I’m back…sort of…
Hey everyone! John & I had an AWESOME time in Vegas!! We had so many amazing experiences and learned so much in such a short amount of time, it's still kind of surreal. Even though I'm back in Indy, I won't be back in the office until the end of the week since I have some more seminars to attend here in Indy this week but I will hopefully get all of my Vegas pics downloaded and start posting some of them over the next few days. I can't wait to share all of the stories and pictures with all of you!!!
Out of the office…
Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that we will be out of the office until March 27th. We will have VERY limited access to voicemail and email (if at all) so I will get back to all of you when we return on the 27th. We have two back to back events we're attending, the first being WPPI – the largest photo convention in the world that takes place in Las Vegas over the next 2 weeks then we have an event to attend here in Indy upon returning from WPPI. I will resume the usual daily blogging schedule upon our return too! 🙂 If any of you are photographers headed to WPPI and you see us out and about or in seminars, don't hesitate to stop and say hi!! I want to meet all of my blog stalkers!! 😉 (And who knows, maybe I'll post pics of us together on my blog!) 🙂
I LOVE the WPPI convention, it's by far the best photo convention out there. It's so much fun and you learn SO much in such a short amount of time that it really gives you a "kick of inspiration" before starting the next wedding season. They have amazing speakers lined up this year, parties, giveaways, a 3 day trade show featuring the best photo vendors in the country, and this year I'll be mentoring the winner of my Thirst Relief auction so I can't wait to meet her and help her with her business too! I truly think that WPPI is the best thing you can do for your business and for your clients so if you've never been, make sure you attend next year…it's totally worth every penny and then some!
Anyway, I will share all of my AMAZING photos and experiences with all of you after I return in a few weeks!! Last year we had a hard time getting a cell signal in the hotel and the line at the Business Center was insanely long every day so checking e-mail wasn't feasible. (I think I spent more money trying to check my email one day than I ever did at the slot machines! LOL I think they need to make a larger Business Center!) So we'll see how that goes…I really prefer for everyone to e-mail us versus leaving voicemails because my voicemail box "ate" a few messages last year while we were gone and I didn't even know it until after the fact so if you need to reach us, e-mail us and I'll get back with you as soon as possible!
P.S. I re-extended ALL of our event websites at www.sendtoprint.net before we left AND during the month of March, we're holding our usual "Spring Reprint Special" where you'll automatically receive a 15% discount on all orders over $100 placed online throughout the entire month of March so if you've been meaning to order some reprints or enlargements, NOW is the time to do it! 😉
WPPI part 2 published…
Part 2 of Joe Photo's WPPI video was posted this week…which also features OUR wedding photographer, Gary Fong! He is so funny…if he turns a hula hoop into a Lightsphere, I wouldn't be surprised! 😉 CLICK HERE to check it out!
Digilabs…
A lot of photographers ask who we use for our online order fulfillment, so I wanted to share this info today. We've been using Digilabs for many years now and they've been WONDERFUL to us! Their websites are fully customizable to look like an extension of our website (something discussed in my interview with After Capture magazine – make sure you get April's issue!!) and they take care of processing, printing and shipping all of our orders. I just send them a CD of each event and they notify us whenever someone places an order online…it's nice because we are freed up to work on other things and once a month they send us a check from the previous month's orders. Our brides LOVE it because their families can order online and they don't have to deal with collecting orders, money, passing around proofs or anything like that. 🙂 So, check out Digilabs today if you haven't already…I know they'll be at WPPI in a few weeks but you can also SIGN UP HERE and let them know we sent you their way!
7 hours left to bid!
I just received an e-mail clarifying some of the bidding details for the Thirst Relief auction closing procedures:
"The Anti-Snipe Feature – this means that if a particular auction is experiencing a bidding war at the time it is SUPPOSED to end, the auction will stay open instead. As long as bidders are willing to bid on a mentor the auction for that particular mentor will stay open until no one bids any more. This is extremely important for all bidders to know. Remind bidders to check and write down payment information so that they will be able to immediately go to www.thirstrelief.org to make their donations. Donations need to be made in 48 hours or the auction will go to the next highest bidder. Exactly how to make their donation is in the payment details of every auction. Also, a reminder that ALL auctions are closing at different times. This avoids having too many people trying to bid on any one person at a time. Make sure you and your bidders know exactly what time your auction will close."
Our auction ends at 9:00 p.m. EST tonight!! 🙂 Please go bid if you haven't done so already…it's for a great cause and even if you're not attending WPPI in a few weeks, that's ok…we'll do your session via phone or e-mail. I've already placed a few bids on other photographers too because I believe it's important to share ideas and to continue to learn as much as you can in the world of photography.
In fact, to sweeten the bidding process, I'll make all of the photographers out there a deal…if we get more than $1,500 in bids for this worthy cause in the next 7 hours, I'll throw in a free portrait shoot & CD for the winning photographer at WPPI next month! We can do fun portraits around Vegas, head shots, whatever you want….or you can do a photo shoot with us if you don't like to be in front of the camera 😉 …you'll also be the first business featured on our new photo mentoring website that will go live next month in addition to having your one-on-one with me. 🙂 So, let's go raise money for Thirst Relief International!! Who's thirsty??! 🙂