Wednesday

Being #Blogalicious12 in Vegas

This year I had the honor, the absolute honor of attending the Blogalicious 2012 Conference. But it didn't end there, no it had barely begun. Early in the year with on the recommendation of a fellow blogger, the tech officianado, TechSavvyMama, I secured a slot on the conference agenda as a speaker discussing the topic of storytelling --- something I do here everyday. But trust, I don't say that as if storytelling is easy or blahze, but rather I'm glad to be in the position to now be able to share something I have bled and sweat through.

But it didn't end there, no it truly hadn't begun. I also had the pleasure of securing the position of Official Conference Photographer on the recommendation of another Blogger, the super duper Travel Mami, my hermana from another mother, Carol Cain.

By now you should be able to see that if used for good, social media can be a very edifying, gratifying and potentially financially lucrative experience. So rather than continue to type and narrate I want to tell the story of my first trip to Vegas, albeit a working trip, via pictures and video.

I got the ball rolling a week in advance by introducing myself to the #Blogalicious World in an effort to build awareness and buzz around me, my brand (blog) and me as the photographer.

Then SocialCam Evangelist and too much more to list here, Mario Armstrong reached out to me and suggested I use Social Cam to share photography tips on the go with the audience I was building.

More tips, more talking, more buzz...

Then it came time to put together the tools of the trade (a good amount of it was rented, but at least I knew what to rent!)...

I arrived in Las Vegas alone on Friday morning, the day after my birthday, to no buzz at all. All my relatives in Vegas were working and said they couldn't pick me up. I felt small and wondered if all those videos I shot had been a waste of time.

After striking up a great conversation with an airport transportation manager I secured the proper shuttle to my hotel which felt like a gigantic lounge.

Registration...

And then I got busy...VERY, VERY BUSY! (click the pic for the video)

But nothing is going to stop me from picking up a jump rope when I have a chance so I worked out with attendees during the GetFit recess.

Oh, yeah! On Sunday I had to present. I went straight from photographing a community service project the group did at 8am (after photographing a party with Doug E. Fresh the night before), to packing my bag to check out of my room to wheeling my luggage into the grand ballroom where I hopped the stage and did this. I was tired, weary and felt unbelievably disorganized but everyone who attended my session with the lovely TarynP said it was great. I'll take their word for it.

From there it was back on a plane to arrive home at 1 AM. At 6 AM I was up and Dad again...

In the end I never saw my cousins, never hit the strip and barely slept because of all the running around I did. But I'll always have Vegas. Not in the way that the world thinks of Vegas, but because I was able to turn the things that I do here on this blog into a real tangible asset for a client and it's few hundred attendees.