In the middle of March, in 2007, a seminar/symposium occurred at North Carolina University's College of Textiles. It was a singular event in that it mainly dealt with alpaca fiber, as opposed to alpacas themselves. People from all aspects of the alpaca world came to the event. There were mill owner/operators, breeders, shearers, milling machine salespeople as well as various other people from academia. The participants came from all around the United States. It was a momentous event. We started to get a glimpse of what we had with our alpaca fleece. We also started to get an idea of how much more we needed to know in order to bring our alpaca fiber to market. I know that many of us walked away floating on what the future could possibly hold for us. The feeling was that we were doing something positive and constructive. We wanted the feeling and process to continue.
 
A steering/organizational committee of independent alpaca owner/breeders, of which I am one, got together to discuss the feasibility of repeating this event. Thus we have The Alpaca Fiber Symposium.  We contacted the College of Textiles and told them what we wanted to do. We were put in contact with John Anderson, the Director of the Textile Center of Gaston College in Belmont, NC. He immediately and generously offered the services and facilities of the Center and we were off and running.

This exciting event will take place on April 4-5, 2009 at the Textile Center of Gaston College.  Further information and details can be found at www.alpacafibersymposium.com

Please save the date and check the website often for speaker updates and details on attending.  I look forward to meeting many of you there!!