenarios on how to get a freshly cut tongue to heal, I decided that with my limited resources, cutting it slowly and letting it heal as it cut was the way to go. Monofilament looped tightly through an established tongue piercing was what I came up with. It hurt and when the pain died down I knew it was time to put a tighter line in. It sucked, but I was in control, it was totally manageable and was the challenge that I needed. I felt like a stronger person on the other side and I got an awesome modification out of it too. It is hard to wrap my head around having been the initial drop of water creating ripples that have turned into such a popular modification! It is a bit surreal!

Tiffany: You were an instructor for Fakir Musafar’s Piercing Intensives for fifteen years! Please share a little about that experience.

Dustin: It’s the longest I have ever held a job and I really enjoyed teaching there. The instructors I worked with are family and have held me up numerous times in life when I was sinking. Working with Fakir was fantastic too. Just when I’d think I had heard all his stories twice, he’d bust out with a new one that left my jaw on the floor! Did you know when he was in the Army he was close to an explosive when it went off and still has shrapnel in his knee?! The man has lived a hundred different lives! Teaching at the Intensives opened doors in my life giving me the opportunity to meet and network with many people in the industry, including you, Tiffany! I have had awesome mentors and coworkers, great job opportunities, fantastic adventures, and people I can call any time, friends who take the time to give me explanations and advice. I feel like I have been given so much, working in this industry! Teaching was a great way to give back some of what was given to me, passing on the knowledge and experience.

Tiffany: What have you been focusing on since leaving the Fakir Intensives?

Dustin: It has been all about jewelry making! I have been a full time student working towards an Associate Degree for jewelry making at Austin Community College and will complete my degree requirements next semester. I’m focusing on getting better at CAD for jewelry design which I have a ton of fun with, learning new skills, and starting a new company. In my free time, I occasionally play supporting roles in a friend’s transgender burlesque routines, which is a blast and a break from my life of all things jewelry!

Tiffany: Your designs have a unique aesthetic. How would you describe the style of your creations?

Dustin: I love using bats, insects and skulls in my designs. I see beauty in darker things that many find more grim or disturbing. Decay, the eerie stillness that accompanies it, old things abandoned and repurposed and transformation are all things I find appealing. I hope that people who have similar attractions are drawn to my designs. Piercers tend to be an odd bunch, so I feel I’m in good company!

Tiffany: What can we expect to see next from Phoenix Revival Jewelry?

Dustin: There are a ton of design ideas that I want to experiment with! I’d love to collaborate on designs with other artists as it is a great way to work off of others strengths and create something bigger than I could do on my own. I’ll have my wholesale-only store up on my website soon. This will allow me to share my new designs throughout the year and provide a way for shops to place orders. I’m already brainstorming plans for APP 2016. It feels like I have so much going on and I’m just getting started!

CONTACT INFO

PhoenixRevivalJewelry.com

(512) 522-9353

Brianna Sheehan
St. Sabrina’s

Brianna Sheehan: Congratulations on winning the Creative Innovator award. How many times have you won the innovators award?

Jimmy Buddha: Thank you. I believe this will be the sixth one. I like the challenge it presents and the fact that it encourages innovation in our industry.

Brianna: To start, can you tell us about these labradorite saucers in detail? What went into designing them and making them a reality? What do you think makes these innovative?

Jimmy: My saddle spreader allows me to get more creative with material selection. Without the spreader, the flying saucers would be too heavy and impractical. Design wise, I have been playing around with different techniques to achieve unique textures in the body jewelry world. I feel the distressed metal juxtaposed with the clean lines of the highly polished labradorite give the piece a modern and rustic feel. It’s a fresh take on what we are used to in the body jewelry scene.

Brianna: One thing that I personally love about your work is that you have found a way to really showcase the stones you choose. It has definitely created a greater appreciation for natural stone among industry folk and clients alike. Which stones or materials are some of your favorites to work with?

Jimmy: I can appreciate all types of stones really; it’s part of why Diablo Organics has such a broad range of jewelry. Picking a favorite limits what I can do with design. If I had to pick some favorites, they would be amber, jade, and rutile materials. Keep your eyes open for more crazy stones!

Brianna: What are some characteristics you look for in the stones you choose?

