I’m honored to be asked by the good folks at the Las Vegas chapter of the AIGA (Professional Organization for Design) to be a panelist for an upcoming Social Media Panel Discussion.

• Check out the LV AIGA’s Group Page on Facebook here.
• Check out the LV AIGA’s website here.

Here’s the info from the RSVP Page. (<– Do it!)

Social Media Smucktard Cindy Waters discusses social ROI and how to navigate through the sh*t storm.  Plus an allstar panel to discuss the future of all things PR & Web technology featuring

Paul Chamberlain – VP Interactive of BRAINtrust
Nate Ludens – Interactive Marketing at Stations Casinos
Jackie Zlatanovski - VP Marketing at Circus Circus Hotel Casino
Cindy Waters – Media Strategies at The OutCast Agency
moderated by Kendall Hardin

The panel we will be address:

• Why do you use social media? Does it cause your target audience to buy stuff from you or use your services?
  
• What is your business model for social media? Branding, e-commerce, research, customer retention, lead generation?
  
• How do you calculate or measure ROI? What success metric do you use?
  
• Is there an ROI Cycle?
  
• What resources do you (or your client) devote to social media?
  
• How has social media helped/hindered your company’s growth?
  
• What trends do you see developing in audience buying habits?
  
• Pros and Cons for Social Media
  
• Mobile Computing? Should You Embrace It?
  
• What defines a SUCCESSFUL social media campaign?

This looks like fun. I hope you can join us on Saturday, June 4th at the Pinball Hall Of Fame, from 3-7pm. More details below.

Last Saturday was a rainy and cold day in Las Vegas. Bummer for trying to get around a desert town when in a hurry – bigger bummer if you’re hosting an outdoor event called a Photo Walk, my first solo project for the Las Vegas Adobe User Group.

Guess what, though? Perfect day. Really – the light was flat and everything was wet. If you had the proper clothing and you’re warm enough, days like Saturday make for some really nice photos.

I want to thank the other shutterbugs who joined me at Springs Preserve for our first AUG Photo Walk. Also really want to thank PJ Perez and Springs Preserve. Great place!

Enjoy the photos!

I had the fortune of shooting photos of another great production by Project Dinner Table on Saturday, October 30th. The event was held at a farm on the northern edge of Las Vegas called the Gilcrease Orchard. (Yes – there’s a farm in Las Vegas). Rick Moonen from RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay and his team provided the eats, Nevada Beverage provided the parrrr-tay, if you know what I mean.

Now the tech lingo: I shot the entire event with a Canon 5D Mark II, using 3 lenses: a 24-70mm f/2.8, a 70-200mm IS USM f/2.8, and I cheated, using a Tamron 11-18mm EF-S lens (not compatible with full frame sensors… or so they say). Dude, there wasn’t much light, so I utilized the awesome noise reduction in Adobe Lightroom 3 on a handful of these shots, though – the 5DMkII continues to amaze me with high ISO functions. Boy, Canon has come a LONG ways since I used to shoot snowstorms at ISO 800 with the 10D about 7-8 yrs ago. As usual, my favorite shots are the goofy ones from shoestring-level or odd angles, getting a little close to the BBQ grill, or some of the slow-shutter speed shots from the tripod. Lesson to take away from this event (for me) – bring a truckload of AA Batteries or rent a new Canon Speedlight that recycles flash faster.

Special thanks goes out to Gina, (Happy Birthday!) Kim, Christine and the rest of the event coordinators. This was their 2nd event in a week, and as always,  they put on one unforgettable evening. I hope you enjoy the photos (below) as much as I enjoy shooting them.

These are a few of my favorite shots from my first Project Dinner Table, back in June. This was their third event, held at Cashman Baseball Field. I have since shot each monthly event and at each dinner, I receive many compliments on these shots, all very appreciated. Truthfully, though – the real artists here were the talented culinary team and Gina – the event organizer extraordinaire, who scoped this location.

If you haven’t been to a Project Dinner Table event – don’t miss out. Go to projectdinnertable.com and reserve a spot. It’s a great event every time for a great cause.

Another fun night of rock with Vegas’ own Cherry Hill, Big Friendly Corporation and The Ryan Whyte Maloney Band. Check out the slideshow and let me know what you think.

This concert was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses. No flash, just super high ISO’s. Noise was nuked in Lightroom 3, and I experimented with various saturation settings and white balances.

Hey friends, if you know me personally, you probably know my summer has been a total zoo. (If I cash in all the “Rain Checks” I have issued, I’m going to be out of the house until Christmas!) I recently became a father, remodeled a home, moved my family  into it, and turned my old home into a rental – all while working full time with no vacation time and the amount of sleep you’d expect with a 5 month old in ‘da house. All that said, Project Dinner Table is a can’t miss event in Las Vegas. I wrote about it earlier this summer here. Be sure to visit the official PDT site – check it for schedules, pictures, menus, videos and – no brainer – to buy your tickets!

