The reason I'm asking is that I currently belong to two clubs. One is 30 miles south, the other 25 miles east.
One is barely surviving. It went from being an active club that collected dues and had elected officers, to dropping all of it. A few of us still meet (5-10 of us) each month but don't have any agenda. Some show a few photos and then we just chit chat about photography. The money that was collected all those years sits idle. Half of it was donated to a new art venture in town and we still have several (five?) thousand in the bank.
The other club I belong to is mostly older, retired men who enjoy shooting macros of flowers and fungi and some landscapes. They, for the most part, use film, and though they don't shun the digital users, you can tell they still aren't quite fully accepting of it. They will ask photogs, "So, what did you do to that in Photoshop? Are those colors the actual colors?" etc. There's nothing wrong with their age, what they use or what they shoot...several of us are just looking for something different. They are very organized and usually have good topics and I may stay in the group, but I would like to have other options as well.
A few of us are in the process of discussing starting our own local club. We have some of our own ideas already but are wondering what others think.
So, if you belong to a club, I would love to hear about it. If you don't belong to a club and still have thoughts on what your ideal club would be, just leave note them in the comment field (last question) of the survey.
Thanks so much for your help!!
Posted by Becky Wolfe on January 14, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Hi Jennifer,
I can hear where you're coming from & for the same reason I started my own club this year! I was driving over an hour south to go to a club that wasn't quite ready to adopt digital photographers. While the people were very friendly, I had nobody to talk to about digital stuff & could never participate in anything because they only used slides for their competitions.
So, I was frustrated with the drive anyhow & decided to start my own. It took a bit of help from the local art council. I joined the council & hence got a public meeting room for free. It took about 5 months to actually get some art council members interested in what I had to say but the response was better than I hoped.
We're a pretty small town so we don't have more than 25 members - in the winter we are usually even less due to the older 'snowbirds' heading south. But the smaller number is quite comfortable & when I advertised for it, I welcomed a healthy mixture. So we have new shooters with pocket cams, seasoned pros with lenses worth more than my car, black & white film, old, medium & even one highschool boy. A few 'die hard film shooters' & a few 'digital is the way of the world so get over your film' and everything in between. It is amusing sometimes, a bit frustrating sometimes but mostly its great.
I'll answer the rest in your survey
Posted by Jennifer Geck on January 14, 2007 at 8:24 PM
Hi Becky! Thanks so much for replying. Your response is helpful.
I too live in a lightly populated area. The nearest town that we do business in (about 7 miles) is only population 2,200. We live in a very scenic and touristy area and there are many photographers around the region. I don't know if they would be interested in a club or not so it's hard to say how many we would wind up with. It would be nice to have a fairly large group as it would increase the variety of subject matter and would also increase the number of photogs with varying backgrounds and techiniques.
We are just in the planning stages right now. Trying to brainstorm and get a plan together so we can move forward.
Thanks again for the response. I will try and share all the responses in a week or so. Maybe it will benefit some.
Posted by Ed Cordes on January 14, 2007 at 9:44 PM
Clubs can be so competitive. I do not belong to a club. I like this site because the collegial atmosphere with a strong sense of helping each other. Many I know who have participated in clubs faced the digital vs film stuff as well as the "my way is best" stuff.
I truly wish for a club that accepts an image as the result of skill and technique. This could be either digital or film. Discussions of lighting composition timing etc are much more productive. If I knew of a club like this I would consider joining.
I am surprised that one club Jennifer mentioned has $5,000 in the bank!! It seems to me that dues should be used to rent rooms, pay for dinners and send out communications. Perhaps a slide and digital projector purchase. To my mind the budget should be balanced so the end of year statement shows zero profit zero debt.
The nearest camera club to me is a $400, 1-hour flight away, the ASONP in Anchorage. So even though I belong I don't make it to meetings. They get my bucks ($40/yr) simply because I enjoy their newsletter and will make my small contribution to help them succeed. They have an active and ambitious schedule of outings, classes and guest speakers which appeals greatly, but doesn't justify the expense including rental cars, meals and hotels to attend. My loss all around. Their site should give you lots of ideas.
Here at home in our isolated location no club has been attempted, though there is enough interest I expect that one could be successful. In a nutshell, no one has had time to organize one, much less help run it.
At the same time a "club" of sort has evolved among some of us, revolving around approximately quarterly get-togethers over food. Short slide shows (10 images per person max) lead to about an hour of photo talk following the meal (usually potluck at someone's house). It's very informal yet satisfying to a bunch of busy folks. Spouses are always at the "meetings" too, so it's more of a social event around photography than anything approaching a formal club. Actually a whole lot of fun for a bunch of busy people who enjoy each other.
From that core we have developed quite the phone network for problem solving, as well as shooting trips never involving more than 4 people and often only 2.
