Thanks to Mike Muzila from Custom Brackets for the door prize
donations for the April meeting. Mike donated 3 brackets and
the winners were Dave Neldon, Carl Krist, and me. I know mine
will be put to good use. Patrick Able put on a great program
that gave a lot of us something to think about. We had over 50
people at the meeting. Not as many as last month when I was
sick but a great turnout. Thanks also to Patrick Rice for the
donations of the books as extra door prizes.
We also have a new board for 2008- 2009
Bob Neldon: Chairman of the board
Terry Biacsi: President
Linda Ford: Vice- President
John Biacsi: Treasurer
Dale Kincade: Secretary
Directors: Karen Neldon, Bill Morley, Dave Neldon, Bill Ford, and
Patrick Rice.
We have a busy month planned, beginning with
the seminar of Michael Ayres on the 18th on how to
streamline digital workflow. Mike has spoken before at SONOPP
now he can go in depth and really explain the how’s and why’s.
I look forward to learning a lot from him.
Our regular monthly meeting will be on the 20th
of May due to the holiday on our regular meeting night. The
meeting will be presented by the owners of the Perfect Wedding Guide
on marketing, working with other vendors to promote yourself.
I would personally like to thank Patrick Rice
for all he has done this year. Welcome back to our new members
Mike Muzila and Ron Kotar.
See you all at the seminar and at the May
meeting!
Bob Neldon, President 2007- 2008
P.S.: There are two really important articles you gotta read before coming
to Monday night's meeting. They are
Perfect Wedding Guide of Northeast
Ohio
by Jack & Lori Hopp
May 20th Presentation Overview:
·Cleveland Wedding Facts & National Trends
·Brides Survey Profile
·Sales & Marketing Strategies for a
Changing Bridal Market (an opinion)
·Questions & Answers
Here are some of the facts:
A. Cleveland Weddings:
Over the past 9 years in Cuyahoga
County, weddings have dropped from
10,198 in 1999 to 7,223 in 2007
Cuyahoga
County weddings were over 12,000 around
1996, and over 19,000 per year about 20
years ago.
Lorain
County weddings have dropped from 2,042
in 2000 to 1515 in 2007
B: Bridal Survey:
The results of a small
survey totaling about 75
brides, between 2 or 3
bridal shows in February &
March, 2008. The main
reason for the survey was to
find out what brides'
interests were in regards to
shows and events, not so
much trends.
Average months to wedding: 6
to 7 months out (from date
they attended show)
85% of the girls surveyed
were just beginning planning
or had less that half done
(with their weddings 6 to 7
months away)
Average guests at reception:
205
Wedding Day:
Saturday 80.6%
Friday
16.1%
Sunday 3.3%
One of the questions
asked was "What are the
3 most important reasons
why you choose a wedding
vendor?"
2.Quality of
Product...............................................42%
3.Product
Selection or Vendor
Personality...........
11.5%
Come to hear the rest...
BIOGRAPHY:
Jack: In addition to various sales and marketing
positions in the automotive, manufacturing, and computer
training and job placement fields, Jack worked as both a
night club and wedding Disc Jocky in the Cleveland area
for almost 20 years. Prior to purchasing the franchise,
Jack was employed as its Director of Operations for 3
years.
Lori: Lori has over 18 years of management
experience in the medical field for University Hospitals
of Cleveland. She managed daily operations for the
Pediatric-Centralized Scheduling Department which
oversaw and regulated patient schedules for over 100
pediatric specialty doctors and surgeons.
Perfect Wedding Guide is a national wedding publication,
originally established in 1990, with both company and
franchise owned markets in over 40 cities in the U.S.
Corporate headquarters are located in Orlando, Florida
and Atlanta, Georgia.
The Cleveland market opened in late 2002, and published
its first issue in the spring of 2003. The Cleveland
market serves the Northeast Ohio area.
Perfect Wedding Guide offers advertising and marketing
opportunities to local wedding professionals through a
3-part system, comprised of print advertising, website
presence, and the use of an extensive database of
registered brides.
This Month's Featured
Links
In case you somehow missed the yellow box above, you should definitely check
out the May 08, 2008 article by David Walker in
PDNOnline. It is really packed with information. Plus they always have interesting stuff, and there's an
email newsletter worth subscribing to.
Here's a website I have not seen before:
www.digitalphotographysecrets.com. Plan to visit when you have
time to explore; there's really a lot to look at, from digital camera
reviews to lighting techniques to interviews with photographers to best
places for great photos!
AKVIS Sketch is an award-winning program for conversion of
photos into pencil sketches and watercolor drawings.
Make any photo look like a B&W or color drawing; imitate the
technique of graphite or color pencil, charcoal, or
watercolor painting.
Version 6.5 presents a new feature - Real-Time Drawing.
The new feature allows observing the conversion of a photo
into a drawing/watercolor in real time and even interrupting
the process when the required result is achieved. Now
the program does not only deliver a high-quality result but
is also fun to use. Besides, the Color Strokes mode
has been streamlined to
One last remark: Sketch is priced at $72, and NAPP members
get a 30% discount. I'm goin' for it!
One of the advantages of The Photoshop Corner is that we give you techniques
not known or available anywhere else! This month is no
exception, as we present the saga of Llama Louie's Logo (that's him down
there, with his Logo in the corner), and tell how we did what nobody else can!
Just click here to find out
how! And don't forget, you can see a complete list of previous techniques in
The Photoshop Corner.
