It all began when I received an email from Esther Pearl (Camp Reel Stories founder), in which she invited me to the great convention: Adobe MAX. At first, I wasn’t familiar with the event, so I began a research about it. While going through Adobe’s website, I realized how amazing the event was (I was like, yes, I am going!) So, I wrote back to her and did all the necessary arrangements.
It was a 3 day convention, from October 15th to the 17th. In addition, on the 14th, Adobe also had a Student Social at Downtown LA. The place was packed. There were students from all over the US, from the Bay Area to all the way back to Florida and North Carolina. I got to know a few of them (not all of them since there were hundred of us). We ate, talked, and had fun. And it was just amazing to see how Adobe was able to gather so many great people in just one place.
On day 1 of the convention, I first attended Adobe’s Keynote, a general session for all attendees, so around 14.000 people (crazy, right?). Throughout the Keynote, Adobe showcased their new releases, one of them being Premiere Rush CC, which I am personally excited about.
Afterwards, I went to the Community Pavilion, where all the booths, labs, and cool activities were. There, I got to see some amazing brands with the coolest products, such as 360º cameras and Virtual Reality headsets. And one of the Adobe booths allowed us to design and print our own notebooks (obviously, I made one). On that day, I also went to some great panels, such as the Into the Spider-Verse: The Making of Animated Spider-Man, which discussed the characters’ creation and the looks of the movie (which, by the way, were really amazing). Basically, my day summed up in panels, long walks, and workshops.
On day 2, there was a second Keynote, with the great artists, Questlove (musician), Nicola Scott (Comic artist), Lilly Singh (YouTuber), Ron Howard (director), Albert Watson (photographer). After that inspiring session, I went back to the Community Pavilion, where I visited new booths, attended workshops and even, customized my own wooden box (also at Adobe’s booth). However, the coolest part of that day was MAX Sneaks and MAX Bash. At MAX Sneaks, I was able to sneak peak some of the new technology Adobe has being developing, such as Moving Stills and Project Kazoo. In addition, that session was not only interesting, but also really funny since it had Tiffany Haddish (actress) as one of the event hosts.
After MAX Sneaks, I headed to MAX Bash, an event at the Banc of California Stadium that included a concert by the singer, Beck. The place was huge, packed with people and food. There were three sections: the first was the stage, second was food and drinks, and third, aka Candyland, was for desserts (honestly, my favorite place). The biggest and most colorful area was Candyland, not only it had all types of candy, but it also had a giant gummy bear made of gummy bears (amazing, right?).
On the last (and saddest) day, I headed straight to my panels and workshops since there was no Keynote. Once again, I would go back and forth between panels and the Community Pavilion, which, by the way, I wasn’t able to visit it all (believe it or not).
On that day, my two favorite panels were Photography Essentials For Improving Your Photos with Matthew Richmond and Cinematography: Ready…Film, Edit, Publish with Paul Del Vecchio.
Overall, I had an amazing and unforgettable experience.
Once again, thank you Esther and Reel Stories for allowing me to represent our incredible community in this a great event.