The Pounds team headed to Las Vegas in February for the annual WPPI convention and trade show. Chris Oelker reveals all!

POUNDS: How was the turnout this year?
CHRIS: I haven’t seen final numbers, but the estimate is over 15,000 attendees, 80 platform speakers, and more than 300 exhibitors!

POUNDS: Were there a lot of new face s?
CHRIS: Yes, new photographers seemed to be in the majority. We spoke with a lot of people who were just starting out or had been in business for only one or two years. I think that really contributed to the atmosphere of enthusiasm and excitement this year.

POUNDS: What Pounds products and services stole the show?
CHRIS: Our metal prints, especially the unique wavy metal, were a tremendous hit.  Pounds has been dubbed “the wavy metal lab.” We heard this everywhere, even on the plane ride home!  Of course Pounds is a full service lab with a 35-year history! Other big hits were our press products, especially our Coil Bound Press Booklets and the Accordion Books with metal covers.

POUNDS: What was the feeling about business for 2011 ?
CHRIS: I’d have to say optimism was prevalent. Many photographers are already seeing an increase in their bookings over last year.

POUNDS: Why is WPPI so important for our industry?
CHRIS: WPPI provides photographers a full range of resources to help establish and grow their business.  It exposes photographers to educational opportunities, equipment vendors, workflow and business strategy solutions, and of course product providers like Pounds!

When a photographer chooses a lab, they are entering into an important partnership.  Each is dependent on the other in order to be successful. A lab converts the photographer’s artistic vision and image manipulation into a tangible product such as wall portraits or coffee table books for the end client.  WPPI helps facilitate that introduction to quality resources that are required to be successful.

What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. Not when the Pounds team hits town. Our Marketing and Sales Manager Raquel Bowles tells all!

POUNDS: How many years has the Pounds team been attending WPPI?
RAQUEL: This is Pounds’ fifth year attending WPPI.

POUNDS: What made this year great?
RAQUEL: This year was great because we had the chance to spend time with existing customers but to also meet some new,exciting and interesting photographers.

POUNDS: What were the highlights?
RAQUEL: Watching photographers learn from our speakers. We want to educate photographers to grow their businesses so we pick speakers who can do that.  We actually had photographers that were working in other labs’ booths come over to learn from us!  Everyone loved wavy metal. We had so many photographers talking about it.

POUNDS: When you go to trade shows like this what do you learn that helps you do a better job for your clients?
RAQUEL: The feedback is phenomenal.  It is our chance to spend time with existing customers to learn what they like or don’t like.  We also get the opportunity to learn from new photographers what products they are looking for.

POUNDS: What sort of customer input and response did you get ?
RAQUEL: The speakers were a big hit. We also found that our customers are very excited about how the lab is growing. Our existing clients are happy because, as we grow, we are able to offer more products. New clients are not only excited about our products, but our ability to streamline their work flow and present marketing solutions to build their business. We always hear about our great customer service and that is extremely gratifying because customer service—giving our clients more––is the heart of what we do.

See pictures on our Facebook page.