Once a year wedding and portrait photographers from all over the world descend upon Las Vegas for the biggest industry convention of the year. Last year WPPI attracted over 16,000 participants and this year it is expected to be even bigger.
Well, tonight is opening night of WPPI with Photographer’s Ignite opening the show. Last year I had the great privilege and honor to be chosen to be one of the 15 speakers at Photographer’s Ignite 2011.
What is Photographer’s Ignite? 15 speakers. Any topic. 5 minutes each. 20 slides each. Each slide displayed for exactly 15 seconds and advanced automatically. At the end of the 5 minutes, no matter what, the presentation is over. It is a wild and fun exercise in being informative, entertaining and under pressure all in front of a jam-packed room full of industry hotshots and colleagues cheering you on.
The pressure and nerves before going on stage for me were crazy. Ok, I’ll admit it, the morning of the show, I cried, felt nauseous and wondered why I had even thought I could do something like this. But the programs were printed and I had to just go for it. And I’m super glad I did. It was FUN! I finished with my slides and didn’t fall on my face.
Right now I’m wishing all the Ignite speakers the best of luck as they get on stage. I’m excited for you, especially my friend Kirsten Lewis whom I convinced to try out for it last year and we both ended up presenting. Rock the house, Kirsten! For those interested, here’s my presentation from last year: