I had to check my journals to confirm that the first year I went to WPPI in Las Vegas was, in fact, in Spring of 2005. That vaguely struck me as a while ago, until I used all the fingers on both my hands to realize that this year, 2014, will be my TENTH time at WPPI. Year Ten, Wow. A lot, lot, lot has happened in that time – about 15 different journals’ worth, to be exact. My experience at WPPI has continued to become more significant, and this year is now bigger than ever. In this post, I’ll share an overview of where I’ll be while there AND I’ll get to offer you an Animoto Pro video creation subscription GIVEAWAY, right now, valued at $249. We will be giving it away to one lucky commenter on this blog, just share your thoughts per notes at the end of this post -> and this subscription will to be gifted to one of you by this Thursday, February 27th. 
When I first went to WPPI, I not only went solo, but I didn’t know a soul there either. I pulled out the amazing seminar schedule and the omg-it’s-all-in-one-place Expo map and spent hours lining up the four days I would spend there. Then I went from program to program to program to program to program, finally leaving on a redeye home, barely able to sleep – not even because of the dreaded night flight but because of my palpable excitement about all I’d learned. 
This year, I am sure I’ll still be learning. I was lucky enough to be asked to speak in 2009 at WPPI and have returned to teach a brand new program each year. This year is no exception. So, without further ado, my schedule: Friday, February 28th, at 12pm – Opening up WPPI U with my newly-created presentation “reDefining Your Photography Path”, which includes references to some specific, enormously helpful advice from my reDefine Show. Check out the entire WPPI U lineup for all the other great speakers who will be presenting & doing hands-on workshops! Saturday, March 1st – Sunday, March 2nd 8am – 6pm – Portrait Judging for a very packed Print Competition. If you are interested in improving your ability to shoot, process, and deliver images, sitting in on one of these print competitions is a fantastic way to do that. I’ve judged at WPPI a couple of times before, and it makes for very long days for the judges, but it’s an incredible amount of information to soak up for those who watch the judging. Heck, for all of us. It’s completely free for those who are attending WPPI. Monday, March 3rd, at 8:30am – My Platform Presentation! I’m very excited about this one. I just built it from scratch (“just” meaning over the course of months ; ). It’s entitled “The Top 10 Ways To Create Real Profit in Your Portrait Business”. The program is about merging the meaningfulness of your work, your love for your photography and your clients, with the serious need to be able to not just stay in business, but thrive doing work you love, which only helps you do it that much better. I built it to contains loads of practical tips. If you haven’t already, make sure you pre-board for this program. Oh, and there will be lot of really sweet giveaways during the program, too. Love. The. Giveaways. HUGE THANKS to Nations Photo Lab – they are sponsoring this presentation AND offering a $50 gift code to anyone who hasn’t used their gorgeous print services yet. Simply use “TAMARA50” as a promo code to receive these $50 toward any of their products. If you are already a Nations Photo Lab customer, you’re not to be left out – you can use “TAMARA40PRINTS” to receive 40% off any prints, and that is ON TOP of any existing sales. That was upwards of 80% off at one point last week, so definitely check this out to print your work and keep more profits. Both codes expire April 1, 2014 – use ROES ordering system for the promo code to work! And if you’re not already familiar with them, check out this very fun walkthrough of their lab I got to take recently. 
Also grateful to Adorama, easily my favorite photography store – I’ll be joining up with them several times throughout the week (see below), and they’ll be giving away some very cool gifts. And if you’ve ever asked what I have in my camera bag, you can check out this page on their site for all the details. The big giveaway on this particular post is from Animoto Pro, giving away a $249 Full Year of Animoto Pro to one lucky commenter on this blog. I just made my 800 millionth video using their ridiculously-easy-to-use software. I love that the same companies that sponsor me are ones whose products & services I not only use constantly in my studio but think so highly of because they are REALLY GOOD STUFF. This Animoto subscription will save you time and money and make your work look even better. You can also use the promo code “tamara” to get $50 off a full year, if you don’t win it here. So go use that goodness. Lastly, big love to Nikon. I have been very grateful to partner with them on multiple projects this year, and I’ll be part of an incredible forum on Tuesday, at 2pm, details below, as well as shooting live for them at the expo and deconstructing some images I have shot using their equipment. Monday, March 3rd at 1:15pm – Photographing Children LIVE at Nikon Theater, on the Expo Floor. I’ve never done this before, photographed children on a small stage during an expo. Goodness knows what will happen, so come see the educational madness! Monday, March 3rd at 2:30pm – Live Q&A with Adorama, on the Expo Floor – we will be answering questions live and Adorama will be doing a lot of giveaways during these sessions. Monday, March 3rd 4pm – 6pm – reDefine Show chats. I’ll be interviewing Jerry Ghionis, Peter Hurley and Dixie Dixon for future reDefine Show episodes. Tuesday, March 4th at 1pm – Live Q&A with Adorama, on the Expo Floor, more questions, more answers, more giveaways! Tuesday, March 4th at 2pm – 3:30pm – Nikon Theater Presents: Live. Work. Succeed. A Women’s Forum for Entrepreneurial Photographers. I will be joining the fabulous Bambi Cantrell and Dixie Dixon as part of a forum specifically addressing the experiences/challenges of women in the photography industry – along with SOLUTIONS, as each of us have different career goals, family life concerns & are working across different genres – portraits, weddings, and fashion. The forum will be moderated by Photofocus/Framed Network’s Melissa Niu (who I just did an interview with on the subject of work/life balance). 
Wednesday, March 5th at 10:15am – Photographing Children LIVE at Nikon Theater, on the Expo Floor. Assuming all survived the first shoot, we’re going to do it again – and see how far we can push this. Wednesday, March 5th at 12pm – Live Q&A with Adorama, on the Expo Floor, all your questions will be answered and giveaways will be gotten. No doubt WPPI is quite the whirlwind, but it’s a friendly, high-energy, education-packed one, and I sincerely hope to see you there. In the meantime, share some thoughts on your experience with WPPI, what you plan to take in if going, and any smart comments on photography (yeah, that’s right, they have to be smart) in the comments below, and we’ll pick a winner for the $249 Animoto Pro Giveaway and give you your prize on Thursday, February 27th. Best of luck!
