Now that WPPI is coming to a close, I have quite a silly list of little tidbits I’ve been squirreling away to share. Might not be useful for this year, but perhaps you can tuck it away for next year, or take some of these thoughts and apply them to your next conference travels.
Without further ado…
How To Survive WPPI
- Bring floss. You never know who you might run into, and there isn’t a tool to be found in the public restroom that will help you.
- Don’t follow the yellow brick road. Don’t follow the path that the casino makes for you with it’s solid red carpet. It meanders, which means you spend more, and you walk more. I swear it’s an extra 22.2 miles per day. At least.
- If this is your first time, don’t think we won’t notice. The easiest way to pick out a newbie is by their fancy heels at the tradeshow/classes. The rest of us know better, way better.
- Wear a disguise. Then, when you’re walking the 3.7 miles between the casino and the actual conference, if you see people you know, they won’t hold you up for 20 minutes chatting about the stupid bobble they just bought at the show. And then you won’t miss your class.
- You can sleep when you’re dead. But you will be, if you get less than 3 hours per night, more than 3 nights in a row. Trust me, I’d know.
- You’re totally NOT at the right party, and you’re missing it ALL. There’s totally another better industry party at some other club, in some other suite, that you didn’t get tickets to. Get over it. There are 12,000 photographers. There will always be a better party to go to, with more important and cooler people. Enjoy where you’re at and make the most of it, because sometimes the hype isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me on this one, too.
- Nobody likes a name-dropper. Yawn, yawn, yawn. It’s also a huge blinking sign that says “I’m New!”
- They’re real people, too. The heavy hitters. You know, the rockstars, speakers, and legends? They don’t really love it when you charge up to them and start a sentence with “Oh my gosh, I totally feel like I know you! I’d trade my first born to be like you!” It’s awkward.
- Just take it and read it later. Bad idea…you know all those catalogs and promotional marketing pieces from the two thousand booths you visited to look at albums today? They add up to about a $75 Overweight Baggage Fee. And you’ll never remember which was which. Or look at them ever again. Choose your paperweights sparingly and have a plan of the few most important products you’d like to really look at and learn inside and out.
- Wear sunscreen. Or at least, drink LOTS of water. The water DOES taste strange here…. I wonder what they put in it…..
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