Engage!12 Conference : Las Vegas

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the Engage!12 Conference in Las Vegas. I attend this luxury summit once or twice a year because it's a great way for me to calibrate what I'm doing as a wedding photographer in relation to what's happening in the wedding industry. It caters primarily to coordinators and designers, but I find that I take a few tidbits from each year and apply them to my evolving business. Not only have I met some incredible people, they've become friends over the years.

More than anything, going to Engage! forces me to outline my goals…and to think a little bigger.

I had the pleasure of speaking on the opening night at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where every detail was impeccably addressed…

Many thanks to my friend Harmony Walton of The Bridal Bar for grabbing my camera and snapping a few photos…she also happened to be my roommate in Vegas and a wonderful person to kickstart my social flutterings in Sin City.

One of my favorite things about Engage! is the attention to detail…as a girl who loves all things branding, each perfectly placed logo gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling…

The conference room was packed in part to Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce's hard work and dedication to the conference…they're the masterminds of Engage!! and all around amazing people!

One of the highlights to the trip was meeting Anne Fulenwider, Brides Magazine's new editor. She was funny, articulate, and inspiring…I can't wait to see how the magazine morphs over the next year…

One of our daily breaks was sponsored by Jimmy Choo…and they provided very choo-ey treats as well as eye candy…

As part of a fantastic lineup of speakers, Abby Larson of Style Me Pretty and her husband, Tait, gave a great presentation about personalizing your business and connecting with readers.

One of the main components of Engage! is connecting with new people, so I was assigned to host a lunch with eight amazing people…the Mandarin Oriental Hotel provided an amazing vegetarian bento box for me and I couldn't have been happier…

Every year is different, but at lunch I made it a point to maximize our time together and asked pointed questions…at the end of the meal, we spoke of our goals and pledged to keep each other accountable to achieving them by year's end…sure, it might sound lofty, but I have no doubt we'll be sharing in each others' successes soon…

More than anything, I attend a myriad of conferences each year because when I'm away–away from my computer, my fears, my restrictions–it forces to me rethink my approach and connect with others who might offer amazing insight. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have spoken, but, moreso, to have attended and created new allies in the wedding industry.

Happy Monday!