Member News
The members listed in the box on the right all have
birthdays this month.
Please bring a
cupcake for each of them to the May Meeting!
Carl Krist
Andy Fiala
Mark Madere
Ron Kotar
Commentary
The World Is Flat
At our last meeting, guest speaker Patrick Abel talked about a
book entitled "The World Is Flat." What's inside is an
analysis that everybody in business today (and particularly SONOPP
photographers) should know about. Here's more about the book:
From the
Publisher:
"One mark of a
great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr.
Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal", the Nobel laureate Joseph
E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times, reviewing The
World is Flat in 2005. With his inimitable ability to translate
complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman brilliantly
demystifies the new flat world for listeners, making sense of the
advances in technology and communications that challenge us to run
even faster just to stay in place. For these updated and expanded
editions, Friedman has added more hours of commentary, fresh stories
and insights. New material includes:
The reasons
the flattening of the world "will be seen in time as one of those
fundamental shifts or inflection points, like the invention of the
printing press, the rise of the nation-state, or the Industrial
Revolution."
A mapping of
the New Middle - the places and spaces in the flat world where
middle-class jobs will be found - and portraits of the character
types who will find success as New Middlers.
An account of
the qualities American parents and teachers need to cultivate in
young people so that they will be able to thrive in the flat world.
An account of
the "globalization of the local": how the flattening of the world is
actually strengthening local and regional identities rather than
homogenizing the world.
More than
ever, The World is Flat is an essential update on
globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated
by one of our most respected journalists.
About the
Author:
Thomas L. Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for
his work at The New York Times, where he serves as the
foreign affairs columnist. He is the author of three previous
books, all of them bestsellers. In 2005 The World is Flat
was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs
Business Book of the Year Award, and Friedman was named one of
America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. He
lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family.
To borrow
a copy on CD, contact our President, Terry Biacsi,
at jbiacsi@neo.rr.com or
330-722-8308.
Here's a thought-provoking comment from Bill Morley.
Bella Photography - In a nutshell:
Bella Photography markets and sells photographic talent at reduced
prices. At an ever increasing pace, more and more
photographers are turning to them in tough times to supplement their
income. Here’s the catch: they must be willing to discount
their work! Some photographers have no problem with that, but savvy
brides are doing their homework and uncovering the discrepancies
between what the photographer normally charges and what Bella is
charging for that photographer’s work.
The following e-mail was posted on the Digital Wedding Forum. It
illustrates the folly of becoming part of a ‘photographer’s
warehouse’.
"Hi Photographer (name undisclosed),
Some things happened yesterday that I feel like I should share
with you not only because it involves you and I think you have a
right to know, but also because I'm not really sure where to go
from here.
You probably noticed that I made my initial payment via pictage
sunday night. I planned to drop the contract in the mail Monday
morning but before I did, I got a call from Bella pictures. I'm
not sure if we ever discussed other photographers I had been
talking to but basically my decision came down to working with
Bella, a company that sounded really reputable and professional
but also very affordable, and you, both reputable and
professional and amazingly talented. Mike and I had alot of
thinking to do after we left your place because we really,
really love your style and your talent is undeniable. Money,
though, was a big factor. To be honest, you were out of our
price range but we decided to take a huge cut in product credit
and make some other sacrifices in order to be able to work with
you.
So, yesterday, a rep from Bella called to check in. Having just
sent in my payment to you, I told her that I found an amazing
photographer that I felt really good about and decided to go
with instead of Bella. She said she understood and asked me your
name. I told her and then, after a surprised pause, she told me
that you were also a Bella photographer, and that if I had gone
with Bella, I might have been able to work with you anyways
seeing that you are available on my date. After checking she
said that if I decided to go with Bella, they couldn't guarantee
you as my photographer, and assured me that no matter my
decision, it sounded like I'd end up with amazing shots. She had
no doubt in your abilities.
Now I understand that this is your business and that none of
this was intentional--Just a weird, unusual situation--but,
considering what went into our decision, I can't help but feel a
bit like a sucker knowing now that you work for much less than
we agreed. Mike and I still love the thought of working with you
and have absolutely no doubts that you would do an amazing job,
but I can't say that this whole thing yesterday didn't sour it a
bit.
Is there anything else you might be able to offer by way of
price or product now that this has all come up?
Please excuse the long email. I hope that writing you about this
was the right thing to do. Take care and I hope to hear from you
soon,
Bride"
Bill Morley’s response:
I guess what this boils down to is photographers are basically using
Bella to do their marketing for them, instead of doing it
themselves. If we are too lazy to go after brides ourselves,
why are we shocked when our value is homogenized?
The great tragedy is that clients really saw artistic vision in this
photographer, and were willing to make the investment, but after
their discovery, who can blame them for feeling like a ‘sucker’??
Now they will be spreading the word about it to the whole world.
This is just another instance of what Patrick Rice declared “The
devaluing of photograpy”!
You know, when things get a little slow, the temptation is always
there, to accept less than you normally would, and I do sometimes
work with brides if I know the date isn’t going to be sold, but
there’s something about a “photographer’s clearinghouse” that
repulses me! (it reminds me of those Kellogg’s Variety
Packsall flakes and powdered sugar) No wonder brides think
we’re all the same!!!!
We photographers need to wake up and take charge of our own futures,
and not let some mega-marketing machine ‘pimp’ our talents.
When the going gets tough, we need to devise better marketing
strategies for finding those ever elusive brides!
