Photoshop World 2013 was held here in Orlando from April 17 – 19 at the Orange County Convention Center. Thanks to the involvement of UCF’s Graphic Design Student Association, some of my fellow graphic designers and I were able to attend this awesome event for free instead of the $150 ticket cost to attend. I LOVE free stuff!
What’s Photoshop World?
For those of you who don’t know, Photoshop World is like a convention but for photographers, illustrators, and designers. Anyone who uses a camera, Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, or Illustrator would enjoy and get a lot out of this convention. On each day there are several workshops you can choose to attend depending on your interests at certain times. This convention travels all over the country, with one of the most prominent locations being Las Vegas.
During the afternoon, you can attend the expo where you can participate in demos for software/equipment that can be bought for a considerably reduced price and get chances to win free stuff! There were photography stations where photographers can compete in a “shootout contest” for a chance to win free camera equipment (the picture to the left is actually one of mine). There are also workshop conferences photographers, designers, and illustrators can attend during the Expo.
On Thursday night, Photoshop World hosted an after-convention event called “Midnight Madness” where ticket holders for the event can take a part of a game show and possibly win free stuff! Even if you don’t win anything special, you still get a pretty fun show with free Krispy Kreme doughnuts and this awesome Photoshop Geek t-shirt.
Important Takeaways
I focused most of my attention on the Design and Business workshops. Some of the most useful information I learned from this convention was business oriented social networking. The internet dominates many industries today, photography and graphic design are no exception. It’s come to the point that the traditional “portfolio” has lost value. The best way to stand out as a designer is to be “somebody” on the world wide web. I will be improving my activity on my social media outlets to better generate a stronger following as well as getting more involved with my followers here and on Behance. Hopefully by next year, I will have my own website designed, hosted, and with my blog implemented with it.