ISNA is the annual conference in the U.S. it all started with a few Muslim families meeting up once a year and has now turned into to a full-blown convention of thousands.
What I like best is the bazaar. I will admit it straight up. I know people think you have to act like you’re going there to gain knowledge.
Well, I don’t like that game. I’m going to socialize and shop. If there happen to be any lectures that peak my interest perhaps I’ll attend.
What I love about large conventions is the chance to see people from all over the country you haven’t seen in years. Then there is the added feeling of comfort when you are immersed in this hodge-podge of American Muslim culture. You see all kinds of people. Hijabis, non-hijabis, people who cover their face, and girls who are dressed to the nines in hopes of scoring a husband. I love it all. If anything were different we’d have nothing to talk about.
I remember back in the day when I used to go with my friends and we’d share a hotel room. It was innocent fun. We tattended lectures, we tried to get rid of stalkers and mom’s trying to hook up their sons, and we stocked up on the latest hijabs.
This year though I feel like I’m ancient because I’m not going with friends and I’m probably not going to have time to socialize.
I will be speaking along with Nadia Malik of Pop Culture Hijabi about journalism during one of the panel sessions. And I hope to hit the bazaar and perhaps meet some of you folks if you have a booth. I know that Sadaf Syed will be there as well as Kelly Alsharif so I plan to stop by their booths and say hello.
In the meantime, I’ll try my best to compile a list of ladies and their booth #’s so you can find them easily. It’s very easy to get lost in that bazaar let me tell you!
I love going to the Bazaar
I would love to meet anyone who stops by. Alsharifa is in booth 417 We’re going to be launching a few new products there including our most chic swimsuit yet!!!
The bazaar is totally my favorite part, too. I’ve been missing ISNA since it hasn’t been in Chicago for a while. I need to buy some new hijabs.
I hope that some of the hijabtrendz staff will snap a few photos and give us a “seen at ISNA” fashion re-cap. Kinda like Fashion Week in NYC.
Nadia I think it should just be permanent in Chicago.. then people can make plans years in advance if they have to
Nabeela, that’s a great idea, I will try my best!
My favorite exhibitor is Izdihars Boutique they have the nicest hijabs of all the vendors there….Cant wait to see what my sister has for us this year, we love you Izdihar Boutique.
The Conference was amazing and so was the bazaar I picked up a lot of beautiful pieces my favorite booths where Izdihar Boutique for clothing hayat art for home decor and the book vendors where all great, cant wait for next year.