Hello! Today’s blog is about Showit United Review.

If you follow me on social media you probably already know in early November I went to a photography conference in Arizona called United. My friends Meg and Liz were going and asked me to join along.  It’s a conference I have always considered going to – so I jumped at the chance once I knew I had people there!  I googled and googled and googled. I kept coming up with the same results, the same handful of photographers who went and loved it!  I figured why not!? It was worth a chance.

My personal experience was mostly positive with some mixed points, but I will go into detail below.  I want people who are considering United to hear more about the actual conference then the hugs. For those that don’t know- hugging is a HUGE thing at United.  Everybody hugs everybody.  It is the United version of “hello”! I am going to break this all down into small sections and keep it easy to follow.

Overall review: Great experience!

Would I go again? Maybe.

Did I learn: Yes. But not what I expected to.

Did I make new friends and connections: Heck yes!  That was one of the best parts.

Was the cost worth it? Kind of.

 

Overall review:

I did enjoy myself.  I liked a lot of the speakers they had.  I loved that everyone was talking about an amazing shift in the industry – that we all need to stop glorifying the hustle and work smarter, not harder.  The hotel and grounds were beautiful.  The food was great.  Everyone was really nice.  You got to hang out with lots of “famous” photographers that many of us in the industry idolize.  Everyone I met was really kind. I had a good time and am really glad I went.

Would I go again:  

Maybe.   I will get more into detail in the next few sections. But overall – I liked it.  I walked away with a good taste in my mouth about my entire experience.  I just don’t know that it was what I needed at this point in my business.  I am ten years in.  Everyone can ALWAYS grow and learn. This industry has exploded in the recent years with lots of photographers. I think if you are newer to the game this is a great place for you!  If your lost and need some direction from your heart to your business – this is a great place for you!  I had an expectation going in that I would learn more about actual photography. There were classes for that – don’t get me wrong!  But having as much experience as I do there wasn’t as much that shook me to my core.(and before you go on – I am not being pompous and thinking that because I have a long-term business I am above learning – the conference as a whole just didn’t hit me in theplace I needed at this season of my business life )   Now – I did learn a lot of amazing business things and some GREAT little “nuggets” of information as I call them.  There were motivational speeches that made me tear up.  There were “famous” photographers I never heard of and now REALLY admire and want to grow more from.

Did I learn? 

I sure did! Let me break down some of the learning parts….  There were a lot of great speakers.  I learned I am not alone in this industry. We all, “famous” or regular people,  have the same struggles. We all work ourselves into the ground more then anyone (outside the industry) realizes.  A few of the speeches felt like a sales pitch – that I didn’t care for.  The MAJORITY were genuine, heartfelt and full of great information. A lot of speakers told us what we should be doing but not necessarily steps on how to get there.   Amy and Jordan (who I didn’t know before United) knocked it out of the park with how to schedule your life and time better.  Real life problem – real-life solutions.  That I REALLY liked.  Other talks gave me all the good feels and made me strive for better, but I personally connected to actual problems and solutions.  In addition to all the speakers/classes, you could pay for styled shoots. I was really excited for these.  I was so hungry to see how other people did what I do.  I want to grow and expand in other ways.  That wasn’t exactly the case. It was more portfolio building with models.  Not really what I was looking for. I did take a lot away from the Montanna Dennis course and Chad Diblasio’s.  Julie Paisley had hers organized wonderfully and I was happy I got a chance to see her really work.  As for the classes – the ones on styling your brand and copywrite spoke to me.  But that is the season I am in of my business.  My main takeaways surprised me:  My branding and website need to be redone.  I need to show my face more on social media, connect to people more. I need to show more behind the scenes. I need to be more vulnerable and put myself out there. I need to schedule better because I am losing my sanity and it’s not worth my health or relationships.  I need to slow down a lot more with clients and make a smoother experience.

Did I make new friends and connections?

HECK YES!  I am very happy in this area.  I made new industry friends (shout out Carly and Leigh!) and was really happy to spend that much time with Meg and Liz. This was the one part you can’t attach a value or price tag to.

Was it worth the cost? 

This one is tough.  The actual ticket to the United Conference was absolutely worth it. As a business owner, I need to look at opportunity costs. I know this is tacky to bring up money – but I think it’s something people googling Showit United reviews want to know. The opportunity cost (About $5000 in my case) includes meals, travel, hotel, car rental, work I turned down, and so on.  That cost I realized I would rather put into specific education I want, in place of something so broad.  I want to get more one on one time with Montana Dennis or Chad Diblasio this year.  I want to learn from them.  If I happen to not have weddings the weekend of United next year would I go again?  Maybe.  I probably wouldn’t buy the styled shoots. Note- if you are portfolio building this is great for you! I am just not in that space right now.  I would also really research the speakers and see who you feel you can learn the most from and focus on that. I did NOT research anyone and didn’t know half the people. I just rolled with it, in my normal fashion.  In the coming weeks, I am going to blog a bit more about my experiences with Chad and Montanna and what I learned there.  I am going to contradict myself now also – If I didn’t buy the styled shoots I wouldn’t have spent time with Montana and Chad and wouldn’t have known what I was missing, so in those cases they were worth it to me.  I also did really enjoy the Julie Paisley styled shoot.  Her energy was great and she talked about how consistency is important.  Sometimes I feel like I give my clients a lot of the same, but that helps them know exactly what to expect from me and I should be proud of that.  There is no price tag on sitting in the room with everyone…  However, at the end, they said they will be selling the video bundle of classes for $200ish dollars.  While that doesn’t quite convey the experience as well as being there does, I would probably do that next year in place of going.

 

I hope this blog about Showit United review was helpful to you!   Here are some images from one of the styled session we did with some models! I didn’t go crazy with editing as it was a unique experience for me to shoot people while 30 other people were!

Showit United Review