I just got back from WPPI in Las Vegas and had such an amazing time! I wanted to share some of all the amazing things that happened! First thing you should know is that most photographers at these shows don’t take pictures with their nice cameras….we use our phones! I think we just don’t want to carry them around all day-at least that’s why I don’t! So all of these picts were from my lovely phone. (The one below is a view from our balcony at the Signature.)
We left my house at eight am in a snowstorm, only to continue to drive almost the entire length of Utah in the snow storm (like over FIVE hours!). A lot of cars had spun off the road and were stuck and thankfully we got there safely. On Sunday and that night we went to Photographers Ignite-a program hosted by Kevin Kubota, pictured below-yes camera phones are awful, I know! The videos will be posted of all of the speakers on the Photographers Ignite site, so go check them out! I would recommend starting with Tracy & Dee and Joe Photo-loved those!
Monday I started the day with an amazing class by Sarah Petty who is not only an amazing photographer, but a master at marketing. You can watch videos from her on her website as well! After we went to the opening of the trade show. Our friend Lauren was trying to be the first to the Kelly Moore Bag booth to get a free one and she ran so fast that she ended up pulling her hamstring! She got there second, so they were so nice to give her $50 off a bag. I ended up getting a bag, the 2 Sues and absolutely have loved it!! We were able to meet Kelly and she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet! I was able to talk to her about her adoption story for a minute (watch it here-it is AMAZING!). I loved hearing more about her open adoption and she gave me some great advice that will help us in our journey of starting this process. As Lauren was running for the bag, Brittany, Abby, and I ran to get tickets to go see Ingrid Michaelson that night. So can I just tell you that I loved Ingrid before her concert, but we love her even more now! She was SO funny and personable and I just want to hang out with her everyday! Here’s a clip from the show. She is so talented!
Monday afternoon we went to see Jasmine Star speak and I feel the same way about her. She was so inspirational and authentic and real-just loved her! After we saw Jose Villa. I have followed his work for years and I absolutely love his style. He shoots mainly in film and is is just yummy. Speaking of yummy, we ate almost every meal at Wolfgang Puck’s Bar & Grill at the MGM. If you are in Vegas, I would HIGHLY recommend the gnocchi, the chocolate souffle or the apple pie. SOOOO delicious! Oh and at lunch we found out that we missed Wolfgang Puck himself by 10 MINUTES!! If you know me you know how sad I was-my husband and I seriously check to see if there are his restaurants nearby when we go on vacation and will drive out of our way to get to them! Not sure why I forgot to take a picture of my favorite thing ever, the gnocchi….guess I couldn’t wait to eat it!
On Tuesday morning we went to Julieanne Kost and got a few tips on Photoshop. That afternoon we went to Mike Colon for some lighting tips, then to Wolfgang Puck’s again and I got to see one of my Vegas friends, Kelli. The food was amazing as always, but what was fun is that Kelli thought the waiter was cute and we had her write a little note on her receipt with her number and he text her that night! But, unfortunately he turned out to be not a good guy-but it was fun to see her try! After Wolfgang’s we headed over to H&M at Caesars Palace and got some cute clothes.
Our last day there was Wednesday and it was SUCH an amazing day for me! We started that morning with a class from Me Ra Koh (pictured below) and I remember thinking towards the end of the class, if I only came for that class it would have been worth it! I got so much insight not only about photography, but life, motherhood, and marketing. She really hit home with my friend and I and by the end we were doing the ugly cry. At the end of her class she was doing some giveaways and I was chosen (by seriously standing up faster than I thought was humanly possible when she asked who was willing to pretty much redo their entire business!) to be able to to a business coaching workshop with Jeff Jochum in Denver!!!! I seriously can’t wait!! I cannot believe this amazing opportunity I was given and am so grateful!!!
After that we went to the trade show for a while and then to eat lunch at our hotel-the Signature, which by the way is the only place to stay in Vegas! It is completely non-smoking, so clean and the service is excellent. We stayed on the 37th floor (there are 38) and had a balcony with a gorgeous strip view. After lunch we just happened to see some people with shirts on from the Team-X.biz (Jeff Jochum) and I told them about me winning a workshop with him and they said I missed him by ten minutes (the story of my life this trip!) but a few questions later led to that Zach & Jody were doing a small group Q&A and we were able to go to that with about twenty other people. They were so inspiring and have grown their business into one of the most profitable photography businesses in only five years! Besides their success, I loved that they spoke about (as did many other speakers) staying true to who you are and being authentic. There were so many things that I learned at WPPI that I hope to implement in my business in the future and in my life!
I couldn’t leave without getting my husband one of these! We LOVE the Big Bang Theory!!
On the way home we took a detour off of the freeway because of a Standoff with Calif. murder suspect that ended with self-inflicted gunshot wound. We got home at almost one in the morning. Wheew-what a trip! Can’t wait to do it again!
Here are my girls on our last trip to Wolfgang Puck’s 😀 My friend Kelli even came to hang out!
Abby, Lauren, Brittany and me 😀
