(If you're looking for the Uncle Bob Ignite video, it's at the end of this post! :) - Enjoy!)

What fun we had again in Vegas this year! We arrived on Sunday, dropped off our bags and immediately checked out the scene at the conference.

Emir came along and was an INCREDIBLE source of support and encouragement. I absolutely enjoyed having him there with me... and don't know what I'd do without him! I love you sweet thing! Here, he solves some last minute IT challenges.... :)

Sunday night, we got cleaned up... (I know, worst camera phone EVER!) and I was surprised to discover that I actually fit into this dress.... Hallelujah! I suppose that all the running has really started to pay off! ha! I'm proud to say that I continued my training by cranking out another 13 miles along the Vegas strip in the wee hours of the morning during the conference. (It was kinda crazy to see people in the casinos at night when we were going to bed, and again in the morning.... still in the same seats at 5:30am the next day when I headed out to run.... I guess they were really having a great time!)

Sunday night meant dinner w/ friends (gasp! no photos!) and surprise tickets from me to Emir for Cirque's LOVE. (Which, is aptly named... as we LOVED it!)

Later, Emir held his own as the only guy alongside Michele M. Waite, Kellie Kano, Stacey Kane, (Emir & I), Rebecca Peters and Melissa Jill. One of the best things about attending conferences, is the opportunity to connect (and re-connect) with so many friends! Great to see you all again ladies!

I've been looking forward to teaching my first WPPI Master Class since last year's WPPI.... and was so excited it was finally here! I was bursting at the seams with passion to help fellow photogs be the best they can be. We talked about using Adobe InDesign as part of a regular work flow as well as some basic design principles to really hit the ground running.

Last year, while boldly following my heart down a path that eventually lead to this year's Master Class, I found myself under the supportive wing of this fun fella... Joe. :) He introduced me to the rest of the Rangefinder family and welcomed Emir and I back to Vegas with his hearty grin and a big bear hug. You're the best Joe!

I am eternally grateful to Adobe, AsukaBook (Lindsay... you rock my world!) and Banti Album Proofing for helping to bring this class into existence. Their support made this learning opportunity a reality, and I'm not the only one who was grateful. One quote I received after the fact was from Jake who said: "2 years of WPPI and @kplicanic was hands down my best class yet!" Those simple words made the countless hours of prep, writing, planning (and stressing!) completely worth it. I am THRILLED that everyone seemed to really enjoy it and left better equipped to rock their businesses. Yay!

It was ultra exciting to have Adobe dream team members Julieanne Kost and Allison Goffman sitting in on my session. Truly an honor ladies! Thanks so much for your support!

The icing on the cake was afterwards when we met up with other Adobe conference speakers including Kevin Ames, Jim DiVitale, and Art Suwansang for drinks later that night.

We had a lot of fun... but no fluff here! This class was bursting at the seams with hard-core substance! (Hence, the serious looks of concentration... ;)

Of course, I was up to my usual antics.... (I have no idea what I was illustrating with my wide open arms.... document bleeds perhaps?)

One of the awesomest book publishers around, Peachpit Press, was kind enough to send a few copies of one of my favorite design books ever: "The Non-Designer's Design Book" by brilliant artist/author Robin Williams. Five lucky folks went home with one of her books (Peachpit generously also included a few copies of another of Robin's books that I love, "The Non-Designer's Design & Type Book"). Thank you Scott!!!!!

Following my Master Class, I got to visit the great people over at the AsukaBook booth where I did a couple of quick demos explaining how to export from InDesign specifically for AsukaBook. If you've never checked them out.... some seriously great folks over there! Luv you guys!

Me, gettin' my 'Britney' on. (Love the headset mic!)

Ok.  So, yes..... that horrible looking man pictured below.... is me (Thanks to Jen Mckendrick for snapping and sending such fun shots!). (Scroll down for the full 5 minute VIDEO)

Kevin Kubota and crew organized what was the very first (and hopefully not last!) "Photographers Ignite." Featuring 20 photographers, each with a single 5 minute presentation to share. It was wildly fun and entertaining! Other speakers I was honored to share the stage with included: Kevin himself, Vicki Taufer, Scott Bourne, Ace Cuervo, Doug Gordon, Carolyn Wells, Jerry Ghionis, Gustavo Fernandez, Craig Strong, Mike Steelman, Sarah Petty, Riz Crescini, David Jay, Becker, Katie Trujillo, Jed Taufer, Jessica Claire, Amy Parrish and Jules Bianchi w/ Joy Bianchi Brown.

It was to be the official closing session for the conference and it was suggested that I submit some proposals. So.... submit I did. Perhaps as many as 5? After finishing what I thought was my last proposal idea.... I was brushing my teeth one day when the idea for Uncle Bob came to mind. I ran to the computer, submitted it and quickly went back to brushing my teeth where it dawned on me.... I might actually have to go through with it (costume and all) if it was chosen. Ha!

So.... I began writing...... then editing. Then writing some more. Then, I threw the whole thing out and started over. TWICE.

Write/re-write. Then.... record to test timing. Followed by (are you surprised?) more editing and re-writing.

Eventually, I went thrift-store shopping... not for fun things like shoes or purses.... but for.... "Bob's" clothes.

I roped Emir and my soon to be sister-in-law in on the action and created the imagery for the 20 slides that would auto-advance every 15 seconds for what was to be nothing more (or less!) than a 5 minute presentation. These are a few of my fave slides....

I enjoyed the entire creative process almost as much as the live performance. :) The days leading up to the event were spent twittering on behalf of Uncle Bob (much to the confusion and bewilderment of those he reached out to!).  It was a riot to watch people's faces wash over with a smile as I walked through the audience before the show welcoming everyone, shaking hands and telling them how great it was to see them again (since the last wedding they photographed where they surely ran into me.... er..... I mean, Bob!).

One email I found waiting for me upon my return home said: "Hey Khara! Just wanted to say, AWESOME 5 minutes at Photographers Ignite. I really ALMOST did wet my pants!! LOL. Great Job!!" People almost peeing their pants? SCORE! (wow... I continue to be amazed and how truly unattractive I am in this outfit! ha!)

If you want to see the whole 5 minutes for yourself.... check out the video below. :) What you can't see well in the video is the final slide, which brings home the point of the whole presentation. It says: "Don't be Uncle Bob! You just spent a week learning great things from great people. Go forth and put your new found wisdom into action! (Don't be Bob!)