Not as formal as what you are looking for, but in many ways much more satisfying for a bunch of very busy people who are already officers in a bunch of other clubs, commissions or boards. Even if you pull together a club, I'd look for something along those lines to reach the people you enjoy most.
I should sign back after reading Ed's post. The ASONP has considerable income over and above the base cost of meetings, which they use to help defray the cost of bringing in "names" for classes and workshops. Attendance still may require a fee, but the club helps hold costs down via their bank account, as I understand it. You might look into that for the leftover funds of the one club or even establish a "savings account" within your own club for the same uses. In my experience, bringing in a big name once in a while does wonders for the visibility and credibility of a club, while also helping defray some of the usually stilted spats among members simply by bringing in new ideas once in a while.
Posted by Jennifer Geck on January 15, 2007 at 12:35 AM
Hey Ed! I'm just over the hill from you - near Watkins Glen. If you're ever looking to shoot with some others let me know. I try to set up several outings throughout the year with various people in the area. Sometimes there's two of us, sometimes 15. When there's a larger group we tend to split up into smaller groups anyway but eventually meet up again and maybe have lunch or something. It's always fun to compare the day's images afterwards.
Thanks for your response. I could be wrong, it may 'only' be $2,500 now since we gave half to a local art venture, but it's still a significant amount. They haven't collected dues in a few years and the money just sits there. I would like to call in a big name for a class or workshop, as Hank mentioned above...but seeing how there's so few of us and no one wants to organize anything, I don't see it happening. Roberson's Club out of Binghamton hosted George Lepp two years ago and it was really great. I guess they made quite a bit from it (though we'd only need to spend our reserve and not make a profit) and they were really organized. Had lots of great drawings for a variety of products and gift certificates and it was just really nice.
The club started to die out shortly after I joined. I think part of the reason, from what I can gather, were some people couldn't take constructive criticism well...or maybe they didn't want it. I'm not sure. Egos. Now it's "Oh that's nice." with little criticism. I personally would love it if they ripped my stuff apart (in a respectful way ) because that's how you learn and grow. Anyway...
Hank - Thanks so much for your reply as well. Wow, that would be quite a trip - and an expensive one! It sounds like you have a very nice group. I actually don't mind smaller groups either. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
My friend is taking the initiative in trying to get our club started. Myself and another agree that a new club would be a good idea (we have others who tell us they are interested as well) and I'm offering my help. We have some good ideas already, but it will take willing participants to make it all happen. I guess we can always try it for a year and see what happens. If it goes, it goes...and if not, we end it. *shrug*
Thanks again for all your help. It's been very helpful in sparking new ideas.
- Jen
Posted by Jim Erhardt on January 15, 2007 at 9:25 AM
Thinking out loud...
How about a "Central NY" regional/club forum? Maybe a new category of "club forums" on NPN to help clubs stay active?
Posted by Jim Goldstein on January 15, 2007 at 3:20 PM
I filled out the survey. Hope it helps. Best of luck.
Posted by Jennifer Geck on January 19, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Jim - There is a Northeast NPN forum here already. It's pretty quiet over there though. If you're ever in this area, let me know. I'd be happy to put something together.
Thanks JMG-Jim!
Posted by Jennifer Geck on January 19, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Thanks to everyone who responded! I received 20 replies full of information and ideas. I've placed the responses into an html file in case you'd like to get some ideas for yourself.
Discussion
10 repliesI have a survey set up here: SURVEY
The reason I'm asking is that I currently belong to two clubs. One is 30 miles south, the other 25 miles east.
One is barely surviving. It went from being an active club that collected dues and had elected officers, to dropping all of it. A few of us still meet (5-10 of us) each month but don't have any agenda. Some show a few photos and then we just chit chat about photography. The money that was collected all those years sits idle. Half of it was donated to a new art venture in town and we still have several (five?) thousand in the bank.
The other club I belong to is mostly older, retired men who enjoy shooting macros of flowers and fungi and some landscapes. They, for the most part, use film, and though they don't shun the digital users, you can tell they still aren't quite fully accepting of it. They will ask photogs, "So, what did you do to that in Photoshop? Are those colors the actual colors?" etc. There's nothing wrong with their age, what they use or what they shoot...several of us are just looking for something different. They are very organized and usually have good topics and I may stay in the group, but I would like to have other options as well.
A few of us are in the process of discussing starting our own local club. We have some of our own ideas already but are wondering what others think.
So, if you belong to a club, I would love to hear about it. If you don't belong to a club and still have thoughts on what your ideal club would be, just leave note them in the comment field (last question) of the survey.
Thanks so much for your help!!
I can hear where you're coming from & for the same reason I started my own club this year! I was driving over an hour south to go to a club that wasn't quite ready to adopt digital photographers. While the people were very friendly, I had nobody to talk to about digital stuff & could never participate in anything because they only used slides for their competitions.
