When “The Today Show” said that Las Vegas was their “Pick City” of the day, I knew it’d be a wonderful day in the convention center. In fact, since the doors flew open there has been a renewed sense of energy and hope that rivals years of old. Manufacturers are touting incredible new technology and refining bells and whistles. They seem determined to stay on the cutting edge and continue to offer new products to a customer base that will continue to grow. And technology has gotten more “cool” than ever as those who make and offer products want to make the lives of those who use them easier— so we can have more time to take pictures, to take care of our kids, to focus on our jobs, to travel and enjoy life without being chained to a computer monitor for half our lives.

PMA estimates that photo imaging is an $83 billion worldwide industry. This was reflected in the fact that this 83rd annual convention is host to 600 exhibitors, 400 speakers and 250 educational sessions. Although the audited attendance figures won’t be available until a month after the show, buzz is that attendance is up from last year.

Thursday there were three “official” press conferences: DIMA Shoot-Out winners were announced, KIS/Photo-Me and Lowepro made announcements of their own. Actor Danny Glover was on the scene today to speak at the spouse’s luncheon, but I have yet to meet anyone who saw him. [If you did please let us know].

As soon as I hit the show floor, I was struck by the crowd at booth Sigma and learned that the much-anticipated SD14 camera, touted as being “faithful to the colors of nature” with Foveon X3 technology was ready to roll. You couldn’t miss a very bright newcomer GE, which introduced its very first line of digital cameras by its new General Imaging branch, that includes eight cameras and a printer. It seems like they are part of the “in” crowd already and are definitely NOT eating lunch alone while the cool kids laugh and giggle. GE’s emergence seems to be taken seriously by all the “popular” kids, if you will. This year some regulars, such as Apple and Adobe, have chosen not to have booths but are available to media in technology suites.

Speaking of Adobe, because I know our imaginginfo.com readers love Photoshop, I hung out with the Adobe crew for a succulent dinner at the newest hotel on the Vegas strip, The Wynn. I guess a bit of Vegas’ lady luck must have rubbed off because I was lucky enough to be sandwiched between Lightroom 1.0 mastermind and product manager Tom Hogarty and Adobe spokeswoman extraordinaire Sherry Shen. I discovered that Adobe would be releasing two new products this year, a new version of Photoshop as well as a tweaked version geared for architects. As reporters mingled with the Adobe crew, it was inspiring to see a team so passionate about what they do and so democratic about the promotion of technology and technique for its sake and not as a way to corner the marketplace. As I munched on a crab salad, poached salmon in leek sauce and pineapple sorbet, I learned from Hogarty, former digital consultant to Fashion Photog Steven Maisel that Lightroom lets users import, manage and present large volumes of photos. Adobe conducted a public beta program over the last year with more than 500,000 photographers participating. In the program’s Library mode, an advanced keyword tool helps to comb through large collections and there is a color label ranking system. For some really cool color, if you have time, check out the light show in the outdoor bar area at the Wynn. Way cool.

As technology and creativity continue to align in our business many interesting alliances have popped up such as HP’s alliance with DreamWorks Animation, makers of films like Shrek, and the Indigo line, which include products with “a nice, gooey interface,” according to an HP spokeswoman. Some personalization-based exhibitors that added to the eclectic aurora at PMA included Hasbro Games, Picture My Wine, Kenneth Cole and The Picture Mug Company. The Hasbro product creates full-size personalized photo puzzles.

The most-thrilling part of my day was discovering at the Women’s Roundtable midday session that women are contributing to the business of photography in amazing ways. Coincidently timed with International Women’s Day, the four female speakers (visit womeninimaging.com for more info) seem to be opening the door to an industry roadway that looks a bit different than in the past. One that when customers ask to see the owner of a studio/lab/store, they shouldn’t expect that it will be a man. And the sign you see from the road just may be pink. More later. –a.s.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Alysha Sideman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.