For me, time is always my most valuable commodity and there’s never enough of it. All of us are in the same boat and for many of you an upcoming convention may be your first venture out as an aspiring or professional photographer. Regardless, do a little planning so you’re sure to make each dollar spent on every minute away from your business well worth the trip.

I know I’ve written about this a lot over the years, but they’re all points, even the seasoned pros, seem to forget:

1. Look at every aspect of your business, from gear to software and services, before you leave. Analyze where you really need the most help.
2. Review the list of vendors exhibiting and highlight those companies you need to see the most.
3. Read through all the program descriptions so you can schedule those programs and workshops you need to expand your skill set.
4. Pick at least one program completely outside your comfort zone. You need to get exposed to every aspect of the business and there’s a great saying, “You’ll never learn to sail on calm seas!” Make it a point to attend programs that will challenge you.
5. When walking the trade show, start in one aisle and walk the entire show. There are so many exhibitors who might have services or products you know little about. You don’t want to miss anything!
6. Have a supply of business cards with you, but even better, put together something that shows your work. Personally, I love a creative looking postcard that’s a little bigger than a business card and shows at least three different images along with all your contact information.
7. It’s the Golden Rule of trade shows and conventions: NEVER have lunch or dinner alone! This is where you can build your network and ideally grab a meal with somebody you don’t really know. It’s easy to do – just talk to the people around you at every program you attend.
8. If there are special vendors you want to see at any convention, call them NOW! Introduce yourself and set up an appointment. If nothing else it will put you on their radar, so when you stop by their booth they already have an idea who you are.

Last on the list, and this is where I really sound like an old fart…if you can’t party with the big kids then don’t party. Over the years I’ve seen so many careers slow down simply because somebody partied too hard the night before and missed the bell in the morning.  In this case the “bell” is defined as everything from a meeting to a workshop you wanted to attend.  If you schedule meetings with vendors, sign up for workshops in the morning or simply make plans to meet people for breakfast then be there!

My favorites for the next few months?

DIMA and PMA in Las Vegas, IUSA in New Orleans, PhotoProExpo in Cincinnati, GoingPro Bootcamp in Las Vegas and WPPI in Las Vegas.  The next sixty days are going to be incredible!

Safe travels and I’ll see you on the road!

How about a Las Vegas Photo Adventurewith professional photographer, Mark Comon as your tour guide? It all starts on Friday evening with a “how to” presentation and dinner is included. Then you’ll head into a night time shooting session followed by a tour of the Neon Boneyard on Saturday, people on location shooting that afternoon and wrap it all up with one more evening of night shooting on the strip. This is absolutely the only way to see Las Vegas! Registration is just a click away!

Next on the list, check out WEVA’s Getting Into Wedding and Event Filmmaking 101. Technology continues to blur the lines between the specialties.  Even if you’re not interested in getting into film-making, WEVA can help you become a better storyteller. It’s a full day conference on film-making and event videography.  It’s all part of the action for this year’s PMA @ CES programming.

On the book scene, thanks so much for all the great comments on GoingPro. It continues to do really well on all of the major book store sites and if you’ve seen it, you already understand what a labor of love it was. GoingPro Bootcamp is coming up on February 18 in Las Veagas the day before WPPI officially kicks off their platform programs and trade show.

Don Blair’s Guide to Lighting and Posing Body Parts is about to be reprinted. We’ve had hundreds of requests over the years for this must-have-fits-in-your-camera-bag reference book.  This book continues to be one of the best ever written to help you deal with Mother Nature’s challenges. There’s even a touch of basic lighting, giving photographers the ability to create better portraits. And seriously, how do you pose a 6′10″ groom and a 4″9″ bride?

So, working together with Marathon Press we’re going to do one print run based on pre-booked orders.  More information and how to order will be available within the next couple weeks!

PMA’s online magazine is out and along with a number of different stories, there’s a profile story about photographer buddy, Catherine Hall. There’s also an article about Kevin Kubota’s new book, The Lighting Notebook and yes, I’m guilty of shameless self-promotion here, since I wrote it! Just click on the magazine and you’re there.

If you’re headed to PMA, CES, IUSA, PhotoPro Expo or WPPI it’s really important to plan each trip so you don’t miss anything and get the most bang for your buck. Time is the one element we never have enough of and when you’re away at an important convention it’s important to plan things out.