Jimmy: I look for that small percentage of material that pops! Not all stones are created equal. For example, when I use labradorite, I’m not picking the cheap material that just has a tiny hint of flash, letting the name “labradorite” sell the jewelry. I want it to grab the customer with its super flash, which is what that material is all about.

Brianna: Anyone that follows your social media can see that you’re always on the hunt for material. How much of the raw material are you personally responsible for?

Jimmy: I personally select all of our material. But there are different degrees of discovery. My goal is to get as close as possible to the source. Sometimes this means I’m in the dirt. It gives me first crack at quality pieces, and the ability to cut out the middle man. This keeps things affordable and I learn tons about the material, how it is sourced, processed, etc. At the moment I am in Alaska on the hunt for fossil ivories and jade. Mixing travel, adventure, hard work and jewelry is what it is all about for me.

Brianna: You have a lot of people going crazy about the re-release of some Zoomorphic nephrite jade designs. Can you give us a brief history on Zoomorphic and what has made it so special?

Jimmy: Zoomorphic is the brain child of Cheyenne Sunhill, a close friend of mine, and one of the first modern day body jewelry designers to really push the limits. He is ahead of his time, and is always coming up with some far out concept. Jade is not just a pretty green stone. It’s intertwined with human history, our cultural and technological evolution as a species. The cultural impact of what this “tool stone” did still has influence today, even over ten thousand years later! Cheyenne understands this and brings it to his designs using jade as the medium.

Brianna: What made you decide to re-release these designs?

Jimmy: Cheyenne and I are on the same page when it comes to jade, so it just made sense that I do a little project with him in conjunction with launching Diablo Organics’ new jade line. I wanted to pay homage to his pieces, using Zoomorphic and the historical context of jade as my inspiration.

Brianna: Was this a one-time thing or can we expect to see more of it?

Jimmy: Haha! Yes, there will be more. I already have my calendar full with trips to source more jade!

Brianna: I really want to bring attention to the antique silver collection as well. To some, Diablo Organics is categorized as an organic jewelry company. Items like this, and others you’ve released, have completely stepped up the jewelry game.

Jimmy: Thank you. I started this jewelry “nonsense” out of curiosity and respect for modern and ancient body modification and the innate need to decorate our bodies. Over the years—coming up on 20 of them now—I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and experience first-hand these practices in present day cultures, and study ancient cultures through artifacts and history.

Brianna: Can you tell us what lead to the production of it? What was your goal with this line?

Jimmy: I figured it was time. We are maturing as an industry and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be rocking real jewelry!

Brianna: Do you plan on releasing more “high end” items like these?

Jimmy: If we can sell it… You betcha!

Brianna: A lot of your jewelry is limited or “one off”. Can you explain the reasoning behind this?

Jimmy: Diablo Organics definitely has its catalog essentials lines, but I source crazy materials that need special attention sometimes. It keeps me on the hunt for new ideas, and challenges my creative abilities as well as my craftsmanship. Many times these ideas then trickle down into the catalog essentials.

Brianna: For those who are unfamiliar, what are some other things Diablo Organics offer aside from bad ass, rare, limited, fancy hanging designs?

Jimmy: You know that’s a good question, because so much attention is given to all of our crazy limited and fancy collections. Many times, the essentials are overlooked. We always have readily available, quality, economical lines in brass, both yellow and white, stone, wood, and other organics. Austin HQ is open 10-6, Texas time, 5 days a week and the ladies are there to sort everything out. From the get go, as a piercer and shop owner myself, I wanted to give the industry the bread and butter jewelry at affordable prices. We have stuck to that, staying wholesale only, with unbeatable prices and quality.

Brianna: What separates Diablo Organics from competitors offering some similar designs?

Jimmy: What competition? Haha, just kidding. Seriously though, we are doing our own thing. There is crossover here and there, because our lines encompass a lot, but we stick to customer service and functional, well-designed, quality jewelry for the budget beginner all the way up to the high end collector.

Brianna: What are your plans for Diablo Organics in the future?

Jimmy: We are always evolving so it’s hard to say, but we are moving in many different directions simultaneously. My crew makes this possible. If it wasn’t for Shanna and Kayleigh in the office, and Lauren on the road, we wouldn’t be able to make this happen. All I can say right now is we are just starting to pick up momentum!

