Chicago Tofurious SEO Workshop

I read Jasmine Star's blog daily. I like her style and her photos are as unique and as fun as she is. So one day I see that she is endorsing an SEO workshop offered by a company called Tofurious. Trusting J*'s brand I naturally checked out what this SEO workshop was all about. I visited Tofurious' site and I am surprised to see the "A List" of photographers, such as Dane Sanders and [b]ecker, endorsing this workshop. My friend Ray Pryor of Emotia was already signed up to go, so it seemed that all signs were pointing me to this workshop. So I signed up and was in in for the SEO workshop ride. The day of the workshop arrives and I am pretty excited. I walk into the workshop room and see Lawrence Chan of Tofurious fame. We chat for a second before I meet Jules Wiegand (who ends up sitting next to me) and Kara Schultz. Ray sits down at the same table and we all chat for a sec. Then the studly Kenny Kim walks in fresh from his Italy workshop and sits next to me and then offers to pick up some Starbucks for anyone interested. Bob Davis ended up sitting at our table as well and brought along an amazing assortment of cookies. Thanks Bob!

The workshop starts and the info pours in. I quickly realize how little I know about SEO and about blogging. Lawrence did his presentation and we all mingled in between the short breaks.

I was able to meet some really amazing people at the workshop, all very talented photographers and smart business people. It was a pleasure meeting Doug Sturgeon , who came all the way from Toronto. Molly Michel from Madison, Kara Shultz, Jay Crihfield, and Dan Georgia, my friend from the Dane Sanders Fast Track Roadshow Workshop. I hope to see everyone again soon. These people are the salt of the Wedding Photography industry.

We all went to get some pizza after the workshop. Here are a few pics from that fine dining experience at Giordanos.

[gallery size="large" columns="1" orderby="title"]

Here are all of the photographers that attended the Chicago SEO workshop. Check out their sites and leave some comment love! Kenny Kim – Life style wedding photographer and all around stud Bob and Dawn Davis – Celebrity wedding photographer Kara Schultz – Chi-town wedding and boudoir photographer Ray Pryor – Emotia photography - fusion wizard Jules Wiegand – Quirky Louisville (Louville) photographer Jay Crihfield – Chicago wedding photographer who rocks Navy Pier Kenny Nakai – Once a teacher, now a rockin’ historian and fellow Nikon shooter Eclipse Photography – Toronto Awesomeness and world traveler Molly Michel – A girl who titles her blog posts, “Wow” because it is expressive of her fun personality Dan Georgia – A photographer who captures the one’s uniqueness and fellow FTP'er Otto Rascon Photography – part graphic designer / part photographer – it will be the perfect marriage of art and photography - thanks for that discription Lawrence!

Thanks guys & see you later! - Contact Me | Wedding Portfolio | Little Ones Portfolio | Older Ones Portfolio

Free To Succeed Tour

I had the privilege to attend David Jay's "Free To Succeed" tour last night thanks to my friend and fellow wedding shooter Ray Pryor. Ray called me up the other day and asked if I would be interested in attending. He told me that David Jay and Jasmine Star would be speaking and would be talking about the wedding photography business. I was sold... especially after hearing that Jasmine Star would be there. Man, that fired me up! I love her work and her blog. I go there everyday for inspiration and to see what she is up to. You can only imagine how excited I was to see her in person. She is even cooler than what I had imagined, and even prettier in person. That girl has it going on. One day I hope to be as cool and pretty as she is...

I learned so much at this seminar. My head is still spinning with ideas. I am very appreciative to both David and Jasmine for their openness and honesty. I really took to heart when David said that "we are here to serve our clients". That is so true, and that is something that I strive to do with every wedding that I shoot. Where would we be without our clients? They drive us to excel and to get better and to continue learning.

So my many, many, many thanks to David Jay and to Jasmine Star for sharing such great insights and precious nuggets of information. I also wanted to thank my friend and fellow Rock Star photog Veronica Hinojosa for hanging with me and for taking the photos of me and DJ and Jasmine. Rock on!!!