The Reset Conference 2018 | Indianapolis
You guys. I went to a photography conference and DIDN'T TAKE MY CAMERA. I wasn't doing any shootouts this year on purpose, and I had a specific list of business items I wanted to learn about and tackle, so I left my gear at home. The only reason I might have taken it would be to have it cleaned and calibrated, but there's always next year right?! LOL :)
Speaking of next year.... *drum roll please*... the Reset Conference will be in LEXINGTON, KY in March 2019!! I can't wait for the green rolling hills, horses, bourbon tours, plantation shootouts, ahhh!!
Back to 2018, here are the speakers I learned from:
Twig & Olive Photography (Doug & Bobbi)
Hernan Sanchez (Stills by Hernan)
NC Stephens (Terminatetor Kitchen) -- he's from Champaign!!
Megan Kuethen
Jasmine Norris-Dixson
Jeff Rojas
Dannie Fountain (I bought a 1-on-1 mentoring session with her -- AMAZING!)
Christina Ramirez (I hope she's back next year because I NEED to do a shootout with her!)
The first morning of the conference, we woke up to the most beautiful sunset out our room window. And then it was off to finish checking people in at the registration table and for the first keynote speaker! The rest of the day was filled with breakout classes, and chilling in the room with Chicago-style pizza. :) A large group of people went to the Yard House, but I was exhausted, so I skipped out this year. Next time, Vilma!! ;)
One of my favorite things about The Reset Conference since we moved out of Champaign and now into other cities, is getting to experience the culture, surroundings, and environment of other places that I don't visit often. I got some awesome shootout images last year that I still uses in some of my marketing and on invoices. On Sunday I went to lunch by myself to make it back for my 1-on-1 with Dannie, and I took a nice walk around Monument Circle and enjoyed the nice-ish weather and sunshine. It was fun to grab a salad on the circle and sit with a window view out at the hubbub of the city.
The last night of the conference, many people were heading home right away, but I had a somewhat harrowing experience on my drive home last year (got pulled over, got lost, was exhausted, was starving), so I decided not to chance it this year. I booked a ticket on the Greyhound and brought the bus back to Champaign. The bus station may have been a bit sketchy, but the relaxed drive was so worth it -- I was able to get a bit of work done, I took a nap, and had free wifi and a plug in!
At this year's Reset, we also had a photobooth with a pretty gold sequin backdrop! The photos turned out SO great! I'm so glad they added this little feature this year and I hope we have one again next year! These photos are courtesy Stacey Houston Photography.
People always ask what your takeaways are from a conference. I did take quite a few notes, but I made a conscious effort to stay present and really hear the speakers, so sometimes I just took photos of their slides instead of writing them down. I also read a blog post from another conference saying that when it's over, you should narrow your key to-do list down to just 3-5 main things that you can focus on and actually do. You can't do it all. *I* can't do it all -- and I know that. I have already made a bunch of updates to my website to make it cleaner and more attractive. I also have some concrete tasks I picked up from Twig & Olive and Christina Ramirez that I'm going to put into practice right away. I also want to up my food and commercial photography, so I'm going to take some big things I learned from NC Stephens and develop some more projects in the coming months. He also told me one KEY piece of equipment I'm missing, so that is on my wish list that I'll hopefully purchase soon!
Can't wait to see everyone in Lexington at Reset 2019!!! #reset2019 #theresetconference