If you heard a persistent buzz coming from Las Vegas last week, it was the excitement in the Photoshop World Tech Expo. I’ve never seen a more energetic expo hall. Virtually every vendor offered non-stop presentations. In the past, you’d walk up to a counter, grab the latest catalog and move on. Now, you use your elbows to find a seat.

The breadth of topics presented in the Tech Expo rivaled the Photoshop World curriculum. When I closed my eyes, the number of voices booming from all directions was surreal. In my opinion, the Tech Expo took Photoshop World to a whole new level. [Tip for locals, if you can't afford a ticket to Photoshop World, definitely attend the Tech Expo.] Here’s a peek at a few of the Expo highlights.

Peter Reed Miller, legendary Sports Illustrated photographer, gave daily presentations in the Microsoft Expo Theater. I was fascinated with his stories from the Beijing Olympics.

Scott Kelby, Mr. How-To-Do-Anything-In-Photoshop, demo’d the Westcott Spider Lights with a live model. The Spider Lights are so easy to use that I decided the crowd was actually there to see the lights in action and not to ogle the model.

Joe McNally, Mr. Moment-It-Clicks, has more stories to tell than a bartender in Dublin. Joe gave several presentations in the Nikon Expo Theater and freely demo’d the Nikon SB900 speedlight on innocent audience members.

Julianne Kost and many other Adobe luminaries gave non-stop classes at the Adobe pavilion. [For a peek at CS4, check out JP Caponigro's post.]

Epson set up an impressive gallery of digitally-printed photographs along with a complete arsenal of their photo printers.

Samy’s Camera offered a steady stream of courses. Their booth featured a computer at every seat so that the “students” could follow along.

Scott Kelby signed books at the Peachpit Pavilion. I was impressed to see that Scott took the time to chat with every person in line.

And finally… in the midst of his many appearances, Mr. Photoshop took the time to stand next to Mr. PixSylated. Scott was an incredibly good sport when I tried to gave him my signature rabbit ears. [Next time, Scott, I'll be prepared with a pair of elevator shoes so that you don't have the height advantage.]