Last weekend was PDN’s Photo Plus Expo, and like a lot of east coast photographers I was in attendance. It seems like every year photo conferences get bigger and better drawing in massive crowds and yet there are still photographers who don't see any value in them. It makes me wonder if people understand and are taking full advantage of these events.
For about the last decade I've been attending Photo Plus Expo among other conferences. I was lucky that in college as an editor for the school paper attending educational events like these were fully paid for. I’m extremely grateful for those first couple of years because without them I wouldn't have learned just how important they really are within in the Photo Industry and to becoming a Pro. Since I just returned from Photo Plus Expo I’ll be referring to it for examples but most of what I'm going to talk about applies to almost all conferences, workshops, national organizations (ASMP, APA, PPA etc), and even camera clubs.