TpT Takes on Vegas!!

I have been back from Vegas for a week now and I'm finally getting around to writing about the AMAZING time that I had while I was there.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!!

{The picture on the bottom right is me outside of the Venetian on the way to go meet my friends.  The picture on the bottom left is actually from Saturday night after the conference ended.  I saw the TpT sign and loved all of the messages on it about what TpT is all about and who we are.}

I made it to Vegas on Friday night and headed straight to meet my bloggy friends from The Teaching Tribune.  I have been working and collaborating with these fabulous ladies for a year now and I'm just finally meeting some of them!

On the left, in black, is Cyndie from Chalk One Up for the Teacher, Michelle from Well, Michelle? is in the striped dress, and Christina Marie from Sugar and Spice is in the adorable sparkly gold top.  Cyndie and Michelle gave me that sweet "Welcome to Vegas" bag filled with lots of Las Vegas goodies.  Aren't they awesome?!  We even had our own version of TpT Amy (TpT Community Manger) to bring around with us.  I had such a great first night meeting my friends and couldn't wait for the conference to officially get started on Friday.

Friday morning rolled in pretty quickly and we were up and at 'em to head to the morning's Keynote with a special inspirational speech from TpT extraordinaire, Deanna Jump, from Mrs. Jump's Class.  She has inspired so many of us to get out there and set high goals for ourselves and she has truly given me the motivation that I need to continue doing what I'm doing.

We also had Paul Edeleman, founder of TpT, start off the morning by telling us how TpT came to be.  He is amazing, humble, truly loves teachers, and has given all of us the opportunity to expand our creativity in the classroom while also helping others and making some extra $ - something teachers have desperately needed after the many years of frozen pay scales, cutbacks, layoffs, and furlough days.  How many people get the opportunity to have their success in their own hands while doing something they love?  The morning speakers amped us up for an incredible rest of the day of informative sessions and opportunities to meet old friends and make incredible new ones.

I learned some fascinating new information on Pinterest, something I plan on using more this year for getting ideas for my classroom.  I sat in on a data session and was able to see how product descriptions can impact search results.  I finally met Rachel Lynette, task card queen, and learned how to build my brand and market myself better.  It was an informative day and I definitely learned a lot!

After the day was over, I was able to have more time to socialize with everybody.  I was so excited to meet people in person that I have received so much amazing advice from in forums and Facebook groups.

On the top right, I was able to see two friends that I met last year - Greg from Kindergarten Smorgasboard, and Heather from 2 Brainy Apples.  On the left I met so many other incredible ladies that I am so excited to continue working and collaborating with this coming year.  They are so talented, creative, and sweet and their enthusiasm for teaching is quite infectious.

Words cannot describe how much fun the TpT Conference in Vegas was.  I am so happy that I went and I'm already looking forward to and planning for next year's conference.  I hope that I will get to meet many more people and, if I'm lucky, I will stay away from the roulette table!

None of this would have been possible without TeachersPayTeachers.  Thanks, TpT!