Aside from different sponsors, what's the difference

[LindaBabe]

Between Scrapers dream vacations, Scrapbook expo, CKC, CKU?

Are all same named events the same regardless of locations ?

If you had your choice, which one would you pick, and why?

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I have only been to 2 so I can talk about those.
Scrappers Dream Events is mainly a huge crop with breakout sessions for classes. They have vendors too but the main focus is actually cropping. They have nice big tables so you can spread out a bit.

CKC is heavily class based with night time cropping but I have heard the tables are really small and they cram you in to get as many people as possible. The classes are the reason most people go, you use the latest papers and other products. They also have a huge vendor area with stuff you may not see at your LSS. I have 2 LSS's and Mike's and ACMoore so I see a lot but but not everything.

I have read that CKU is a more immersed form of CKC where one day you have 1 project (an album) and the next day is classes all day. They also have a crop at night. There is a description on the Creating Keepsakes website.

As for picking one. I love SDV (SCrappers Dream Events) because I get work done in my albums. I can break for classes, walk away from my stuff, roam looking at other peoples things etc... They're rooms are also open 24/7 so if I feel like scraping at 2 am in my jammies, I can and there will be others there doing the same thing.

But I also love the classes at CKC. I have learned a lot of new technics but I would skip the crop, I would have more room cropping at the desk in the hotel room.

If I could only go to one though I would probably pick SDV. Just because I can't scrap at home with all the kids running around.

 

[RRBB]

I can only speak for CKU as I went to 3 in 2004. At least when I went, the focus was very much on classes and learning techniques. It was 3 days long with the first day focused on product demonstrations (aka Make-N-Takes). The next two were filled with classes, 5 each day. Evenings were crops where you got a chance to work on projects you started that day or stuff you'd brought with you, along with contests and shmoozing. The last night was "graduation" with cap & diploma and announcement of layout winners, etc. There's very little in the way of products for purchase at CKU, but often LSS have specials running and even shuttles to get you to and from. CKU is a very intense learning experience, you get to take classes with some "big" names in the scrapbooking world, and you definitely bring home lots of cool stuff.