There’s a great expression in scuba diving, “Plan your dive, dive your plan.” In diving you have a limited supply of air and your depth and ability to relax underwater are going to determine how long you’re down. Well, any trip to a major convention is the same. You have limited time, limited funding and limited bandwidth, because there’s only so much you can absorb. Take some time and plan each trip, paying careful attention to vendors you want to see, photographers in your network you want to catch up to and programs to expand and develop your skill set.

Most important of all, pay attention to the websites for each convention you’re attending. Updates are usually posted on the home sites first.

I hope to catch up to so many of you in the next couple of months – see you in Vegas or New Orleans or Cincinnati or Vegas again!

There’s a second post that gives more examples and I’ll share it tomorrow.  The title says it all: 

Think about what everyone else is doing and do something different!

Now, think about that quote! It applies to everything you’re doing and a solid reminder to be different than your competitors!

I have to thank Jerry Rizzo, who started a string on Facebook, asking for thoughts on what makes you effective at a Bridal Show.  The more I thought about the answer, the more it applied to virtually any show.  So, here are some ideas:

1) Booth Design:   I wrote a section about this for Bambi in her first book…her booth itself, to me was the key.   She made it totally inviting and open on all four sides, with the look and feel of a living room, a couple of Queen Anne chairs, coffee table etc.  Obviously it cost a little more as an island, but the traditional booth set up creates a line right down the middle between you and your clients.  Her booth didn’t feel like she was selling anything except warmth.    

2) Your Display:  You don’t need to show everything you ever shot.  Bambi only had 2-3 beautiful large framed images to draw people in and make them want to see more.  She hung them on inexpensive hollow wood doors, which she stained to match the booth.  It’s her Tiffany window display philosophy  in action – you don’t have to show everything you do to get the client interested.

3) Albums vs Matted Prints: You always need a few albums to show, but Bambi’s secret was using an image storage box, holding a dozen or so prints, displayed in mattes.  The advantage was simply no one client could hog an album. It gave her the ability to show her work to several different clients at the same time.

4) Presentations:I haven’t been to enough Bridal Shows to know if anyone does this, but what’s going on in your booth?  When a potential client walks by are they going to stop and listen.  My personal favorite goes back to my Hasselblad days and having a speaker in the booth to draw people in.  Most Bridal Show booths don’t have a whole lot of room, but what would happen if you did a series of short presentations e.g. the importance of an engagement session, creating a storybook album or the excitement of online hosting?  (I’m sure Pictage has some marketing material available.)  There’s an abundance of short tips you could give a client that would easily create five minute snipet presentations.

5) Pre-show Buzz: This is a big part of being a hit, not just at a bridal show, but it applies to any company who exhibits at any show.  What are you doing to create awareness for your presence a month or two before the show even starts?  Social media, direct mail and advertising all play a roll.  Are you advertising in the local paper that you’ll be at the show?  Are you sending out a postcard in advance of the show?  Have you worked to build up your social media presence on Facebook, Twitter etc?  Are you sending out a message offering a client something in return, making it impossible to not stop by your booth.

Years ago Tamrac, just before the PMA show, sent out a clip-on handle for a ballistic nylon bag to a lot of industry leaders.  The note that came with it invited us to stop by the booth for our “free gift” and see their new product line.  I don’t know how they did at the show, but everybody I knew made it a point to get over to the booth.

6) Your Blog:  You can’t build this overnight, but if you start now, you’ll be ready for next year.  Nobody does it better than Jasmine Star.  Check out her blog, but don’t look at it with your eyes, look at as if you were a future bride.  The images really do speak for themselves and tell a client a lot about who Jasmine is, how she sees the world, her values and most important of all, how her clients trust her to be their eyes on that special day.

7) And when all else fails, I love the answer Jeff Hawkins put on Facebook – popcorn! People always remember the booth with popcorn.  Now, there’s some serious psychological issues that support this – we’re all driven by food and looking at my belt line, some of us more than others – but the smell of popcorn draws everybody from every corner of a trade show.  But, the real issue is, having something to show and keeping your potential customer in the booth once you’ve fed their craving!

