Since Steve is a Hay House author now, our experience of this conference is different than when we were just attendees.  For one, Hay House pays Steve’s travel expenses and there was a Carey Limo driver waiting for us at the Tampa airport.  It was funny because while the three of us were waiting for our baggage to arrive, it suddenly dawned on our driver that he was a reader of Steve’s blog and he had listened to my podcasts, so he put two and two together and realized he knew the people he was picking up. 

At the hotel there was a vegan and raw goodie bag waiting for us, which turned out to be a blessing since finding vegan and raw snacks in the area proved challenging.  I thought it was especially thoughtful that whoever put that bag together made sure to put vegan and raw items in there for us.  I saw another author’s goodie bag and they had non-vegan items in theirs, so someone from Hay House is really on the ball!

Our days at the conference were filled with activity.  We attended breakout sessions and keynotes as often as we could.  Steve had a radio interview on Saturday with Eldon Taylor and Michael Neill, two fascinating individuals.  Steve’s presentation on Sunday went beautifully.  Even though I’ve read his book, Personal Development for Smart People, two times already and have heard this presentation before, I still found myself learning so much.  Honestly I think that’s where a big part of my transformation originated.

I also had a transformational moment while listening to Robert Holden, Ph.D. who gave a keynote on Saturday morning.  Not only is he a hilarious speaker, but quite insightful as well.  My mind was working overtime processing the information from his speech.

My third transformational component was spending time with the other psychic mediums from Hay House, specifically, John Holland, Colette Baron-Reid, and Lisa Williams.  John invited Steve and I to a private dinner with several of the other authors: Brian Weiss, Cheryl Richardson, Gary Renard, Darren Weissman, and Sandra Anne Taylor.  I was able to “talk shop” with people I respect and admire and they were all very generous with me in sharing their wisdom and experiences.  I can say that all of these authors are authentic and really walk their talk.  It was a pleasure to get to know them on a personal level.  A special thank you goes out to Sandra and her twin sister Shari for their kindness and connection with me.

We got another chance to spend time with the authors at the author dinner on Saturday night.  It was just so much fun to be ourselves, not our work, and just get to know each other and have a good time.  We met and had a lovely conversation with Dr. Wayne Dyer.  I find him so serene and pleasant.  We sat with Eldon Taylor, Peter Calhoun, and Diane Ray (one of Hay House Radio’s hosts).  Then we moved around the room until we’d met nearly everyone who attended.  My only regret is that I still haven’t met Doreen Virtue.  She is always doing a keynote during the speaker’s dinner so she doesn’t attend that.

On Thursday Steve and I were able to manifest a raw/vegan restaurant just two miles from our hotel!  How lucky is that?  We had to take a cab there and back which cost more than $20 just for that part, but it was well worth it.  The restaurant was Grass Root and they had one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had in my life.  It was so good I almost ordered a second one on the spot!  We didn’t get a chance to eat there twice though, more’s the pity.  I wanted to try their key lime vegan cheesecake, but they were out.  If you find yourself in Tampa, check them out.  Sunshine burger.  Good stuff!

It was wonderful meeting fans of our sites.  I introduced Steve on stage and did much better this time than I did last time.  Woo hoo!  One of the Hay House volunteers gave me some reiki to calm my nerves before I did the intro.  My sister, Nicole, also attended the conference, so it was great to hang with her too.  I know we talk about this conference a lot but it really is a great conference.  It takes some time afterward to process all the insightful information that comes through.  If you’re interested in personal growth and spirituality this is really the place for you. 

Below are some photos from the conference.

From left to right: Dr. Darren Weissman, Dr. Brian Weiss, Sandra Taylor, John Holland, Steve Pavlina, Erin Pavlina, Colette Baron-Reid, Lisa Williams, Marc Lindeman (Colette’s husband).

Steve and I before a keynote session

Steve doing his first official book signing after his presentation.

This is exactly what happened.  Steve got a book deal with Hay House shortly after the 2007 I Can Do It conference, and even though his book, Personal Development for Smart People, won’t be released until October 15, they asked him to speak at the Vegas 2008 conference.  I knew Steve was ready.

I was excited to be attending this year as an author’s guest because I knew it would give me the opportunity to meet some of the other Hay House authors and to see what the conference is like from behind the scenes. 

All of the Hay House staff were absolutely fabulous, including all of the volunteers.  Steve and I were treated with great respect and endearment.  Not only are the staff totally professional, they are totally friendly, competent, and authentic.  I think when you have a woman like Louise Hay at the head of a company you can’t help but see a trickling down of the love.  We really weren’t sure what we would see behind the scenes, but all I saw was happy people with strong messages they truly believed in.  It was a real pleasure to meet everyone and get a chance to connect with their energy.