Jezebel Voulé
APP Administrator

It’s easy for me to sound like I have found religion when I talk about volunteering. For me it has easily saved me. It gives me a focal point in which I can see the immediate return of my investment (time) and makes me feel like I have a reason for being. I’ve always been a volunteer. However, volunteering for the APP has been different for me. It is the first time that I have felt, not only like I was a part of the greater good—a community—but also a family. Every year I get introduced to new family members I did not know existed, just like distant cousins at a family reunion. Some of them end up becoming so close to me that they become siblings. The APP and what it stands for is the first thing I have experienced that I don’t mind testing my boundaries for. Sometimes to a fault. That’s okay because that is what families do for each other; they support your aim to test your own limits and are willing to catch you when you fall.

The behind the scenes of the APP Conference is very much like that. Each volunteer tends to reach so far that they can overextend themselves and fall. Not because they were asked to but because they want to help so much that it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. As years have gone by, I have seen myself and those around me grow exponentially. I have seen the control freaks loosen their grips, the multi-taskers admit to their limits, and a plethora of other character strengths find out that sometimes there is too much of a good thing. Most of the volunteers do not just volunteer one week out of the year for APP, but rather for several months. Some even work on a weekly basis. The reason could be because we are either addicts or mad. However, I think it’s because we love it. That love makes us want to be as close to it as possible and so we devote our time and energy throughout the year. Just so we can be a little bit closer to all the things we love about volunteering for the APP.

This year I won the Josh Prentice Award as a recognition of all the time I have put into the APP. It made me think about my journey. Not just as a piercer but as a person. Just like many, my first few Conferences were filled with doubt. I started by being overwhelmed by the thought that I would do everything wrong. That was a feeling I got from the moment my feet touched the Las Vegas soil my first time. A scholarship had gotten me there. During that week, I felt inept in my classes and I was intimidated on a career level by everyone I met. I was thankful to work because it was nice to be useful to the industry in at least one way.

My following year, at the Tropicana, I was excited because during this year—my second—I began to make bonds with people. I had really grown over the year but still knew that I was not who I wanted to be as a piercer. This was also the year I found out what I liked doing the best; I loved having to talk to people that I didn’t know and forcing myself out of my personal bubble.

The years following had many little adventures. One year I unloaded the entire Conference by myself. Not because I had to, but because it was something I could do. I knew that when help arrived the help would be willing and able. Back then the Conference was smaller, and by the time everyone else showed up, when they were expected, I was already done unloading. That memory is one of my favorites because it makes me remember how bull-headed I can be, but also how determined. There are also memories of first meetings with those whom I consider family today; becoming not just a Conference family, but real family. I am now fortunate enough to spend Christmas and other holidays with those who hold a valuable place in my heart that have transcended the Association of Professional Piercers. At some point, I realized I was no longer the intimidated girl that arrived at my first Conference, but was now someone that people could look up to. Most importantly when I look back on my life as a volunteer I can look up to myself. I have become my very own role model.

I have become a better piercer because of Conference, but I know even more that I am a better person because I am a volunteer. I am thankful for that privilege. I am thankful to all those that volunteer around me. Not just those that take shifts to help Conference run smoothly, but those that volunteer information; those that are willing to ask questions that at least one other person was trying to get the nerve to ask; those that are willing to escort someone to their room that has exceeded their limits. To all those that make an impact on another either directly or indirectly I am thankful for you.

Caitlin McDiarmid
APP Administrator

I was happy to participate in and read the article about Josh in Issue 71 of The Point. While writing my part of the article I cried buckets. Grief is a complicated thing. I thought I had gotten it out of my system and then saw the cover, and broke down again. Grief is such an ongoing thing.

Ryan Ouellette mentioned in his article (Issue 71) that I seem to select people to receive the award who I am close to both professionally and personally. I know that I am close to those who serve alongside of me in the trenches – who always help out just a little more and offer themselves when others have not.

Service has built our volunteer family. If you have not yet experienced the joys of volunteering – of sacrificing your time for others – I urge you to do so. Whether it’s in your community or in your industry, someone will be affected positively by your service, and the world will be better for it.

I was more than thrilled to present this year’s Josh A. Prentice Award to Jezebel Voulé, a good friend of mine; in fact I consider her family.

She came to us as an Al D. Sowers Scholarship applicant. She made it clear that no matter what we thought she WAS getting the scholarship. She was so persistent and genuine; so driven and focused. And so, she did get the scholarship.

