Highlights of WPPI in Vegas

WPPI was an amazing show! It was full of amazing networking, parties, and the very first year for our GO|BEE Booth at WPPI! Here are a list in no certain order of my top 10 favorite things from this years WPPI experience with a little bonus addition:

1. The GO|BEE & Photography Mentor Party – The Party at the Luxor Hotel this year and drew even more people than we expected. With an incredible bartender, Peter that we flew in from the OC, the drinks were flowing at an alarming rate. We almost doubled our stock on alcohol from last year and ran out 2 hours earlier than last year. Now that is impressive! “The club” (as we called) it was bumpin with the incredible professional DJ services of Michael Fort and his team from The Integritas Group. As usual we all had a a blast taking pictures in the Foto Cabina PhotoBooth. We should have both the Foto Cabina slideshow and Photography Mentor video on the blog in the next few days so check back!

2. Me Ra Koh & Brain Tausend – I got to spend a little time with these two over the course of the show and I am always inspired and touched by them. Me Ra even inspired this post. I love being able to give and read highlights of WPPI. It makes it so much more fun to read. Check out Me Ra’s favorite things from WPPI. I also could not help but get excited to see this great image of Me Ra wearing her GO|BEE Bag! You look awesome!

3. GO|BEE meet WPPI – This year for the first time GO|BEE had a booth at the WPPI Tradeshow. Not only was the excitement and buzz about the bags electric but it was so much fun being able to share our products with others. I can not tell you the thrill that comes from seeing people get excited about using something that took almost 2 years of work to get to this show and be able to share our product with others. We also had an incredible placement right around all our friends. We were across the way from Shoot Dot Edit and Blu Domain and a couple booths down from Photoshop Cafe. The booth was always packed and it was so much fun!!!! Lauren and I were on a high the whole time. We sold so many that our credit card company shut us down the middle of the last day saying we had exceeded our monthly limit. I guess that is a good sign but bad timing of course. ;-)

**Get the Show Special**

4. My Boyfriend and Photographer Extraordinare – It was so nice having my boyfriend at WPPI for the first time. Oh, he has a name, Jeremy Young. We had so much fun. Aside from that he took all the images of the show and the sites that you see. He is the newest addition to Sara France Photography as my Associate. He is also a huge part of making this blog possible for me. He spent hours in Vegas making sure that the launch was flawless. As you can see from the first picture of us, he loves Word Press. The “Code is Poetry” shirt is a Word Press shirt and he loves it. We also flew in a day early and he surprised me with tickets to see KA. If you have not seen KA it is really worth it.

5. The [b] School Party – As usual my friend Becker throws a great party and it is always a great place to catch up with great friends. Becker rented out the Real World Suite at the Palms which was so fun to see. It was a great party and a great time to catch up as usual. Here are a few pics but check out Becker’s Blog for more images.

6. Speaking at the Pictage Booth – It is always such a treat to sit down with incredible photographers and friends to chat and share our ideas with other photographers. I am always inspired by the number of people that show up to ask questions and talk with us. The Pictage community is one of a kind and it is always great to catch up with the Pictage User Group Leaders from all over the country. The feedback on the Pictage Podcast that I host was incredible as well and I am grateful for that opportunity to sit down with so many of my friends to chat about business. Sharing that with other photographers and seeing the benefits that are being received from that blew me away this WPPI.

7. News from Shoot Dot Edit – I am so excited about the changes that Shoot Dot Edit announced at WPPI. They are now doing a la cart pricing which means you can choose your own adventure with them. You decide how many images you send them, how many you want back, how many you want Artistic Edits you want and on and on. I also got a chance to hang out at their booth, which was not hard since it was right across from ours ;-), and talk about how I use their services. I am so excited about what the team at SDE are doing. I can not wait for another year of great teamwork.

8. The Blu Domain Party at the Hard Rock totally rocked – The Mammoth Men rocked the house with some off the hook Kareoke! Check their blog for a full video of the entertainment.

9. The Pictage Party at Studio 54 – The biggest party award has to go to Pictage. They rented out the top floor of Studio 54 on the hottest night of the week. It was the biggest party I had ever seen at WPPI. When I left at 3am the party was still going strong. It was such a great way to spend out last night in Vegas. Wow! Check out the picture and you will get an idea of what I am talking about. I even got to grab a dance with my good friend Joe Photo!

10. My Intern’s blog posts and twitter comments – My Intern, Stephen Knuth started a new blog. All week long he kept us laughing with his twitters. During the show and for the week after Stephen wrote about his adventure to his first WPPI Conference along with tips to save money while being a young photographer in Las Vegas. You can check it out at www.knuthimagery.com. Click on “Stephens Chatter Box.” Happy 21st Birthday Stephen!

Bonus…. The Signature at the MGM Grand – I loved staying at the signature. The service was great. No Casino. It’s own Starbucks. I mean what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, and a kitchen, Jacuzzi Tub, balcony, and so much more. All of that and $5 less than the special WPPI rate at the MGM. It does not get better than that. Check out the pano image that Jeremy did from the Balcony.

That is Lauren and I talking between the balconies. We had adjoining rooms which was also a huge perk!