Update: April 20, 2010

Volcano issue

Steve Dowthwaite has booked his flights from Thailand to the U.S. via the U.K. As of today, air traffic was beginning to move again in the U.K. and, as of yesterday (04/19/2010), Steve felt confident enough in his travel plans to have me put down a deposit on a meeting room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for our workshop, in lieu of our originally planned space which was just a few miles away. Thus, our plans are set — with the exception of the uncertainty of this volcano's effect upon air travel over the next two weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Location

As fewer people have registered for the workshop than we originally anticipated, we are adding a bit of luxury and have booked a meeting room for five days at the Crowne Plaza Monroe, 390 Forsgate Drive, Monroe Township, New Jersey 08831. We are scheduled for their Mercer Room but look at the announcement board in the hotel just in case of a room change.

By Train

I will be picking up workshop attendees coming from New York City by train at the Princeton Junction station — and returning them to the station in the evening. We'll coordinate this so that those who will be taking the train will all come on the same train.

Additional Questions?

For any additional questions please contact me — Philip Goutell — by email or by phone.

Click on image to enlarge 5-Day Workshop director perfumer Stephen V. Dowthwaite, founder, PerfumersWorld, Bangkok.

A note about this workshop

I have been asked about the content of this 5-Day Perfumery Workshop and what we really expect to do in these five very full and intense days. The short answer is that this short course is hands-on training in perfume creation — creation of your own perfumes and perfumes you will create with your work group as part of the class exercises that are an integral part of the training.

We work with aroma materials — synthetic and natural — single materials and bases — at full strength and diluted (to make blending practical). At our most recent workshops, students worked with a library of over 700 aroma materials AFTER being trained in a method of selecting these materials intelligently to meet the exact needs of their student projects. This method was described in the May/June 1999 issue of Perfumer & Flavorist magazine.

The workshop is not about creating your own small bottle of your own perfume to take home and show the folks as proof of your genius and creativity. What you will take home is an ability to create meaningful perfumes on your own. While Steve's PerfumersWorld can provide all the resources, whether you actually do this or not will be entirely up to you.

Most important, what you will learn in this course is that perfume is not created by luck. You will learn that the starting point is in your own imagination (or in the client's request!) and, given this starting point, there are orderly processes to take you through the perfume's develop AND a clearly marked goal to aim for.

For all the "technology" that will be discussed, you do not need a technical background to thrive in this course. And, while you will be introduced to some fragrance chemistry (which you will find very helpful in selecting the most appropriate aroma materials for your projects) you need not bring any knowledge of chemistry to the workshop. Nor do we assume you know anything about formulating a perfume.

Is it fun? Yes, it can be fun, like doing your morning workout. But it is meaningful fun, fun aimed at giving you skills in perfumery that would be very hard for you to find elsewhere.

Steve Dowthwaite is a kind but serious instructor. I have seen him take great pains to insure that even the most seemingly clueless attendee is gently brought along so that no one finds the workshop over their head. As for those who come to the workshop with a perfumery background, Steve will press you a bit with techniques that may be new to you and encourage you to stretch your mind and excel.

For someone with an interest in perfumery, a Steve Dowthwaite 5-Day Perfumery Workshop can be a life changing experience.

Click on image to enlarge

2008 Perfumery Workshop in New York City