15 Jan 2013  Seattle Photoshop Meeting with Colin Smith

Seattle Photoshop User Group Meeting 15 Jan 2013

It all started with an email from a User Group Manager frantically looking for a last minute speaker.  As a Community Manager, sometimes I can help, sometimes I cannot.  But this time, I was able to go the extra mile in trying to help this User Group….We originally just intended to do just an Adobe Connect Webinar; but then I thought, wouldn’t it be great to bring a live speaker to Seattle? We have never done been able to do this with one of the Creative Suite User Groups on such short notice.  And so fortunately, after a few phonecalls, I was able to find an Adobe Community Professional Speaker (ACP): Colin Smith from PhotoshopCAFE.com.  Howard Heflin who runs the Seattle Photoshop User Group (SeaPUG) was thrilled! Now, the SeattlePUG originally started in 2008; and, it is one of the larger Photoshop User Groups in the Adobe Group’s Program. Initially, we had over 200 RSVP’d and over 81 on the waiting list for Colin’s visit. We were fortunate to pack the place with over 160 attendees. I usually start off a session by asking a few questions about product usage; 50% were using Photoshop CS5; 50% were using Photoshop CS6; not too many Creative Cloud Users; lots of Lightroom Users, including some newbies who came just for this meeting. All in All, this was a heavy photographer focused User Group.

After the marketing stuff by some Adobe guy, Colin got right into the Lightroom and started his Demo. Colin generally does not cover the demos or content material from his many videos, instead he focuses on new discoveries and questions he’s come across with the products…. Like, I did not know that there was an xml-based file associated with a Lightroom image and the adjustments made to it.  This XML file can actually be opened in Dreamweaver. And Colin, did just that, by opening the XML file and changing the lighting/Color adjustments from text in the XML file. Pretty Nifty and something new.  Colin is so patient as a presenter. Now, discussion did get bogged down a bit on “Photoshop/Photo file–Meta Data”, there was a lot of interest in this subject, but as Colin answered a few of the immediate questions, he then pointed to his Lightroom 4 DVD that pretty much covers all the basics, and then got back on track.  Colin then move onto more “juicier” topics, like “What is “High Dynamic Range – HDR Photography?.  Lots of folks, really didn’t know, so Colin did a short explanation on how today’s cameras are limited in the amount of “details” that can be picked up in a photo, less than what the human eye would normally see.  He also went over some of the new features in Photoshop CS6 which allows for the combining of “bracketed” exposures of a subject into one singular image with higher dynamic range (Colin was flipping back and forth between Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 to make his point). Very cool part of the presentation and seemed to hold the interest of some of the newbies.

All in All, there was definitely audience interest in having more topics on Lightroom at the SeattlePUG. The audience was appreciative of having a high quality speaker come to present at their group.  The Adobe Community Team often tries to bring Adobe Community Professionals to the User Groups (when feasible) to:

1. Bring Fresh new content/speakers to an area
2. Promote Photoshop & the New features available to Creative Cloud Members
3. BUILD COMMUNITY.

Seattle will be hosting another ACP – Stephen Burns of Chromeallusion.com on March 19th at the Adobe Offices. This will again be another GREAT! user group meeting, brought to you by the Adobe Community Team.

“Creating Your Own Uniqueness” — March 19, 2013 Workshop by Stephen Burns

Lastly, while I was at the meeting I got to meet the Adobe sponsor for the Seattle Photoshop User Group, John Cornicello and thanked him  for volunteering and helping out this user group. One of the hardest things for a User Group going is finding a venue in which to meet at consistently.

Time Lapse Coverage 0f SeaPUG meeting

While at the meeting, I set up my camera to take a series of time-lapse photos which resulted in a short 30 sec movie. It’s not meant to provide detail just a high level overview of what happened at the user group meeting.

Or Play Movie (Click 

here)

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There was also a transition of Community Managers in the Adobe Community Professionals Program (ACPs) with Marie Nedich now at the helm. Liz Frederick is now engaging with HTML5 and Gaming Developers as part of Adobe’s 2011 strategy shift.  The ACPs and the Freelancers are sooo important to the Adobe User Group program (symbiotic in nature), because in most cases they are the only speaking assets the Adobe Community can routinely rely upon to speak at their events.  Adobe Evangelist were super busy in 2012 with the release of all those new products; Edge Tools, and of course, the Creative Cloud. This why we have community programs like the ACPs and Freelancers.

Now, the Creative Suite Product team did do an excellent job with the CS6 Pre-Launch TechWed NDA Webinars.  The Community often remarked that CS6 was the best prepared launch that Adobe has ever done; and, we took extra steps to get the community up to speed and educated about the Creative Cloud.Special Thank You to Tricia Lawrence (Adobe Creative Suite Team), Scott Morris (Creative Cloud) and ALL of the TechWED speakers for their efforts (12 webinar sessions, over 3000+ attendees; avg 125/session) in keeping the community informed, it very likely impacted the Creative Cloud membership adoption rates.There were over 30 CS6 & Community events in 2012 in North America, reaching over 10,000 community members.

We still have much more education to do in 2013 about Creative Cloud Team, so I suspect there will be additional Adobe Community Events in 2013. In 2013, there will likely be changes in the way we measure program participation in both the Adobe User Group and Adobe Community Professionals Program, stay tuned for that.

