One of the fun pre-program aspects of Summer School is looking at the demographic data to understand more about who’s coming to this year’s program and why. Here’s this year’s profile.

We’ve got about 300 people coming as of this morning and to start it’s a 45/55 split between men and women. There are more women coming into the industry, especially on the portrait/wedding side of the business, so that fits with current trends we saw at WPPI year after year.

christy and beverly

What a kick it is to see Christy and Beverly every year!

Attendees this year are from all over the world. We’ve got 33 states represented and six countries outside the US. Photographers from outside the US are from Kenya, Israel, Bulgaria, Canada, Australia and the UK. The biggest state attendance is the same every year, California, but coming in just behind CA are Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Utah.

I have my favorite questions I ask on the front end of registration and here’s how it all breaks out:

How much do you plan on spending on new equipment this year?  Almost 50% answered $2-5,000 and I’m surprised that even in a tough economy, 12% said over $5000 and 2% were over $10,000.

What photographic magazines do you read? Rangefinder was the big winner at 27%, but right on their heels was Professional Photographer at 25%.  All the other magazines were under 10%.

How did you hear about Skip’s Summer School?While 31% heard about it from a friend, social media (Skip’s Photo Network, facebook and twitter) came in at 26%.

kevin

This year Kevin Kubota is teaching a hands-on demo workshop  on lighting.

What’s your primary photographic specialty? 37% answered weddings, 18% family portraits, 12% children’s portraits and 5% underclass and seniors. But, it’s a more diverse group this year with 12% being outdoor/landscape and wildlife photographers, 5% commercial shooters and 12% “other” . The “other” category is usually fine art, industrial, architectural and we’ve even had a few forensic photographers over the years.

How long have you been a full time or part time professional photographer? 23% said they were just starting out with 18% being under two years in business. That’s 41% of the audience meeting my definition of a newbie. At the other end of the spectrum we’ve got 35% in business 2-5 years and 24% over five years. This makes for a terrific mix of people to network with and share information and experiences!

Are you a full time or part time photographer?42% said they were full time and 58% said part time.  This is pretty much the same as last year. What I enjoy most about this is that the 58% aren’t willing to be stereotyped as “Uncle Harry’s” just because they’re new to the industry. They’re coming to learn and fine tune their skill set, worrking to raise the bar on the quality of their images, presentation and marketing.

bobbi

Bobbi Lane brings her expertise in commercial lighting to Summer School this year with her 2 hour workshop.

How many workshops/schools/conventions do you attend each year?  No surprises here, especially when you look at the mix between new and more established photographers. 32% list Summer School as their first experience with 35% hitting two programs a year and the rest of the group three or more.

Are you involved in Social Media? This is a heavy social media crowd with 62% on Facebook, 20% on Twitter and 13% having their own blog. 

It’s interesting that the largest number of questions I’ve had via phone calls and emails this year has been from relatively new photographers who are worried about fitting in. I’ve even been asked for suggestions on what to wear!

So, whether you’re coming to Summer School or about to attend your first convention or another workshop, it makes no difference. Attending programs like this is about networking along with education and fine-tuning your skill set. Everybody is in the same boat, without a lot of experience or they remember the challenges when they first started. More so than a lot of other career fields, photographers tend to help each other out and often work together on the challenges. This is the third year for Summer School and each year I’ve seen everyone leave with new friends in their networks, new experiences and new skills to take back and implement into their business.

I’ve talked about Don Blair dozens of times. He was coming up on 80 when he passed away, but right up to the day he died, he never stopped learning and went to every workshop he could, knowing he’d always learn something new!  Summer School is about learning something new. It’s about expanding your skill set and building your network, but it’s also about recharging your battery and having fun at the same time. 

You’ve heard me say it a dozen times, “Just because the media says it’s going to be a bad year doesn’t mean it has to be!”

See you in Vegas!

Note:  All images thanks to good buddy, Kenny Kim taken at Summer School 2010.