From a Tweet to Miami Beach

As a creative director at MLT Creative in Atlanta, I’ve been involved in art directing many photo shoots for clients over the years. Photography is also my hobby and something at which I strive to become more proficient. With that in mind, here’s a story about how the power of Twitter sent me all the way to Miami Beach recently.

It all started a little over a year ago when I began following the Digital Photo Experience (DPE) Group on Twitter, and reading their blog. This group is headed by Rick Sammon and Juan Pons, two wonderful photographers/instructors and even better people. Not long after that, I saw Juan tweet about a last minute opening in one of his photo workshops out West to photograph wildlife in the winter. I wasn’t interested in that trip, but I followed the link to see what else he had coming up on his calendar. I saw a Waterfall Workshop in North Carolina scheduled for May, and I signed up immediately.

It was my first experience on a photo workshop, and it turned out to be fantastic! I learned more than I had expected, met some wonderful and engaging fellow photographers from all over the country and came home with a great set of photos that I eventually self-published as a booklet.

A few weeks after that trip, I saw a new tweet about an upcoming DPE Weekend Workshop in Atlanta hosted by Rob Knight – a local photographer and DPE team member – along with Rick Sammon. I was very interested in meeting them both, and the event was in my backyard, so I signed up that day.

August came around, and the workshop was a huge success – very informative. Plus we spent a day getting some great shots with a local model in various backgrounds and lighting conditions. At the end of the weekend, Rick mentioned he was offering a Florida Caravan Workshop in January 2011, and to email him for details. You may have noticed a pattern here – I emailed him first thing Monday morning.

In the following weeks, Rob invited a group of some of the workshop participants together for a meeting over dinner to discuss forming a monthly photo group to get together, shoot some photos, share our knowledge and get better at our craft. We all signed up that night and have been growing strong ever since.

The details on the Florida trip sounded wonderful – a full week shooting every day at four different locations. It would start in St. Augustine and end in Miami Beach. I signed up soon after that and waited for the day to arrive when we would meet in St. Augustine. The trip ended a few weeks ago and couldn’t have been better. I took my photography skills to another level, and got to know Rick even better while meeting another group of talented and engaging photographers.

If you’re still reading this, the main message of my story is that Twitter is a powerful tool to connect and engage with people in almost every endeavor – both in your business and your life. I follow people related to B2B marketing, creativity, design, new business, content development, branding, emerging technologies and, of course, photography. I find new ideas, compelling discussions and continue to learn every day.

That one original tweet from Juan set me on a path all the way to Miami Beach, and led to many, many connections with some amazing people I am proud to know.

Where has a tweet sent you or your business? Let me know – I would love to hear your story.