How to Gauge a Great Conference or Convention

​Just returning from ShutterFest, I noticed while the spirit of the group NEVER changed; there was a little more wear and tear on people’s faces each day. Stories of photographers shooting until 4:00 am became pretty common. Running on 2-4 hours of sleep each night became as routine as the sun coming up each morning.

But, no matter how tired people were, the majority of the crowd was chomping at the bit for more. This a group with a constant feeding frenzy for more education whether it’s hands-on “how to” help with lighting and posing to business and marketing. Everyone is here with a purpose.

Just for the fun of it, I decided it was time to come up with a standard to help attendees gauge how much fun they’re having along with how hard they’re working. The analytical method is to count the number of frames you’ve shot during the day and multiply it by the number of new friends you’ve made, along with old friends you’ve caught up to.

However, if you’ve truly been active this week, then you’re pleasantly exhausted and every morning the bags under your eyes make you look a little more like Yoda! So, I’m coining a new word/expression here, and now, an attendee who’s gotten everything they can out of ShutterFest is “Yoda-eyed”. 

So, if you looked in the mirror the first morning home and saw Yoda looking back at you, or your spouse said, “My God, are you okay?” Just smile and say, “Never been better! The force is with me!”

​Looking forward to doing it all again at ShutterFest 2017!