Our resident ‘girl-Friday’ Dawn Gold travels to many of the tri-state events during the year and so she is our eyes and ears for everything going on. However, one wish on her bucket list she had not fulfilled until recently was a trip to a full TG/CD Conference. So, which conference to choose for your first experience of full femme immersion over 4 to 5 days?

Through girlfriend feedback, Dawn chose the Keystone Conference conveniently located in Harrisburg, PA. Whilst there are many brave attendees who go without knowing anyone in advance, Dawn was assured of meeting many friendly faces and would certainly leave knowing many more. Many of our tri-state customers have attended and continue to attend Keystone and there is no secret to it’s success; it is so well organized and such a friendly inclusive atmosphere. They have been doing this a long time so know what works for the attendees. Many comment on the fact it is the ideal mix of seminars and social events and you get to choose exactly what you want to do. Furthermore, you can pick and choose the day or days you wish to attend so if the expense of 5 days is putting you off then choose a much shorter and affordable stay for yourself.

Dawn’s experience of the Keystone Conference

Dawn dressed at the Glamour Boutique, NJ store before travelling down and as usual left with the car packed full – she looked as though she was going away for 3 weeks, not 3 days. But our Dawn Gold is like a good girl scout and is ‘always prepared’ for every possible dress occasion. Dawn left very excited at what lay ahead and as we were to discover, she was not to be disappointed.

“I was finally, after many unsuccessful attempts able to make a weekend conference out in Harrisburg, PA. The annual Keystone conference was held March 9th to the 13th, and I was able to take in the last three days of the event. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect having never been to an annual conference before. Having booked the room like six months in advance I wasn’t sure if there would be winter weather to deal with. But luckily we had a beautiful spring like weekend that even made the whole experience that much better.

I started the day of my adventure by driving to my workplace, Glamour Boutique in Fairfield, New Jersey. However, today was not a work day. I used the makeup room to get dressed and do my best femme makeup at my leisure as I wanted to look my very best. I chose a nice casual but fashionable day-time look; there would be plenty of opportunity for evening dress and bling in the evenings! Upon arrival after my two and half hour journey from NJ I was greeted by many new and familiar faces. I have to say the drive went by very fast, and if you’re coming from the NY/NJ/CT area like I was it is a must thing to experience as it is so close to these areas.

The people that worked for the conference and hotel couldn’t have been nicer and more helpful getting me all checked in and all my stuff to the room. As usual I brought way too much clothes, but with so many different activities and places to go like shopping and restaurants it’s better to have more and not need it than need it and not have it. Always over pack for this kind of event. You just never know. I enjoyed a drink and some conversation with a few old and new friends that afternoon which quickly flew by and ended up with a lovely diner with our group in town followed by refreshments and more conversation back at the hotel.

Saturday morning after some breakfast I treated myself to a professional makeover done by Scarlett Thompson of Scarlett’s Makeovers. A good friend and one of the vendors that were working at the conference, Scarlett is located in CT but travels to many of the TG/CD events and I highly recommend her work if you can book her. If attending an event like Keystone and think you may want a makeover, be sure to book well in advance. The makeup appointments closer to the time of evening events etc go very quickly so plan ahead! The vendor areas were quite large, and always buzzing with activity. The entire hotel was a buzz with conversations, meetings, etc. It’s a great place to come for knowledge as much as fun and relaxing as well.

After an amazing lunch in town on the Saturday it was back to the hotel for more conversation and seminars if you wanted to do such. I had to go and decide what I was going to wear that evening for the Gala ball and dinner that evening. The time I had there just flew by. You meet so many old and new friends at this conference. There had to be over 500 people there easily. The dinner with a few keynote speakers was fabulous, and was followed by a night of dancing of course. The rest is all just a blur as the weekend flew by as time always does when it’s this much fun.

If you get the opportunity to make it out to the Keystone conference in Harrisburg , PA even if it’s just for a day or two (the event is 5 days long) do so. You won’t be disappointed. You leave with a new knowledge from the seminars and people you meet. You see friends new and old that you never get tired of seeing. It’s one of the best weekends I ever spent going to events in the past five years, and I will most certainly be making the trip out again next year and hopefully for an even longer stay this time. Thanks to everyone for such an amazing and memorable weekend. Until next time….”

For more details go to http://www.keystone-conference.org/