Last but not least, is a great line from a motivational speaker I heard years ago, Ed Foreman, from Texas.  I actually tracked him down a few months ago and he’s still teaching and helping people build their brand and marketing awarenss. Ed was definitely a driving force in my career. It really is this simple:

“If I can see the world through my client’s eyes, then I can sell my client what my client buys!”

I’m in San Antonio and in a few hours will hit IUSA. I have very little true business I have to do at the show and I picked up a lousy head-cold on the way down, but that won’t hold me back from the excitement of seeing friends I haven’t seen in months, some, not  since last year’s show. My favorite vendors will all be here and who knows what new projects will come out of meetings at this year’s convention.

For those of you relatively new to the industry, this is what it’s all about, the fun of anticipation. It doesn’t matter whether it’s IUSA, WPPI, CLIQ, Photoshop World, a state convention or just a  workshop. The more events you expose yourself to and the more people you meet the more fun you’ll have attending each program. 

“Fun”, and I’ve written this before, is one of those words that just gets lost in business today. It’s fun to talk about the business with your associates. It’s fun to see people you haven’t seen in a long time. It’s fun to figure out new ways to deal with the challenges.

So, have some fun gang! Stay involved. Get yourself to conventions, trades shows and workshops. The more you attend, the more people you’ll meet and as your network grows you’ll find the answers to some of your biggest challenges will come out of conversations with friends and associates!

See you at IUSA!

If you’re in the Midwest, registration for Bambi Cantrell’s two different programs as part of the Akron Photo Series is open.  Bambi will be doing two programs, the first, an evening program on February 28 and the second, an all day hands-on program limited to 25 attendees on March 1. A minimum of 10% of the proceeds go to Akron Children’s Hospital.  The first two programs in the series raised just over $3600 for the hospital!

Activity for Charity Fest was surprisingly brisk yesterday with the first three entries sent in by noon!  Please remember there’s no such thing as a program too small.  Whatever you’re doing to give back is important. I’m hoping to hear about as many different programs as possible – this is about helping other photographers with new ideas on how they can give back. Please send your stories, 2-400 words and 1-3 images 4×6, 72dpi to skip@mei500.com.

Check out Resource Magazine’s RETV site on Vimeo! Okay, I can’t deny that there’s a short interview I did with them while at PhotoPlus Expo, but there’s a lot of great info here and I love the magazine!

Circle the dates! September 7 – 11, 2011: PMA will soon be announcing an incredible new educational platform with a workshop schedule unlike anything you’ve seen before.  Programs for retailers, professional, aspiring pros and serious hobbyists taught by some of the finest instructors in the country will create an incredible event.  Plus, PMA overlaps with PhotoShop World’s fall show! Photoshop World is September 7-9 at Mandalay Bay and PMA is September 6-11 (trade show 8-10) at the Convention Center, making Las Vegas a necessary photo destination in 2011. GoingPro Bootcamp hits right after PMA, September 10-11!

Speaking of Photoshop World…if you’re on the east coast, circle the dates for Orlando, March 30 – April 1.  Here’s the link to register and get yourself into the most comprehensive Photoshop series in the country!

Check out Betsey Chesler’s charity, Cameras for Kids Foundation.  She’s absolutely proving that one person can make a difference! I’ll write more about this relatively new charity next week as part of Charity Fest III.

Initial response to PWSPI has been pretty amazing and we want to thank you for your feedback.  We want to develop the programs and features you feel are most important.  And remember, we’re not saying anyone needs to drop their affiliation with any of the existing organizations.  You have to go with what’s right for you and in fact, if you’re a member of PPA or WPPI, your membership fee for your first year, once registration is open for PWSPI, will be discounted by 50%.

It’s another circle the dates: PPA’s Imaging USA is January 16-18 in San Antonio.  Last year’s show in Nashville was pretty spectacular.  WPPI is February 21-23 (trade show) in Las Vegas and it’s always good.

And last one on the list – One of the best shows in the Midwest is back up north, with the Ohio Professional Photographers Convention in Sandusky, March 10-13.  This has always been one of the best regional shows in the country.  It’s ideal to attend and relatively easy to get to, especially if you’re in between Detroit and Pittsburgh!