So, I was frustrated with the drive anyhow & decided to start my own. It took a bit of help from the local art council. I joined the council & hence got a public meeting room for free. It took about 5 months to actually get some art council members interested in what I had to say but the response was better than I hoped.
We're a pretty small town so we don't have more than 25 members - in the winter we are usually even less due to the older 'snowbirds' heading south. But the smaller number is quite comfortable & when I advertised for it, I welcomed a healthy mixture. So we have new shooters with pocket cams, seasoned pros with lenses worth more than my car, black & white film, old, medium & even one highschool boy. A few 'die hard film shooters' & a few 'digital is the way of the world so get over your film' and everything in between. It is amusing sometimes, a bit frustrating sometimes but mostly its great.
I'll answer the rest in your survey
I too live in a lightly populated area. The nearest town that we do business in (about 7 miles) is only population 2,200. We live in a very scenic and touristy area and there are many photographers around the region. I don't know if they would be interested in a club or not so it's hard to say how many we would wind up with. It would be nice to have a fairly large group as it would increase the variety of subject matter and would also increase the number of photogs with varying backgrounds and techiniques.
We are just in the planning stages right now. Trying to brainstorm and get a plan together so we can move forward.
Thanks again for the response. I will try and share all the responses in a week or so. Maybe it will benefit some.
I truly wish for a club that accepts an image as the result of skill and technique. This could be either digital or film. Discussions of lighting composition timing etc are much more productive. If I knew of a club like this I would consider joining.
I am surprised that one club Jennifer mentioned has $5,000 in the bank!! It seems to me that dues should be used to rent rooms, pay for dinners and send out communications. Perhaps a slide and digital projector purchase. To my mind the budget should be balanced so the end of year statement shows zero profit zero debt.
Just my rambling $0.02
The nearest camera club to me is a $400, 1-hour flight away, the ASONP in Anchorage. So even though I belong I don't make it to meetings. They get my bucks ($40/yr) simply because I enjoy their newsletter and will make my small contribution to help them succeed. They have an active and ambitious schedule of outings, classes and guest speakers which appeals greatly, but doesn't justify the expense including rental cars, meals and hotels to attend. My loss all around. Their site should give you lots of ideas.
Here at home in our isolated location no club has been attempted, though there is enough interest I expect that one could be successful. In a nutshell, no one has had time to organize one, much less help run it.
At the same time a "club" of sort has evolved among some of us, revolving around approximately quarterly get-togethers over food. Short slide shows (10 images per person max) lead to about an hour of photo talk following the meal (usually potluck at someone's house). It's very informal yet satisfying to a bunch of busy folks. Spouses are always at the "meetings" too, so it's more of a social event around photography than anything approaching a formal club. Actually a whole lot of fun for a bunch of busy people who enjoy each other.
From that core we have developed quite the phone network for problem solving, as well as shooting trips never involving more than 4 people and often only 2.
Not as formal as what you are looking for, but in many ways much more satisfying for a bunch of very busy people who are already officers in a bunch of other clubs, commissions or boards. Even if you pull together a club, I'd look for something along those lines to reach the people you enjoy most.
Thanks for your response. I could be wrong, it may 'only' be $2,500 now since we gave half to a local art venture, but it's still a significant amount. They haven't collected dues in a few years and the money just sits there. I would like to call in a big name for a class or workshop, as Hank mentioned above...but seeing how there's so few of us and no one wants to organize anything, I don't see it happening. Roberson's Club out of Binghamton hosted George Lepp two years ago and it was really great. I guess they made quite a bit from it (though we'd only need to spend our reserve and not make a profit) and they were really organized. Had lots of great drawings for a variety of products and gift certificates and it was just really nice.
The club started to die out shortly after I joined. I think part of the reason, from what I can gather, were some people couldn't take constructive criticism well...or maybe they didn't want it. I'm not sure. Egos. Now it's "Oh that's nice." with little criticism. I personally would love it if they ripped my stuff apart (in a respectful way
Hank - Thanks so much for your reply as well. Wow, that would be quite a trip - and an expensive one!
My friend is taking the initiative in trying to get our club started. Myself and another agree that a new club would be a good idea (we have others who tell us they are interested as well) and I'm offering my help. We have some good ideas already, but it will take willing participants to make it all happen. I guess we can always try it for a year and see what happens. If it goes, it goes...and if not, we end it. *shrug*
Thanks again for all your help. It's been very helpful in sparking new ideas.
- Jen
How about a "Central NY" regional/club forum? Maybe a new category of "club forums" on NPN to help clubs stay active?
Thanks JMG-Jim!
Here's the link: LINK
Thank you again! We're meeting tomorrow to discuss the club. This has been so helpful already.