Joint Spouses Conference a Success Published Nov. 2, 2007 By Jeff Nicolay 15 AW/PA Hickam Air Force Base -- More than 300 spouses from all branches of the nation's military services attended last week's 2007 Joint Spouses Conference held on base at the Hickam Officers' Club. According to 2007 JSC director Irene Torres, the annual conference went off without a hitch. It was a huge success," she said. "As we were finishing up on Saturday, I heard from a number of women who attended asking me why we couldn't do it twice a year." The conference kicked off Friday morning, October 19, with an introduction by Mrs. Torres, followed by a prayer delivered in both Hawaiian and English by 15th Operations Group's Carol Kawai. Gen. Paul V. Hester, Pacific Air Force commander (who was joined by his wife, Lynda, the event's honorary director), and Col. JJ Torres, 15th Airlift Wing commander, also took to the podium to welcome attendees. During the two-day conference -- which a different service branch organizes each year on a rotating basis -- spouses had the opportunity to attend a variety of informative and entertaining workshops ranging from holiday table decorating and lei making to resume writing and basic car care to women's heath issues and nutrition to personal finance and more. Those workshops -- as well as presentations by event guest speakers -- were well attended, as registration for the conference soared beyond sold-out status, according to Mrs. Torres. "We had planned for a maximum of 300 registrants," she said. "But we kept getting phone calls after we hit that number and decided we just had to share the aloha." Mrs. Torres credited the success of the event to the "amazing, extraordinary women" who served on the 2007 JSC committee. "Our theme was 'journey together,' and we did just that," she said. "They made it all happen ... I was just being a cheerleader." Mrs. Torres said the Navy will be playing host to the 2008 JSC and will be needing the help of spouses from all service branches. Interested parties should check out the JSC Web site at www.jschawaii.com.