Monday evening I returned back home from attending The Reset Conference in Champaign, Illinois at the beautiful iHotel. First of all, I love Champaign. My dad and sister both graduated college from the University of Illinois, and my hubby and I lived there for a while early on in our marriage. It’s such a great college town, so I love visiting the area and being close to campus.
We Central Illinois folks are so blessed to have The Reset Conference practically in our back yards! Kellie Penn and Rebekah Albaugh are friends of mine and they put on a top-notch conference that many people hop on a plane to get to! I’ve been attending the conference since it’s birth in 2014 (and attending workshops by these ladies for years prior to that) and it’s one I look forward to every year. What amazes me most about this conference is the focus on building relationships with our fellow photographers . . . yes, we make friends with our biggest competitors. Community is valued over competition. Friendships matter. Encouraging one another is valued. This is a place to come and be uplifted, refueled and empowered. It’s also a great place to rest, though we often don’t get a lot of sleep while we are there.
This year’s Reset Conference was two days! I was thrilled that they made the jump to two days. The speakers lined up for us were outstanding: Amy & Jordan, Julie Paisley, Sarah Cornish (a fellow mom of many kids) . . . and those were just the keynote speakers!
I didn’t take my “big camera” out much over the weekend, but I do want to share a few fun iPhone pictures.
We were encouraged to go around the room and take selfies with other “resetters”. I’m mostly introverted, but got out there and met some amazing ladies!
Jana and I hung out quite a bit over the two days. She’s a gem! We talked about kids, and websites, and business.
This is Flavi on the right! I just had to meet her. This girl is FUN! She’s one of those people that just radiates joy. On the left are two sweet ladies whose names I’ve since forgotten (sorry ladies) and an epic photobomb by the one and only Julie Paisley! The best thing about the conference was how genuine and accessible all of the keynote speakers were. They were just hanging around the whole time ready to hug, talk, laugh and encourage!
Here is a fun shot of all of the speakers! Fun, right?!
They keynote speakers were perfect! I don’t know how I missed getting a shot of Sarah Cornish of My Four Hens, but that girl just spoke right to me! She is a momma of 6!!! I could definitely relate to having a house full and trying to run a successful business.
Julie Paisley has been one of my favorites for a while now. She is an amazing wedding photographer from Nashville, TN! What first made me start following her was the fact that she didn’t start her business until her late 30s. Sometimes I see other young photographers and think I’m too old to start this thing now. But Julie reminds me that it’s not! Love you girl!
I signed up for a breakout with Julie about finding light. If you know Julie at all, you show that she ROCKS at that! The day of our breakout was so gray and dreary that we ended up just hanging out and picking her brain! So much knowledge and she was so willing to share with us. Isn’t she adorable?!
Amy and Jordan Demos . . . wow! These two high school sweethearts have such a heart for marriage and photographers that you can’t help but fall in love with them. I started following this couple when I registered for The Academy. Amy and Jordan teach one of the classes. When I heard they were speaking at Reset, I knew I had to go get me a #demossandwich! 🙂
I’m still weeding through all of my notes, so I will post next week with all of my take aways from the conference! If you are a photographer, you should definitely plan on attending the conference next year!
It was great finally meeting you Karen and hang out some!! Agree it was an amazing conference packed full of some of the most talented photographers across the country! Already looking forward to next year!! 🙂
Awe!! Looks like fun!!
Looks like it was an amazing event!!!!!
Love this all- I got to go last year (my first conference!!) but couldn’t make it this year (mom’s workshop!) and definitely missed it- especially with Amy and Jordan there! It looks like it was wonderful 🙂
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