Bernina University 2023 - Sharing the Joy

(2:39) The opening ceremonies raised the excitement of the crowd – kicked off by Paul Ashworth – President of BERNINA of North America. (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-22-paul-ashworth)He was followed by several more BERNINA luminaries…Christy Burcham - VP Training and Education BERNINA of America, Claudia Stauber – VP Marketing BERNINA International, and Kai Hillebrandt – CEO BERNINA Textile Group.  (5:12) Then Yaya Han (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode64-courage-cosplay-yaya-han) namesake of the new bernette 79 Yaya Han edition took the stage. (8:42) Hear the first impressions of those who tried out the brand-new BERNINA 790 Pro (10:18) Claudia Stauber, VP/Marketing BERNINA International joins us to explain the new BERNINA campaign “It’s a Big Day”. In addition, we got to know her a little better! (15:04) Annette Varner, Brand Manager of BERNINA International, added her input to the work of building this new campaign. (17:07) Michaelynn Rose, VP/Marketing BERNINA of America, jumps in to talk about BERNINA’s new products. (18:04) Some of our favorite Sew & So moments are to catch up with past guests on this podcast. We talked with Sarah Caldwell (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode31-sarah-caldwell-from-frogs-to-frodo), Sarah Joiner (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode54-sarah-joiner), Sue from Sookie Sews (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode50-sue-overy-pruitt) and Sylvain Bergeron (https://weallsew.com/author/snbergeron/) who will join us on a future episode (25:10) The cosplay market is a new focus for BERNINA in the coming year. Carolyn Kinder Brand Manager for bernette tells us how this came to be and how Yaya Han became the name/face of this project. She also talks about the importance of this community. (28:40) Then Yaya Hahn herself joined us to talk about her love of sewing, how the dream of working with BERNINA began and how it resulted in the bernette 79 Yaya Han Edition. (35:34) We got to visit with three companies who are partners to BERNINA and who each provide quality products that make sewists’ jobs easier. Horn of America (https://www.hornofamerica.com/), OESD (https://embroideryonline.com/oesd/) and Fat Quarter (https://www.fatquarter.com)  (39:04) Bob Negan, a popular retail expert known as one of the most innovative consultants, speakers, and trainers today, sat with us to talk about the courses he teaches to BERNINA Dealers during BERNINA University (https://whizbangtraining.com/). (41:15) As the event progressed, we got to visit with even more past Sew & So guests, Joe Vecchiarelli (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-28-joe-vecchiarelli), Marissa Marquez (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-26-marisa-marquez), Gail Yellen (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-14-gail-yellen) and Pam Mahshie (https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-9-pam-mahshie)  (49:33) Dealers came to Dallas from around the world because of the importance of this event. Thomas and Chris from Switzerland joined us to talk about their establishments. (50:45) Phillip Ueltschi of the Ueltschi family who owns BERNINA, talked with us about what’s new with his family and BERNINA and BERNINA University. (52:47) Christy Burcham – VP Education and Training at BERNINA of America ran down all the new products. (53:29) After 4 long days, Phillip Ueltschi brought it all home at the closing ceremony. He talks about the family feeling that BERNINA brings to their dealers and customers…and introduced his son Felix – the 6th generation.  Thank you for joining us for stories of innovation, risk taking and meeting new friends at this year’s BERNINA University 2023! Be sure to subscribe to, rate and review this podcast on your favorite platform! If you know someone who has an outstanding story that should be shared on this podcast, drop Meg a note to [email protected] or complete the form on our website. Be sure to subscribe to, review and rate this podcast on your favorite platform…and visit our website sewandsopodcast.com for more information about today’s and all of our Guests.