I spent more time on a plane and in an airport than at Video ‘08 Wedding Videographers Convention in Orlando, Florida. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

The trip was Brutal. 11 hours from Manila to San Francisco, another four going to Atlanta (after a five hour wait) and the final hour from Atlanta to Orlando. The coup de grace to all this of course was the inflight movie - Balls of Fury. I was ready to rip out the exit and jump without a parachute by the second half of the movie.

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Meeting people I knew only online (some for over two years) was a blast. Everybody was just so warm and accommodating. Seems I never left the Philippines at all.

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(Laura of Edit1 Media and me harassing Daniel Boswell of dvArtistry - I swear this guy was ten feet tall!)

The first night, the Awards Banquet, was awesome. Here they gave recognition to the EventDV 25 as well as the winners for this year’s Artistic Achievement Awards. I had to come in a spiffy suit of course.

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(The event was truly international, as Sylvia and Niels hailed from the UK and Lee (the eleven footer) came from Greece) .

It was great that many friends and colleagues from Wedfact made the list. I never knew how it felt to be in awards ceremony where you sent some entries to. IT WAS NERVE-WRACKING!!! Still Motion from Canada, Elysium from the OC and VHVideo (Florida) cleaned up this year.

We were fortunate enough to sweep the Onsite Video Category. Here are links to the videos that won -

First - Martina and Elmer
Second - Suzette and JP
Third - Jen and John

Here’s the official list of the winners. FYI too - the Emerald we got for pre-ceremony was edited by Pang. Woot! And as a sidenote, it was incredible too that I was coincidentally seated with a fellow Pinoy who also won in the awards. How cool is that? And hey, Imacron picked up awards too! Pinoyvideomakers Rock!

However anxious I was on the first night. What I felt then paled in comparison to how I was feeling the second day. I was due for my lecture in the evening and I was a bundle of nerves. I had to make it count. I had to make the trip worth it (for myself and my colleagues). And most importantly, I want to be able to tangibly share whatever knowledge, tips, techniques and strategies I had for success.

I went all out.
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(image by Photomirage, thanks Sara and Karl)

After the lecture , I thought it went “fairly” well. Then the verdict came in. Mmmm, fairly became an understatement. Here are some reviews of the lecture.

from Event DV
from the 4EG site

The DVDs I sold did pretty well too. Thanks to Pang and the rest of the J-Mag crew who labored over its production.

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(photo by Loyd Calomay)

My appreciation to all the people who I met, shook my hand, and gave me a smile. Thanks to the people who helped me hawk my DVDs. Extra special thanks and my deepest gratitude to Bruce Ostrout and Darrell Aulbert who showed me around, brought me to Hooters, assured me of my daily dose of transfat but made sure I was fine and dandy.

Oh and just before I headed to Orlando Airport, we snuck a quick “boyband” pictorial session with Glenn Elliot, Bill Gaff and Chris Jones for an upcoming EventDV article.

It was an unforgettable trip and a definite highlight in my career as wedding videographer.