Steve will no doubt go into great detail in his review of the conference so I just want to hit my own personal highlights.

Meeting John Holland
John Holland is one of my favorite psychic mediums.  I read his book, Born Knowing, when I first started developing my own psychic gifts.  His book was very insightful and in many ways mirrored my own life.  I attended John’s pre-conference workshop (I highly recommend the workshops because you really learn a lot and get to actually practice what’s being taught).  John is so humorous and personable that it made the entire workshop just fly by.  During the lunch break I saw John go into the speaker’s lounge for lunch and saw my opportunity to introduce myself and say hello.

John is just as funny and personable off stage as he is on stage.  He is very passionate about his work and very happy to be working with Hay House.  I didn’t get too much of a chance to chat with him as there were a lot of people coming in and out of the lounge, but we connected for a minute or two and that was fine with me.

Later, at the speaker’s dinner on Saturday night, Steve and I got the opportunity to chat at greater length with John and his guest, Vincent who is also a wonderful psychic.  In fact, Vincent did a quickie reading for me and I was impressed with his accuracy and insight.  He bills himself as the Psychic’s Psychic and I can see why.  By the end of the evening I had gotten to know John a little better and he had gotten to know me as well.  Steve and I look forward to seeing him again in Tampa.

On Sunday we watched John do live demonstrations of his mediumistic work.  He was fabulous.  I found John Holland to be extremely caring, compassionate, and a true being of the light.  He is an inspiration to me.

David Hamilton
One of the first people we met in the speaker’s lounge on Friday was David Hamilton, PhD.  He and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, are from Scotland and they’re about the same age as Steve and me, so we hit it off right away.  Plus I’m a real sucker for a Scottish accent.  Steve and I very much enjoyed getting to know David and his work on mind over matter.  With a background in organic chemistry, David began studying the placebo effect and came to the realization that the mind has great power over the body.  His book, It’s The Thought That Counts, will be very high on my list of books to read coming out of this conference.  It was unfortunate that we couldn’t attend his lecture since he was speaking at the same time as Steve, but by all reports he was funny and fabulous.   At the speaker’s dinner on Saturday night we sat with David and Elizabeth.  I was very struck by David’s passion and zest for life.  He’s a real people person.  He also gifted us with a rehashing of the freedom speech from Braveheart.  It was awesome!  Hopefully we’ll get another chance to hang out with our new friends from Scotland.

Steve’s Presentation
A few months prior to this conference Steve asked me if I wanted to introduce him.  “Sure,” I said before I could chicken out.  As the day approached I was feeling just fine about my decision, but as the morning dawned I found I was feeling a bit nervous.  In fact, Steve was picking up on my nervousness which was a bummer because he wasn’t nervous about his presentation at all.  So I left him in the room to practice and went down to the room to check it out.  400 chairs!  Eeep.  The most people I’d ever spoken in front of was probably 20.   So I got up on the empty stage in the empty room and belted out my introduction 5 times.  That helped a lot!  I was ready.  Until the room started filling with people!

They gave me a hand microphone and I had my speech in hand.  About two hundred people present.  My toastmaster friends were there and gave me great encouragement.  And members of our boards were there as well which helped bolster my confidence.  Thanks to everyone who lent me some of their courage.  When I actually started speaking I felt pretty good.  I had some adrenalin going but I wouldn’t say I was nervous.  It was more an excitement.  It took all of maybe 40 seconds though it felt like 20 minutes in my mind.   I am so glad I did it though.  I think I went up a level in courage.

Steve made a fantastic presentation.  You know it’s good when it’s your own husband speaking and you get a lot of information and growth out of it yourself!  I was rapt with attention.  I hadn’t heard the presentation ahead of time, though I have read the book, so I had a good idea of what he was going to talk about.  I felt the energy of the audience was also rapt and intrigued.

After his presentation he went out to a table in the hallway to sign journals, hand outs, and a few auras.   I stayed in the room to meet and greet our board members and some audience members who wanted to chat with me.  After Steve’s presentation he couldn’t go 300 feet without someone stopping him to share their thoughts about his presentation.  It was wonderful to connect with so many new people who are hearing Steve’s work for the first time ever.

