New Venue: For 2009, we are moving to the beautiful MGM Grand! With almost 600,000 square feet, we've packed the week full of programs, a trade show and amazing events--all in one location!

New Dates: Make sure to mark February 12-19, 2009 on your calendar for the 2009 WPPI Convention and Trade Show and get those airline tickets booked! The schedule of events is as follows:

Plus new evening events on the 16th and 17th!

Discounts, Discounts, Discounts: The MGM Grand is already taking room reservations for WPPI 2009. In order to receive the discounted MGM rate of $179, call (888) 646-1203 or reserve your room online by logging on to www.mgmgrand.com and clicking on the Check Rates tab at the top left corner. Enter the WPPI discount code WAP003.

WPPI is teaming up with various airlines to provide you with additional discounts on your flights to and from Las Vegas! All you need to do is log on to your preferred airline's website, choose the flight you want to take, enter the airline-specific code listed below in the discount box and you will receive an additional 2%-15% off the advertised rate!* See below for Discount Codes and check back each month for additional discounted airlines.

• Alaska Airlines (www.alaskaair.com) ECCMB0412
• Northwest Airlines (www.nwa.com) NM24H
• American Airlines (www.aa.com) A5729AG

Stay tuned to WPPI online for more information about speaker programs. You don't want to miss a minute of this show!

Southern California photographers, circle August 4 on your calendar for the barbecue event of the year-it's welterweight Carey Shumaker vs "slightly more" than welterweight, Skip Cohen, in a battle of culinary grilling skills guaranteed, if nothing else to make you laugh! Nobody has figured out where the trash talk started, but the gauntlet over who can grill the best steak was thrown down at WPPI last March. Cohen claims Shumaker doesn't have the skill set to be creative on a grill and Shumaker mentioned something about Cohen being too old to remember to season the steak-and the banter went on and on.

Visit www.bbqsmackdown.com for full details, but attendance will be limited. And if you're up for the challenge, purchasers of Golden Tickets automatically are judges and get to abuse or be abused, whatever floats your boat!

One hundred percent of the proceeds for the event go to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and there's a rumor that David Jay might even join the crew for a tailgate party before his San Diego program that night.

Kicking off the first series of Rangefinder Radio podcasts, WPPI member Tamara Lackey shares more details behind her stunning and elegant portraits of the Democratic candidates that were featured in the June issue of Rangefinder. Check out her blog, www.tamaralackeyblog.com, for more information about her work and recent press.

Top wedding photographer Kevin Jairaj joins forces with top children's photographer Alycia Alvarez to offer two unique workshops titled Rings to Rattles, which focus on the entire spectrum of professional photography. Beginning with marriage and continuing on to the development of a new family, Kevin and Alycia will teach the importance of cultivating and nurturing the relationship with a client. With the necessary knowledge and skills, a photographer can easily keep a client for life. Kevin and Alycia will outline some of the key differences and similarities in marketing, pricing, products, and branding for both wedding and family photography and how to properly educate your clients. In addition to hands-on lighting and posing techniques, they will also discuss and demonstrate their workflow and post-production Photoshop techniques. The workshops will take place in Tampa, FL, on August 25-26 and October 27-28, 2008. Each is limited to only 15 participants and tuition is $895. Please visit www.ringstorattles.com for full details.

Moab by Legion Paper and WPPI announce the 2008 "JUST PRINT IT" contest. Click on the image to the left for more information on contest registration and other rules. Visit the "JUST PRINT IT" contest site at www.moabpaper.com/justprintit.

AsukaBook announces the Show Us Your Best! contest, in which entrants design a book of photographic images that meet the specifications of any AsukaBook. Winners will receive a myriad of prizes from AsukaBook and other sponsors. Registration opened on June 1st and will continue until August 1st. Go to asukabook.com/contest_2008.html.

First Person Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to memoir and documentary in all its art forms, has launched its annual, national competition for memoir and documentary photographers, videographers and writers--First Person Impressions. All entries must be new works that have not previously been published, exhibited or screened in the United States. The judge for the "photography" category is Katherine Ware, the Curator of Photography for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Top winners will be invited to present their work at the annual First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art in November. Top winners will also receive cash prizes up to $500, as well as the chance to be published in the Philadelphia City Paper and other publications. There is a $10 entry fee and the deadline is August 15th. For more details about guidelines and how to submit entries, go to www.impressions.firstpersonarts.org.

July is the portrait issue of Rangefinder. In addition to being filled with intriguing profiles on some of the best portraitists in the industry, this month's issue contains the results from the Nikon Take Your Best Shot! portrait cover contest. See www.rangefindermag.com for more.

[Note from WPPI: If you have something you would like highlighted in the WPPI monthly newsletter, such as a blog or special studio event, let us know. Send an email to request@wppionline.com]