Looking forward to AdobeMAX the content, people, and community activities may be different than in past years and this should be a good thing. MAX will be more reflective of where Adobe is heading as a company. (More about the Adobe Community activities at AdobeMAX in a later post). I would urge all ACPs and User Group Managers to attend this year and look at the content schedule for MAX…it’s different this year!

Thank You! To All the Adobe User Group Manager & ACPs for an incredible year. It is a pleasure being your Community Mgr  – Aaron Houston Adobe Community Mgr No America

LVAdobe-NeonPhotoWalk-21Oct12

The Beat has definitely got an artistic vibe to it and the Photowalk organizers were so pleased that they allowed us to set up camp there. While onsite, we also conducted few drawings for Adobe Software, T-shirts, and a special drawing for a WACOM tablet (Thanks to Tony Arredondo -WACOM Technology & Stephen Burns). Those in attendance also got a free beverage courtesy of Adobe. With maps in hand, the Photowalkers sallied forth in their quest for best Neon Photo and a chance to win (CS6 Photoshop Extended).

One of our favorite stops was the Neonopolis courtyard and some of us spent a lot of time at this location. At NeonoPolis, Adobe Community Professional Stephen Burns gave lessons to about a dozen Photowalkers on color extractions using timed exposures and also a nifty click and drag technique which produced some interesting abstract neon photos. Here’s one:

Abstract Neon Photo — Delayed Shutter Technique

Chana Messer Photoshop Touch App WorkFlow with Neon: http://adobe.ly/UNmBPE

Lee Varis: “Color & Tone” http://networkedblogs.com/E4BKM

Notable Twitter Posts:

• Post .@LVAdobe blog by @LeeVaris discusses color & tone w/Content shot @ NeonPhotowalk http://networkedblogs.com/E4BKM #photoshop #adobe beautiful!
• @CreativeSuite Shoot and quickly edit on the move. See how Chana Messer used Adobe Photoshop Touch on her “Neon Photowalk” with the Las Vegas Adobe User Group: http://adobe.ly/UNmBPE
• @AdobeTouch Walk, shoot, create! @Chanam dishes on #LVAdobe’s “Neon Photowalk” that took place this past weekend. Details: http://adobe.ly/UNmBPE
• @CreativeSuite Walk, shoot, create. Check out @Chanam’s “Neon Photowalk” with #AdobeTouch and the Las Vegas user group here: http://adobe.ly/UNmBPE #LVAdobe
• @LVAdobe (Las Vegas Adobe User Group) Our good friend and freshly minted Adobe Community Partner, Stephen Burns is offering a FREE webinar tomorrow…. http://fb.me/2mBnLyLbk
• @wallacephoto I Met @LeeVaris at the @LVAdobe photo walk #vegas #photography http://pic.twitter.com/IHkSbUIg
• @kreatable @Chanam shows off some of her abstracts. @thisishouston1 @lvadobe @_johndaniel http://lockerz.com/s/255084086
• @thisishouston1 Things got a little wild at the Heart Attack Cafe; .@LVAdobe NeonPhotoWalk http://bit.ly/RxJmAx http://twitpic.com/b6ueyw
• @kreatable Hangin’ at the Griffin with @thisishouston1 @Chanam @_johndaniel @lvadobe – we’ve had an awesome day!
• @AdobeTouch The #LVAdobe User Group is hosting a “Neon Photowalk” this Sunday 10/21 in Las Vegas. Come join the fun. http://bit.ly/Tt4bho
• .@chanam & I at NeonPhotoWalk Check-In desk 10.21.12; Thanks UGMs & ACPs 4 your support #LVAdobe http://twitpic.com/b6ufoy

Facebook Posts:

Photowalkers taking a break at Mediterrean Cafe after shooting inside Neonopolis courtyard

“Thanks for sharing with the group! And special thanks to Krystal, Nate, Aaron, Stephen, Chana, et al., for putting on a great event!” – Speer Photography & Design

We gave lots of stuff away to the Neon Photowalkers at the Adobe Table

“I LOVED the photo walk. Well organized and I met some GREAT TALENTED photographers and Photoshop gurus I admire. I had a great time and I can’t wait for the next one!” — Barbette Siller

” I made these images on the Adobe sponsored Photowalk down Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas a week ago Sunday, October 21st at night. It was put together by several hard working folks both from Adobe and the Las Vegas Adobe Users Group. Made slideshow using only iPhone and the Photodex’s Mobile App.! Using the 30 horizontally composed images I posted just below this video. We had about 60 photographers participating walking in small groups.” – John Daniel http://www.facebook.com/johnndaniel

“Viva Vegas” — Cindy Wilson Winner LVAdobe Neon PhotoWalk Photo Contest!

Here is our winning picture for the event. Congrats to Cindy Wallace for “Viva Vegas” and also to the runners-up Jeff Speer and Wayne Wallace — True Pros! There was also some very very nice stuff shot by Stephen Burns, Sally Cox, Chana Messer, Nate Ludens, Krsytal Hosmer, and of course, Lee Varis! Thanks for being good leaders of this Photowalk

 Oh What Fun We Had!

Oh What Fun We Had! — Thanks Wayne Wallace Photography!