The heat was very real, but the drinks were cool and the company was even cooler. Neon’s finest came to celebrate, reminisce, and plan for the future. Catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances was the highlight of the day. The beauty of these events nowadays is for the folks that are scattered around the country to finally meet people they’ve been talking to online for years! Especially for benders that are pretty isolated, getting the chance to connect face to face is rare and special. Although the NYC region was highly represented, people from all over the US traveled in, with the furthest being Seattle! Personally, I was excited to meet Steve Biebel from Atlantic City who is a second generation bender like myself, as well as women, gender-nonconforming and queer folks, all of whom are contributing important perspectives to what has traditionally been a very non-diverse world.

We set up silk screening, and decorated t-shirts, patches, and tote bags galore to commemorate the occasion. True to bash form there was a swap table with pieces of equipment looking for a new home and a cadre of antique electrodes for the curious and brave! The event was enlivened by a welding contest, to see who could make the most welds in a half stick of glass. The trophy went to James Akers, with a phenomenal 53 welds! Honorable mention goes to everyone who gave it a try, even those that gave up because sweat coated glass was too slippery to handle! The day was capped off by Sean Bradley and James Akers utilizing the hot shop to hand-pull tubing made from a chunk of uranium that Sean generously gifted the group. 

The Neon Makers Guild Board was represented by Eve Hoyt, Sean Bradley, Danielle James, and Zoelle Nagib, and the space was provided by Dave Ablon of Precision Neon at Brooklyn Glass. A huge THANK YOU to Dave Ablon for hosting, and DJ for planning!