Boulder Bound

Sorry no photo for this entry. I was invited by Women's Adventure Magazine to come to Boulder,

Colorado and talk about the business of photography for their Photography conference.  I had never been to Boulder so for me it was a win win situation to accept. On a personal note I had two friends from teenage years, that I hadn't seen in about 30 years, living there ( Sheldon and Ellen).

The other conference speakers were Sadie,the photo editor from National Geographic, Amber, the photo editor from Outside, Beth Wald ( a great adventure/travel photographer), Cory from Aurora Stock agency, and other talented folks. In retrospect, it was a great list of peers. 

I sat through most of the speakers and found it to be very informative and inspiring. About 50 people signed up for the conference and a casual survey suggested they were happy to be there. Some traveled as far as Alaska and Florida. The first night I arrived I went out with some of the attendees for dinner, a guy (sorry forgot the name) for LA who looked liked Steve McQueen and wanted to run with the bulls in Paploma, a woman from Massachusets who made the last cut for a pro soccer team, and another woman who lived in Boulder but seemed to have traveled to every continent in the world. 

Saturday was performance time and went very well, I can tell by how much laughter I can generate from talking about taxes and photo contracts. That evening I went out with my friends Sheldon and Ellen and had a great time. 

Sunday morning, Sheldon came by and we went out for breakfast at a hip book store and then went climbing up the Chataqua (sp) mountains. When I got back it was time for "speed dating". 

This is where the attendees signed up with the speakers for 10 minutes and asked us question one on one.  It was fun to see the diversity of work and desire of the attendees. I had to leave early to catch my flight back to Missoula. I had the pleasure of driving back to the Denver Airport with the NG photo editor, Sadie.  She we delightful to talk and I felt fortunate to one hour one  on one conversation with the photo editor of National Geographic.  All and all it was a great conference, great folks and beautiful scenery....