filed in

POSH Retreat: Scottsdale, AZ

It’s always been important to me to never stop learning. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut or routine in my creative world or lose track of the business side of my work. Attending workshops has been one way to keep on top of my game. Sometimes it’s a local photographers gathering and sometimes it takes me across the country to meet up with people from all over the world! This fall both Heidi and I travelled to Scottsdale, Arizona to attend two different workshops taking place at the same hotel! What are the odds?! (I think it was meant to be!)

I headed out to Arizona a couple of days ahead of Heidi as POSH started  before the two day Foundation Conference. Jen and Reagan, the creators of POSH, had asked me to document some of the retreats events for their website and blog so I was excited to get my bearings upon arrival. The POSH Retreat is an event for women filmmakers and photographers. I was lucky enough to attend and present a workshop at the very first POSH event two years ago so I was super excited to reconnect with familiar faces at this years retreat! I love how Jen and Reagan have created a retreat with a wonderful balance of education and reflection. I don’t know about you but I have a hard time sitting in a seat for hours and hours a day!

Every morning at POSH we were treated to a yoga class from the talented Heather Robertson at Centre Line. She got the group both physically and mentally warmed up for the morning workshops. With sessions like “Unleash the Power of You” and “Harness Your Strengths in Art and Business” we all needed to be on our game! I loved how all the session topics were both focused on us as creative individuals and how to harness it to be better at what we do both creatively and in business.

I loved listening to the StillMotion gals talk so deeply about story telling and how we tell a story with our gear choices, our site preparation and our contact with our clients. They really talked details and it was great to break it down to the nitty gritty!

Day one also included New England native and wonderful friend Meg Simone. She brought to life the possibility of living a backlog free business! She shared her work-flow and tips on how to remain focused while not burning out. Imagine that! Something that everyone in the room could learn from.

Day Two of the workshop brought us the adorable Heidi Bartlett of idieh design. She laid down the branding goodness that she does so very well, teaching us all the importance of our companies look and how that speaks to prospective clients and others in the wedding world. All things we need to brush up on! Following up Heidi’s presentation was the Outstanding Occasions duo of Heather and Jennifer. They have streamlined everything in their event company and shared with us tips on how to tighten up our own business processes to create a leaner, meaner, more effective business. They are also super techie so I loved hearing about all the amazing online options that we can take advantage of!

We got a dose of “The Commercial World” from Christina at Society Hill Films. Tho not the area I work in it’s always wonderful to hear about other areas of the film/photography world. Their work was amazing to watch and visually inspiring.

Both days at POSH wrapped up with mega hands on workshops. Learning your technical approach in both film and photography is so very important.  I loved the story telling hands on training with StillMotion. They talked a ton about where to find the shot, how to predict it, what lens to use to better tell the story and being able to work together as a team on the day of the wedding. Priceless information and great fun to act out! We were super lucky to have smarty pants Meg from Lens Pro to Go in the house all three days with suitcases FILLED with gear to play with. What photo geek doesn’t love ooohing and ahhhhing over all the latest camera bodies, lenses and toys?!?! Yes, we all left with a wish list of new gear to buy but the great part is we can rent it right from them!

Our final day of POSH focused on wellness. Yoga, Belly dancing, a healthy breakfast and a round table discussion brought us all together to wrap up final thoughts. With an intimate group of women it’s amazing to see how we all felt so open and connected by the end of the three days. Sharing our work and life experiences on a female to female level brought up hard questions and silly ones too! There is just something to be said about girl time.

I left Arizona feeling refreshed, connected to my business, with amazing new friends and ready to make a few exciting new changes for 2013!

 

women photographers and filmmakers, Meg Simone

women photographers and filmmakers

women photographers and filmmakers

I mentioned at the start of the blog post that the Foundation Conference was happening at the same place and same time…. so in good fun we joined forces for a spirited party on the last night. Stay tuned as Heidi will be blogging about her experience attending her first Foundation Conference later this week.

posh_FCconference_ValleyHo_Scottdale_Photography

3 Comments

  • Yay 🙂 Brea! This write up about Posh was perfect 🙂 It is such a great balance of learning, and networking, not too much “sitting” time. I miss everyone. Thank you for your kind words, and of course photos 🙂 xo

    Reply
  • I’m a little late here… but wanted to send a BIG thank you for this post and all the great photos you took and provided to us! Soooo, THANK YOU!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Isabel Gonzalez Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *