I can’t believe I haven’t blogged this week! I have to thank all of you for being so good to me b/c life got to crazy to blog. Is it really almost Friday?!

The TOP TEN Moments from the crazy, full week at Pictage’s Partner Conference were;

1. The beautiful night we had at the Women’s Only speaking event!

2. Watching Brian dance at the Pool Party to Sweet Home Alabama. I still can’t believe he didn’t do a cannonball into the pool. He was so close!

3. Seeing Dane sign his book for people. What a great feeling that moment is for a writer!

4. Finding a guitar in LA (read below for the story on this).

5. Crying with Carlos Baez (again!). Carlos in one of my favorite people in the industry. You must hear him speak someday if you haven’t already.

6. Having lunch with Jessica Claire as she candidly but seriously challenges me and Brian to go for it even more with our business and dreams.

7. Listening to one of my favorite photographers speak, Joe Buissink. What an amazing man and artist. Prepare yourself, his images are amazing!

8. Meeting lots of new friends, like Grace!

9. Waiting for Brian to show up with our presentation as I stall for almost fifteen minutes in front of our audience. Oh yeah, that was awesome. Thanks honey! Read the story below. 🙂

and #10, the most MEMORABLE moment at Partnercon was when my mouth dropped open as…

10. Brian did a hilarious spontaneous impersonation of Denis Reggie that Ron taped…that is going to bite us for sure! (Denis, you know we love you and owe pretty much every thing to you!)

Cliff Notes…

Monday night was the More than Emotion , all women’s speaking engagement. I’ve wanted to do this for two years, and it finally happened this year. Wow, it was amazing! Can I tell you the stories behind this night? They are kind of long, so if you want to read it all scroll down and read below the bar where it says “Full Length Notes”.

The next day Brian and I presented together on a new term we’ve made up called, Photo Coaching (It’s all about how to help your clients relax in front of the camera). Brian was a little nervous before the session. And we made a bunch of changes right before we started. He told me he’d meet me at the room we were speaking in, but after I had introduced myself, done ALL our giveaways, there was still no sign of Brian. I almost thought he ditched me! But then he came through the door, and I asked the whole audience to stand up and cheer for him. So funny!

We got great feedback from everyone. So many people said we were like a stand up comedy routine, and if you’ve seen Brian and I teach together before, you know we had a serious blast! Lots of women were wishing they knew about the women’s event the night before, and they all heard there was lots of crying. I’m glad we left them laughing by Tuesday afternoon. 🙂 Have to keep the balance, right! If you want to join Brian and I before 2008 ends, we have a few spots left in our Seattle Workshop!

Did we meet this last week in LA? If so, please stay in touch! Become a Facebook friend or comment on the blog or feel free to email us at mera@fioria.us. We also took our picture with a bunch of you. Email us the link to your blog where we can find it or email us the image. We would love to have a copy too!

If you missed our Photo Coaching talk, good news! The talk we did was a condensed version of what we’ll be doing for WPPI as a Master Class in February 2009! Mark your calendar because we’ll have even more time to entertain and laugh with you!

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Full Length Notes… 🙂

But here is the scoop with what happened for the ladies event…

I had been praying for this night for a few weeks, and every time I prayed I would start crying. I couldn’t escape this impression on my heart that some of the women coming had a lot of pain and heaviness in their heart. I cried the whole way to the airport and all the way through security. It was as if God was breaking my heart for each woman coming Monday night.

I also felt like I wanted to have someone play the guitar at the end and sing over the women. It was abstract in my mind, but I wanted to end the night with women being able to “just be” and this guitar/singer sing healing type melodies over the women. But I don’t sing, and I don’t have a guitar. So I put out the word and made a couple calls. This friend knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone that played the guitar and sang. Turns out she was unable to make it because of late notice.

But she knew someone who knew someone. I called that woman, and she wanted to do it but was sick. Everyone was super kind to me on the phone for not knowing me from anywhere. And the last call had kindness that blew me away. This woman, that I have never met or know from anyone, tells me she can’t do it b/c she’s sick but I can use her guitar if I don’t mind picking it up.

Well I don’t really know LA at all. I’m thinking she could be forty minutes away from where we are. We are actually on the 405 at this point and headed to the conference. Turns out she is only TWO exits away. In five minutes I am picking up a guitar from her! What are the odds! We head to the conference, I hand the guitar to Garrett (our dear friend who is co owner of Shoot Dot Edit and turns out to be an amazing musician). I ask him to come and play at the end, singing healing songs over the women. He looks at me like I’m crazy and says “Sure Me Ra. I’ll try it. Sounds good.” I love Garrett!

Twenty four women show up that night which is great for the last minute marketing we did. We all laughed, shared our experiences, I talked about different aspects of feminine wisdom, and there was an incredible safety in the room. At the end, I had Garrett join us and he played the guitar singing the most beautiful healing songs. The women let me pray over them, and we all felt like we had taken an amazing journey together. It was an incredible night.

I’m thinking we’ll be doing this again. Maybe in Vegas in February at WPPI 09? 🙂 Give me a shout if you think women need to gather together more often at these photography conferences!

The funniest part to me was how many men asked if they could stay and listen too. The men were all so kind about it. It kind of reminds me of the dynamic of how women go to the bathroom together and men wondering what they’re talking about…

Thanks to all the men that supported me doing this event like, my sweetie Brian, Robert and the Photography Mentor Team, Garrett and Jared for helping me find that guitar! You guys are all amazing! Th
ank you!