Okay gang, it’s Friday, make it a great day and a great weekend coming up.  Hopefully a lot of you are buried in chasing down holiday orders!

Bambi Cantrell versus Don Blair at a program in Florida:  Don spent half an hour demonstrating a series of lighting set ups with one, two and three lights.  Bambi came up on stage with a lamp she took from her room and nailed down a couple of the same set ups in seconds.  There was so much respect between these two and Don was simply blown away by the idea that a table lamp could fill in when you were out of the studio!

Francesco Scavullo was doing a program for us (Hasselblad) at PhotoPlus Expo.  He was using our set prior to his program to photograph Brooke Shields for a children’s charity.  They were running late and I had 350 people waiting in the hallway, because Brooke’s mother wouldn’t allow anybody in the room.  I wound up in a fight with Brooke Shields mother and finally just opened the doors!   However, thanks to Denis Reggie’s ability to calmly negotiate, he got everybody calmed down and I got my first real lesson in negotiating technique.  Meanwhile watching Scavullo at work was amazing.

I once watched an entire room of photographers tear up, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place, as Lisa Jane talked about the importance of never compromising quality on an image.  It was so powerful that years later I did a blog on the topic and retold her story.

Last year at Skip’s Summer School, Scott Bourne talked for just 15 minutes about social media as part of my marketing program.  We all took notes on how to better utilize Twitter.   Six months later I decided it was time to get active in Twitter – I’m up to 2400 followers and finding it an incredible way to stay in touch with the industry.  Scott went from 24,000 followers to 75,000 in almost the same time period!

I got to witness first hand what it means to have something “go viral” in the photo industry as Ron Dawson produced a three part video spoof staring Joe Photo, worried about not hosting WPPI’s Awards Program.  Each video, literally pulled thousands of photographers into the story and helped to bring WPPI to record-breaking attendance that year.  Sorry, couldn’t find the link for you – but if somebody can find the series, send me an email and I’ll publish the URL!

At a program in Boston I heard one of the most amazing presentations I’ve ever seen by Arthur Rainville about creativity and our ability to truly be involved with imaging and our subject.   It remains the best program I’ve ever seen!

Here’s the only point this morning – if you don’t get involved in the industry; if you don’t attend every workshop you can and if you don’t attend every tradeshow and convention possible you’re simply going to miss out on a lot.  Every day there are memorable moments being made by today’s contemporary photographers and each time it’s another learning experience for all of us!

You snooze you lose!

Come on, work with me on this one, because I’ve only got two points to today’s blog and they’re totally unrelated and random:

First, slow season or down time should be whenever you need to take a break.  I’ve seen photographers at the height of the “season” come close to crashing and burning.  Obviously you can’t take a break when you’re in the middle of a shoot, regardless of whether or not you need a 10 minute or 2-day “nap”.  But, you can do your best to work in a destination wedding and break after the wedding, assuming it’s in a great location.  If you’re a commercial shooter then look for those projects that might be on location where you can also enjoy the luxury of tacking on a couple days break.  The point is that it doesn’t matter where you’re shooting, you can schedule down time when you know you’re most likely to need a short break – this also gives you a bench mark to look forward to.  Most important of all – if you don’t recognize the need to recharge your battery, nobody else will!

Second, when you’re utilizing this down time to attend a convention get the most out of the experience.  For you newbies out there:  When you see one of your favorite icons, GO TALK TO THEM!  They’re icons, because they’re special.  They’re special because they’re approachable!    They believe in education and want to share the gift they have of teaching.   If they wanted anonymity they wouldn’t be at the convention, wouldn’t be lecturing and wouldn’t be caught dead walking a trade show aisle.

When you get a chance to talk to one of your heroes – just talk to them.  Let them know you appreciated their program, their images or whatever new idea they inspired you to try.  You don’t have to suck up – just be honest and remember, every icon started out just like you, not knowing what they were doing, scared to death of their first shoot and feeling awkward.   Unlike you today though, if they’re over 40, odds are they had no social media, no forums and no Internet to really draw from.  The world was a much bigger place and there was less information shared and far less tools and techniques to talk about.

But be careful.  This is just like getting close to a wild animal and whatever you do, don’t let them sense you’re afraid!  And if you believe that, you really need to stay home and consider a new career!