This past week was spent in the scorching hot city of Las Vegas for another awesome Photoshop World Conference and Expo. Karen and I flew in on Monday and checked in to the conference hotel, the Mandalay Bay. One of the great things about Photoshop World is that all of the instructors stay in the same hotel, so it’s always a reunion of friends… starting the second we walk into the hotel. For us, the party started before we even got to Mandalay Bay, because my great friend Steve picked us up from the airport and was already arranging a dinner for that first night!

Here I am at the entrance to the Photoshop World Conference & Expo

The day before the conference starts is always pre-con day. While I didn’t have an actual pre-con event, I taught a 4-hour class that night alongside my great friend Judy Host. She was just wrapping up her Creative Design Tour and I was invited to co-teach with her that night. We could tell that the event was a success by the sheer number of people that showed up. Vegas is a night-life kind of town, yet hundreds of people chose to spend their night in our classroom.

During the course of Photoshop World, I taught three one-hour classes, on Photoshop’s hidden and hard-to-find tweaks, actions and Adobe Camera Raw. Outside of the classes, I always spend a lot of time networking, exploring the trade show and hanging out with friends.

The Epson booth had one of my images on display at the Photoshop World Trade Show.

Karen and I got really lucky this year, as we were able to squeeze in TWO Cirque du Soleil shows during this Photoshop World! The first was “O,” which is completely put on in water, and the second was “Love,” featuring the Beatles. “Love” was especially fun, as we were accompanied by our great friends Jay & Lesa, Eddie & Judy and Bert and Zosia. I guess it was appropriate that our group was made up of couples, being it was the “Love” show and all.

Aside from having a great time at this Photoshop World, I also got a lot of positive feedback from my sessions. I even managed to attend a few classes as well! On Saturday, Karen and I flew back to Seattle, as the bus was parked about an hour south of the city. This week, we’ll try to spend some time checking out the Seattle area. More to come…