Below, I’d like to share some photos from the last Las Vegas dinner event held in front of the El Cortez in one of my favorite places – Downtown Las Vegas, where it’s as funky as it is fun. Coincidentally, the next Project Dinner Table Event will be held only a few short blocks away, at the Historic 5th Street School – a truly cool space that really gets what it means to contribute to building culture in Las Vegas. From AIGA to The Vegas Valley Book Fair – each time a creative group needs a venue, Richard Hooker and the good people at the 5th Street School have their hands up willing to help.  I hope to see you there on September 11th. I’ll be the guy with the camera

I’m extending a special invitation to the Las Vegas Creative Community about this event because I think its very important that Vegas steps it up a notch. In order to step up our game, we need to see what’s going on in creative communities globally. The days of picking up a publication and expecting design inspiration are soooo 1990s.

This is the official event information. I hope you’ll attend.

Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://chineseexchangelv-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Ni hao!

…An exhibition and idea exchange
with 30 design ambassadors

Spend an amazing transglobal
evening socializing, exchanging ideas and crossing cultures. Thirty Chinese
graphic design professionals exhibit their latest work in advertising,
packaging, book design, posters, photography and contemporary Chinese
calligraphy.It’s a true cultural
exchange where we’ll share the flavor of Fabulous Las Vegas with our visitors,
while getting a glimpse into the design sensibilities of their vast and
fast-developing market.

Las Vegas is distinguished to be one of only four U.S.
cities on the 11-day tour that also includes Washington, D.C., San Francisco
and San Diego.

Hosted by the Center for CrossCultural Design, which fosters greater communication between designers across cultures, and a better understanding of the interwoven experience of design and culture.

EVENT PRESENTERS

City of Las Vegas

Center for
CrossCultural Design

Colors of Lupus Nevada

Las Vegas Chinese Association

Las Vegas-Clark
County Library Foundation

EVENT PARTNERS

AIGA Las Vegas

International Association of Business Communicators

Las Vegas Cultural Corridor Coalition

The Neon Museum Las Vegas

Studio J Photography

EVENT SUPPORTERS

American Advertising Federation

Association of Students in Communication, UNLV

Student Association of Graphic Arts, UNLV

Produced by eurie creative

Watch for new Event Partner and Event Support listings as additional sponsors come on board

For information about being
an event partner, contact Victor at victor@euriecreative.com,
or call him at 702-383-9805.

Here in Las Vegas, design means commerce. Here’s a testimonial that says this is not always the case.

For the 2nd year in a row, I’m designing shirts for a memorial bike rally honoring a family who recently lost 2 brothers (husbands, fathers, friends) in Nebraska and Wyoming, near my hometown. Long-time friends of my family as a kid, and good guys to have a cold one or catch a concert with. And, for the 2nd year in a row, I’m feeling lucky as hell that I can contribute to the event. Today I received photos of the last event and it really hit home, especially now that I’m a father.

I’m reminded of a song by Rancid called Indestructible. The jist of it is that as an artist, you can live forever – indestructible – through your art. I get it. You can, without a doubt. Another way to be indestructible is to be a good friend, a father, a brother, a mother, a sister and leave your mark on things through helping other people and causes. That’s what these types of projects are about. Try getting this kind of emotion, longevity and gratification from a routine paycheck. Fat chance.

I had the pleasure of shooting photos of the 3rd Las Vegas Event for Project Dinner Table. It’s a great event put together by really cool people – benefiting great causes, too. You can learn all about it – and buy tickets to the next one on their website here: http://www.projectdinnertable.com/

The PDT site does a really nice job of getting you the important information, so I’ll keep this post geared to my photographer friends & family. This assignment was a challenge! I shot it with two Digital SLRs, a Canon 5D Mk II with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, and my backup camera, a Canon 20D with an 11-18mm lens for the wide stuff. Hey, it was a LONG table! I swapped out and used a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens toward the end of the evening, too. The calculation with the smaller sensor makes it an even longer zoom than 200mm.

The most challenging part of this assignment was to get shots quickly – especially the chefs preparing the food – then, jump out to the dinner to see guests enjoying the meal – and be careful not to miss any of the fun activites like the 7th inning stretch poety reading, the presentations, or the singing of the national anthem. There were even some action shots of guests tossing the ball around the diamond!

It’s been a while since I shot events – I used to hate it because I was changing batteries all night with shoe mount flash units, that I didn’t ever really jive with. Now, with the advent of higher ISO settings, I can capture much more color in much lower light.  Not to mention have a LOT more fun!

Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them. Cheers!