The Radio Show
Steve was asked to be on a panel for Hay House Radio with Summer McStravick as host, and fellow guest authors Andrew Harvey and Alan Cohen.  They decided to film it so Steve got some hair and make-up done in advance (so adorable).  Not too many people actually watched the segment since it coincided with sessions, but that was alright because you can probably catch it on Hay House Radio at some point.   With three very different perspectives on self-help and personal development, the show was intriguing and became highly energetic.  It was fun for me to watch.

The Photoshoot
Steve was asked to do a photoshoot so Hay House could get a good photo for the back of his book and promotional materials as well.  So Sunday in the early evening we headed over.  That was a lot of fun for me to watch.  They took nearly 400 photos of him, and asked me to be in a dozen or so just for fun.  That was a kick.  The photos came out great so hopefully we’ll see a new photo on Steve’s About Us page soon.

The Other Authors
We didn’t get a chance to meet every author but we did meet plenty.  Colette Baron-Reid, Dr. Brian Weiss, Andrew Harvey, Alan Cohen, Robert Ohotto, Robert Holden, Louise Hay, Jonathan Ellerby, Loretta LaRoche, and Timothy Freke.  All wonderful people.  I was hoping to meet Doreen Virtue to tell her what an impact she had on me becoming a professional psychic medium, but she was speaking on stage during the speaker’s dinner, though her husband Stephen Farmer came by to say hello to everyone.  I also would have liked to meet Dr. Wayne Dyer but he also was not at the dinner.  The Event Director, Nancy Levin, was amazing.  She and all of her assistants did a wonderful job of taking care of everything!  They were a real pleasure to work with. 

Exhausted
The conference was wonderfully uplifting but by the end I was exhausted.  Meetings, presentations, doing readings for people, and socializing can take a toll.  We had few down moments.  By Monday I was ready for some rest and relaxation.  Hay House gave each of their authors a free spa treatment at the Venetian Canyon Ranch Spa, so we decided to take Tuesday off and just go spa (yeah, as in the verb “to spa”).  I had a Shiatsu massage and Steve got a Double Abyangha.  It was blissfully relaxing.

This year’s I Can Do It conference got me thinking about my future.  Perhaps a stage and a book deal are in my future as well.  We’ll see.   I’ll probably go to Tampa with Steve for the I Can Do It event there this October.  I hope to see as many of you there as possible.  It’s a wonderful conference.  Everyone I know who has gone has come away from it with more purpose, focus, energy, and love.  Don’t miss out.

You’ll still be able to purchase a reading or consultation any time during June but you won’t get an appointment until July.  As always, readings are scheduled on a first come, first served basis based on when people send me their contact and booking details.  So once you sign up, please follow the instructions in your autoresponder and get me your phone number, photos, and time/day preference asap so you’re not bumped to the end of the queue.

Right now I’m booking for the week of May 26 and beyond.

Readings during the I Can Do It Las Vegas conference will be conducted on the following dates:
Thursday, June 26 between 10am and 4pm.
Saturday, June 28 between 8am and noon.
Monday, June 30 between 9am and 3pm.

If you’d like a reading in those time periods let me know when you book your reading.

Don’t forget that Steve will be speaking at the I Can Do It conference on Sunday, June 29 at 11am.  He’ll be covering topics from his book and addressing lightworker syndrome.  You can purchase a full conference pass or just purchase a pass for Sunday.  Here are all the details about the conference.  He’ll also appear at the I Can Do It conference in Tampa, FL in early October.

As some of you may remember, Steve and I have attended the I Can Do It conference put on by Hay House here in Las Vegas for the last few years.  This year, Steve will actually be one of their speakers since he is one of their upcoming authors.  See his post for details on his speaking engagement.

As time permits, I will be doing psychic readings while at the conference.  I am offering either the regular 1 hour in person reading, or you can book a half hour in person reading if you’d like.  I will be able to do only a limited amount of readings due to all kinds of committments, not the least of which is attending the conference.  If you are attending the conference and you want a reading please let me know as soon as you can so I can put a schedule together.  Thursday during the day (before the conference begins) and Monday (the day after the conference ends) will be the best day to book a reading.  Other good times will be Saturday afternoon/evening or Sunday in the early evening.

I highly encourage you to attend this conference.  It completely changed my life.  Just being around so many thousands of lightworkers is totally empowering.  Healing happens just being in the same room with so many healers, believe me.  The insights you will gain are immeasurable.  Plus it’s a good conference to look for like-minded, high-awareness people.

For details on the conference itself and to make travel arrangements, go to the Las Vegas I Can Do It 2008 website.  Don’t forget to sign up for Steve’s breakout session on Sunday, June 29 at 11am.  It’s going to be the first time he will be publicly discussing the concepts from his upcoming book, Personal Development for Smart People.