Tag Archives: WPPI 2010

wppi 2010 recap and photogshootout

It’s been a few weeks of recovery from WPPI 2010 and slowly I am digging myself out from the mountain of work that overtook me upon my arrival back in the real world. Plus making up for the lack of sleep just from being in Vegas!

For those of you “civilians,” (i.e. people NOT in the wedding photography industry, lol), WPPI is an annual conference for photographers in Vegas. It’s pretty much summer camp for adults. Last year, I went to WPPI to network and see new products and maybe go to a class or too, this year, who was I kidding? I was going to hang out with friends and go to parties. Going to class crossed my mind for about 5 minutes, but they the fleeting thought was replaced by which party I was going to. Before you go on and judge me, let me defend myself and say that I was never a content student. I am a doer, not a listener (that’s total educational language) and so, I graduated college in 3 years so I could go out into the world and explore. I prefer to learn from talking to people and practice, not lecture.

So, I went and I hung out, went to parties and I talked to people. Mission Accomplished. Do I have pictures to show for it…well, let’s just say, I’m thankful that “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!” (I’m kidding…)

Notable moments:

1. Falling on my face in front of the entire taxi line at my hotel at 4am…in a strapless top…which means people probably got a show that they didn’t pay for. Oh and I don’t drink so I was the only sober one in my group.

2. Meeting Grace Ormonde and having her tell me that I was “up and coming” and that she loved my work.

3. Having the host of the party order room service pizza for me…and not having to share it. (I’m sooo mean and uncouth, I know!)

4. Having the PhotogShootout party shut down by security because our little iPod was too loud.

5. Driving home –good conversation with good people.

6. The WPPI shootout– it freezing cold and I was shaking so hard I could barely press the shutter, but good times…

Here are some pictures from the shootout.

The April SoCal PhotogShootout will be announced soon. We are waiting for confirmation of an amazing venue we’ve been looking at before we nail down the date. So stay tuned! (If you have NO IDEA what a shootout is, I’ll be breaking it down next week and posting the video from our last event).

wppi 2010 itinerary & some tips for newbies…

This next week I will be in Las Vegas for the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Conference and Trade Show playing –err, WORKING hard as always. This will be my second year going and I can’t wait!

Some tips if you are going:
1. Wear comfy shoes! (And there is no shame in bringing more than 5 pairs of shoes with you–or more. No judging!
2. Bring a nice big bag for all the swag from the tradeshow floor.
3. Food is expensive! Think Disneyland prices. I would pack snacks.
4. Make sure you are checking Twitter on your phone. Lots of updates to where people are gonna be and when. Also lots of contests, giveaways and scavenger hunts going on too!
5. Bank some extra sleep NOW! You won’t be getting much sleep in VEGAS!
6. The Starbucks line is always REALLY long, so if you need your morning caffeine fix, you’d better allow yourself extra time.
7. Don;t be scared. Swallow those butterflies and introduce yourself to people. Bring LOTS of business cards!
8. You won’t be able to do everything, so don;t stree yourself out trying! Just have a list of MUST SEE’s and have fun!

Here’s where I’ll be hanging out. I’m trying to keep things relatively unscheduled–a few classes here, a GTG there, a girl’s gotta keep her options open! Of course, I’ll be Twittering and Facebooking, so you can find me that way. Come say hi!

Sunday, March 7th

3:00pm Arrive in Las Vegas

6:00 PhotoLovecat Happy Hour

7:00 SoCal Photogshootout Dinner at Wolfgang Pucks at the MGM Grand (most likely)

Everyone is invited to come hang out and have dinner with me and some other Shootout leaders!

9:00 GoBee Party

10:00 Airhorns and Lasers Party

Monday, March 8

10:00 Trade Show Floor

2:00-2:20 Lawrence Chan (@Tofurious) at the SmugMug Booth

6:30 Private Meeting

9:00 PhotogShootout Party

Tuesday, March 9

11:00-12:30 booth 1240- Live Q&A with Grace Ormonde

6pm Dinner GTG

10:00pm [b] School Party

11:00 Pictage Party

1:00 SmugMug Slumber Party

Wednesday, March 10 (My Dad’s Birthday!!!)

12:00 Thirst Relief Booth

1:00 WPPI Shootout – only VIP tixs left! Get tickets HERE!

5:00 Drinks with PhotogShootout

9:00 Scott Robert Lim’s Party

Thursday, March 11th

9:00am Photographer’s Ignite

Hanging out the rest of the day to sleep, eat, shop!

Friday, March 12th

6:00pm Flying home!

Here’s a pic of us with Elvis last year:
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