Welcome to Charity Fest II and this year’s first contribution came from Mollie Tobias, a photographer in North Carolina.  She’s using her photographic skills in a unique way to be involved in the community.  
The best part of Charity Fest, for me, is that I get to talk to lots of new photographers and in turn, introduce [...]

Mother Teresa was on a flight I was on years ago and spent her life giving back.  
At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and [...]

At Skip’s Summer School last year I met Jen Alston.  Then she won the holiday card contest for Summer School attendees.  Next quick “hi” was at WPPI and here she is this morning.  I won’t deny for a second I love her comment about summer school, but it’s what she said about charitable causes that [...]

Okay, it’s 2:00 a.m. and I’m wide awake and just can’t seem to shut off the day.  So, as pathetic as it sounds, I’m actually sitting in bed with my laptop writing Thursday morning’s blog.  In a few minutes, just like my mother reads to fall asleep, I’m going to wrap it up and fall [...]

Almost a year ago I wrote about the importance of giving back to your community.   It’s such an important part of your efforts to build your brand that it deserves a few more comments.   As business starts to pick up you need to make sure you don’t lose sight of how much it can help you build your [...]

This past week I received the nicest thank you note from Julie Sotomura.  She thanked me for recognizing her project during Charity Fest here on the blog.  The first thing that hit me is what a class act it was to send a hand-written note, but here’s what really hits me the hardest:
I’m more a marketing [...]

The process of collecting guest posts for Charity Fest has been a learning experience in itself.  It’s incredible the variety of ways people have been moved to give back.  Better yet, look at the variety of ways professional photographers are using their cameras, their skillset and their influence to create awareness for each different project.   [...]

Some times involvement in charitable projects comes from an event that hits so close to home, you can’t help but be inspired to be involved and give back.  Over a year ago, Yervant and Anie Zanazanian experienced a family crisis with their youngest son, Robie.   If you’ve met Yervant and Anie or heard Yervant speak, [...]

Charity Fest has brought out an incredibly diverse series of projects, all from photographers who are giving back, but here’s an event where photographers and a company, Pictage, gave back.      They recruited hundreds of volunteers to help create new family keepsakes for memories lost in the 2005 Katrina disaster.   So, the industry’s leading provider of [...]

Just when I thought I had a terrific idea, somebody launches a better one…check out OpenShade, a blog dedicated to photographers who are giving back!   Established by Seshu, Lara and Parris it’s the perfect testimonial to how the passion for making a difference can evolve into something tangible, in this case an exchange of ideas on giving [...]