It just so rocked!
I know, I always say that, but there's something special that happens at Photoshop World, and I don't know if it's the combination of instructors, or the classes, or the awesome creative people that attend, but when it all comes together, it's like magic. I had people coming up to me telling me they had been to dozens of conferences in their careers, and hands down this one topped them all. People were just over-the-top about their experience, and people where at this conference in Orlando, already signing up to join us in Las Vegas in August (the 21 - 23) on day one. It was crazy and I love it! Here's a quick look at last week's Orlando conference, and the awesome instructors, crew, and participants that made it happen.
A totally kick-butt keynote
10:00 AM Thursday Morning — after the opening movie, and a very cool karate drill set to music from the martial arts/dance group "Taka," I came out to welcome the crowd. We showed a blooper reel from the making of our movie, then I gave a short presentation to kick off our 20th year of Photoshop World.
This year's keynote speaker was Adobe Worldwide Design and Photography Evangelist Terry White, and along with Adobe's Bryan O'Neal Hughes, Mat Hayward, and guest artist Victoria Pavlov, they delivered one of the best Photoshop World keynotes ever! They uncovered a lot of things a lot of folks don't know about Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Stock, and Lightroom Mobile — it's those things that are so awesome, but mostly unknown, and it opened a lot of folks eyes. I heard so many great comments from the crowd after Adobe's presentation. They totally dug it (and Terry was just fantastic, as always).
A Day in the Life of Photoshop World
Below: here's a look at a typical day during the conference including some shots from dog photography superstar Kaylee Greer from her dog photography pre-conference workshop, along with shots from Dave Blacks on location sports shoot, along with some shot of what it's like during the conference.
Lot and Lots and Lots of Learning
Making Friends and Kickin' Back After a Long Day
We start early and we end late, and that's why we all need time to kick back, meet new people, and have some fun. Here's a few shots from our Meet up and our Thursday night After Hours Party (that's my band, Big Electric Cat" playing at the party).
And yes, it is Madness!
There's nealry 100 classes at the conference, so we know how important some laughing and having fun after a long day of traning, and that's why we created "Midnight Madness." It's the most sought-after ticket at the conference, and it's free, but it's limited to just 200 peopole, but it's worth getting early and getting in line to snag one of those tickets to join us from 10:00 pm to Midnight, as we play Photoshop and photography-related games (with lots of cool prizes and giveaways), and it's…well…it's well named. Larry Becker is the host and I swear, that guy is just absolutely hiliarious. He's so quick witted, and such a great host, and the official Midnight Madness panel of Me, Terry and Dave Clayton are really just a minor sideshow, running music and wrangling prizes, while Larry rocks the house. It worth it just to see Larry in his element.
This Group of World Class Instructors Only Come Together Like This In One Place
OK, well two because we're doing a 2nd Photoshop World Conference this year in Las Vegas, August 23-25, 2019. But we'll be joined by more superstars like Moose Peterson, Matt Klowskowski, Frank Doorhof, amont others. Photoshopworld.com
The Partner Pavilion always has something fun going on
There's three theaters with free classes going on (including Adobe's own theater), plus our favorite vendors and partners are there showing their latest stuff, (including B&H Photo), and we've set up shooting stations that are pre-lit and ready to go, often with live models, and complete scenes so you can practice with live models, studio lighting, and elaborate sets. Here's a quick look.
And it all wraps up with the Guru Awards ceremony
What a great way to end the conference, with a competition (with awesome prizes and trophies) and only the people right there at Photoshop World get to enter, and after that, we drawn names for a bunch of awesome prizes from our sponsors, including two conference passes to our West Coast Photoshop World conference coming up in August of this year. Best of all, it's hosted by Larry Becker, so you know it's an awful lot of fun.
That's a wrap!
Thanks to all the awesome folks, who literally came from all over the world, thousands of miles away, just to be with us in Orlando; shut out the rest of the world, and just focus on being creative, learning, laughing, and making new friends. What an incredible three days.
A special thank you
I also want to thank three awesome creatives on my video crew who handled an incredible amount of video production, live event production, producing the opening keynote movie, and so much more, and did it all with a smile and a great attitude. My thanks to our Producer Christina Sauer (above center); and our video superstars Jason Stevens (above left) and Juan "Magic Juan" Alfonso (Right). They kicked some major butt, and I'm so proud of them.
Many thanks to my assistant Jeanne Jilleba who helped Julie and me every step of the way. A shout out to my registration team on site (Dianne and Levi) and Sally back at HQ. Thanks to Margie and Angela, our graphics wizards for helping to giving the show it's awesome look. Thanks to Rachel for helping spread the word, and then capturing the event live. Thanks to the wonderful Jean A, Karen and Pam for keeping the ship running smooth. Thanks to Viktor and Ron, and all our awesome on-site moderators who are such pros (Jeff, Randy, Dave, Rob and Randall). Thanks to Gilmar and Mark for raising the creativity bar once again. We love you guys! Kathy Porupski — you are the best! Thanks to Sharma and Julio, and thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this event a success from start to finish.
Thank You Adobe!
Thanks to the awesome Kathy Scibetta for all her support, ideas and input. Thanks to Terry White, Mat Hayward and Bryan O'Neal Hughes. It's such an honor to have Adobe at our event, and even more that they're all such talented, fun, genunine people that make it a joy to work with them.
Thanks For Letting Me Share My Photoshop World Story With You!
Photos by one of the most awesome photographers ever to cover an event: Mr. Brad Moore. You can contact him at bmoorevisuals.com
Credits:
Photos by Brad Moore