Later I found out how much she had sacrificed to come to Conference. How she had raised the money to get there (going without electricity) and how hard she had worked to learn everything she could before coming to Conference.

Jezebel came back the following year to volunteer and has returned 7 years in a row. She’s a rule follower. While she continues to find balance between when to bend or break the rules, she is one of the most reliable volunteers. She consistently is reported as one of the most helpful people by volunteers and attendees alike.

She moved from a studio where they didn’t have any air-conditioning in Texas to an APP studio in Iowa; and eventually to her dream studio – finding a home at TRX in St. Louis. However the shop is not the only place she works hard. Recently she has also taken on the unpleasant task of collecting documents from our members and has made real progress with the project.

A few years back she spent Christmas with my family in Lawrence. By the end of that visit my whole family loved her as much as I do. She’s a member of my St. Louis family, who continues to support me while doing follow up medical appointments there. She is the only person who has gone to my dance class with me.

I will never not need her and the organization will never not need her to volunteer. She is a critical member of our team, is an innovator, an initiator, a team player, and a positive and friendly face to all strangers. And while it may not matter, I’m pretty sure Josh would’ve really liked her.

Jef Saunders
Membership Liaison for the Board of Directors

Writing about receiving the APP President’s Award has proved to be a daunting task. I am still in a bit of shock and still very flattered to have received the award, but I’m a little uncomfortable discussing how I found myself to be the recipient. Do I list things I’ve done that I think Brian liked? Ugh, the dreaded “humblebrag?!” No thank you, I’m not jumping into that minefield.

What I’d rather do is take this opportunity to say thanks to some of the people that have helped me, taught me, and supported me along the way. Brian Skellie presented me with the award, which made a very special thing even more so. Brian has had such a tremendous impact, not only on my career, but on my life and the way I see the world. His commitment to safety and high professional standards, as well as his seemingly neverending patience and willingness to share with others has been an inspiration to me for years. If I have been helpful to other piercers, I am thrilled, but I learned it from watching Brian.

I initially began my involvement in the APP by volunteering for the Membership Committee. I owe a tremendous amount of thanks to them for letting me be a part of the committee. The work that goes into processing new members is substantial, to say the least. It’s hard to believe there was an APP without a Membership Committee at one time, and all the work was assigned to one Board Member. Eduardo Chavarria developed the idea of delegating that work to a full committee, and was a part of it from day one. He stepped down from the Membership Committee at Conference this year. I didn’t really grasp how much Ed has given of himself to our community over the years until I worked hands on with him. Ed is truly one of those unsung heroes, quietly working hard to make sure this organization works and progresses. I want to say thank you to him personally, and on behalf of the APP.

As I mentioned during the Banquet, the Fakir Intensives have been so near and dear to me. I genuinely can’t imagine being a piercer without them. So thank you Fakir, Chleo, Ken, Eve, Tod, Ian, Grin, Natalie, Cody, Jori, Dustin, Seth, Brent, Neo, Idexa, Bettyann, Laura Jane, and all of the other instructors, students, and contributors to the Fakir Intensives. Being a part of the Fakir Intensives is one of the greatest joys in my life, and I am so thankful to all involved. Ken Coyote, in particular, has played the part of mentor, editor, critic and most importantly friend. Thank you to everyone who has done “the skirt dance”.

The APP is in a period of unprecedented growth. I really believe in this organization and its mission. I am so thankful to everyone who participates. The people who spend hours every day making sure this thing keeps moving forward, but also the members quietly providing safe piercing to their community. We are in the midst of an extraordinary and special time; we are beginning to see the fruits of our organization’s labors. My hope is that we all take a moment to really appreciate where we are, right this very moment. We are imperfect, yes, but we are improving, too. And our harshest critics are also our biggest allies, not only demanding more of the organization, but being the boots on the ground to make those improvements happen. Very few of us get to say we were there at the first Conference, but we will have the chance to say we were at the first Member’s Retreat! We can all say “this policy needs work or this pamphlet needs an update,” but we can also say “let me help improve this organization”. That’s a great place to be and an exciting time for everyone. Thanks to everyone who has worked on this organization over the past 20 years to make it what it is!

So in closing, thank you. Even if you are just reading The Point, you are participating and you are helping to make piercing safer.