Vegas TpT Conference

I'm a E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D. but wanted to post some pictures from last week.  (I wish there was a way to download my brain.  Wouldn't that be handy?!)

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend the first TpT Conference in Las Vegas.  My TpT store is very young, and I wasn't sure that the expense would be justified.  Fortunately my husband was 100% supportive and we decided to make a week-long vacation out of it.  Wow... I am so glad that I went.  It was one of the best conferences I have ever attended!

We arrived very late on Thursday night and stayed at the Mirage.  The conference was across the strip at the Venetian.

The morning started with a Keynote address.  The sheer number of people was almost overwhelming. 

The craziest thing happened first thing in the morning.  I recognized a familiar face, but the problem with this type of conference is I can't tell if I actually know people, or if I just know them because I follow their blogs or visit their TpT stores regularly.  Very quickly I realized immediately that we had gone to college and student taught together in 1999.  What a small world!

Angela Watson and me - Hood College class of '99

The first Keynote speaker was Amy-- the Head of Community at TpT.  She is just as fun, happy and beautiful in person as she is online!

The founder of TpT, Paul Edelman, also spoke about the company and his vision.  I feel so lucky to be a part of a group of people who believe that teachers know what is best for their students.  Teachers are highly qualified professionals who have intellectual property and ideas that are valuable to other teachers, to our students, and to the education world.  Plus, he was completely down-to-earth, funny, and promised each person in attendance a hug.  (See below!)

I attend 4 awesome sessions:

1. Jen Jones from "Hello Literacy" - She is a reading specialist, literacy coach and dynamic speaker. She is my role model for professional development workshops. 
2. Laura Candler from "Teaching Resources" - Laura is a Facebook guru and had lots of valuable insights into how to utilize FB to interact effectively with other teachers.    
3. Cara Carroll  from "The First Grade Parade" and Erica Bohrer from "Erica's Ed-ventures" - These two energetic and fun ladies make some of the highest quality products on TpT.     
4. My last session was with Erin Cobb from "I'm Lovin' Lit" - She has shot to the top of the "Best Sellers" list in record time, and the story of her TpT journey was so interesting.   

The best part of the day, though, was meeting so many incredible teachers.  I am so impressed by the collaborative spirit and incredible creativity of all these educators.

Shelley, Leslie and me

Finally, I cashed in on my promised hug from Paul and even had the chance to chat with Deanna Jump. There is no better person to be the face of TpT.  She is extremely humble, 100% sweet and teeny tiny.  I look like a goofball in this picture because she was standing on her tiptoes and I was trying to squat down without looking silly.  I don't think it worked! 

It was a total whirlwind, but at the end of the day, I could not have been happier to be a part of Teachers pay Teachers and in the company of these terrific people.  My short time on TpT has been wonderful and I left feeling even more "supercharged" to work on my preschool curriculum.  

Thinking about joining TpT?  What are you waiting for?!!.  Click here or send me an email.  I'd love to talk with you about it.

Don't just take my word for it!  Lots of other bloggers had a great time at the conference, too.  Check out some of these blog posts: