Last year’s Woodworking In America (WIA) conference was the highlight of the year for us. It was a busy show and a great woodworking experience during all waking hours.

This year, we’ll be sharing a booth with our good friends of Modern Woodworkers Association (MWA).  I (Chris Wong) will be at the WIA West Coast in Pasadena, California October 12-13 hanging out with Chris Atkins and Nick Roulleau of MWA at their booth in the Marketplace.  Once again, we will have freebies to give away.

One of the highlights of WIA 2011 was the Hand Tool Olympics, a friendly competition that offered participants to test and improve their hand-tool skills.  This year, we are trying to organize enough volunteers to make it happen in Pasadena.  From the MWA blog:

MWA has been working with Popular Woodworking on possibly helping out with a Hand Tool Olympics event at Woodworking in America in Pasadena next month.  The final question on if we can pull this off is staffing.  If you will be attending WIA in Pasadena this year or live in the area and would like to help out send me an e-mail highrockwoodworking@gmail.com.  I know that everyone attending will be wanting to get the most out of the show but if you think you can spare an hour or two each day (or more), then please let me know.

If you can help us with the Hand Tool Olympics in Pasadena, please e-mail Chris Atkins.  You don’t need to be an expert hand tool user – just someone willing to help.  I hope to see you there!

(Two thousand miles away, Tom Iovino and Dyami Plotke will be representing MWA at WIA Midwest in Cincinnati, Ohio November 2-3 and they will also have free goodies from us at Time Warp Tool Works and Modern Woodworkers Association.)