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Promoting the Competitions

R

Randy Parrish CPF

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2,210
Loc
Ann Arbor Michigan
Company
Parrish Fine Framing
This is just a suggestion and I am looking for feedback regarding announcing the winners on social platforms like The Framer's Corner, Findapictureframer.com, The Grumble, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram....then using the photos to promote the PPFA.

And I am more than happy to make this happen as Chair of the Consumer Awareness Committee. I feel that when we announce the winners, at the same time, we should have professional quality or at least reasonably well lit and strait photos of the entries with the announcement. We are the "Professional Picture Framers Association" I think we need to represent ourselves to the public as such.

People want the results right away and right now what is being released is either the list of winners or cockeyed photos from IPhones. Trust me I am not criticizing anyone, I know how hard everyone works, but we are in the age of instant awareness and I am sure we have not thought everything through. I think we can start now and think about what we need to make this happen, Consumer Awareness can take care promoting/announcements and let the Competition Board take care of the real work.
 
I like the idea of simultaneous announcements. As for photographs, there are a lot of possible solutions if we make it a priority & figure out how to get it done. One idea that immediately comes to mind is that WCAF probably has a professional photographer on the show floor and it might be possible to get them photographed that way. It might be possible to set up a mini on-site studio that was properly lit, etc, and have each entry hung briefly for a photograph as they are unpacked. Or we might be able to work out a way to hire a PMA certified photographer that is based in Vegas.

I don't think it can be done with existing staff & resources.

It would have to be carefully worked out with the competition board & the judges, but I think it is worth doing. Having some really good photographs might make it possible to bring some national press to the competition.
 
I like the idea of doing it at the time of unpacking. This could also serve dual purpose - to document/record the condition received. (in case of shipping damage claims, etc)

This would also give judges some control, so nothing is prematurely leaked?

Mike
 
I agree with Randy. Shonky photos taken on a phone do not give a professional impression! They may be OK for friends, but not for a professional organisation!

Some photographic knowledge and competence is needed to take good photos of frames, but it's not difficult. Photographs of all entries could be done in about an hour or two. I photographed most entries in Anaheim in less than that, but it was hand held with no extra lighting.

The winners and runners up could be edited, reduced to an appropriate size on a laptop at the venue in 30 mins or so after the announcements have been made or better still when the judging is complete. The photos would have already been taken prior to that!

Maybe there is a member of PPFA who would and could do this?
PPFA is part of PMA so why not approach them and see if a member photographer would do it for nothing. Or maybe you could trade some professional framing for some professional photography?


If not I would gladly come and do it for you for the cost of airfare and accommodation! I could teach my class on Photographing Finished Frames at the same convention! I do crack me up sometimes! LOL.
 
Kai Vanuffelen said:
All good comments.
How about the entrants taking photos of their framed pictures before they are sent to the competition? That way no photos need to be taken during the competition. Entries are accompanied by a memory-stick.
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Kai, although this could be done, I believe the issue is the quality of the pictures can vary significantly, depending on how the photos are taken. If entrants were taking the pictures, some might be on phone cameras, and others really great cameras.
 
Mikki Kavich said:
I would love to see this done Randy. I think we once did a better job of this because PPFA would give out a DVD with the photos of the entries.
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Once they are online, anyone can click and download them. The thing is, good pictures of the convention and show need to go out when all the show buzz is happening, the organic Facebook numbers are huge for the PPFA around the show, we have been reaching almost 3500 to 4500 people with out spending a dime. Then the pictures can still be used in online or print promotion after, social media has a short lifespan.

I have been trying to set something up to do this in my own shop, having some people on board with more camera experience would be helpful. I did notice that the lighting in the convention center is terribly dim, hard to take decent photo of anything.
 
Randy Parrish said:
I have been trying to set something up to do this in my own shop, having some people on board with more camera experience would be helpful. I did notice that the lighting in the convention center is terribly dim, hard to take decent photo of anything.
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That's why you need some pro lighting to take photos of entries, Randy. One or two lights would probably do the job and they don't need to be super expensive. You could try to get some help from a pro photographer in your area or seek a member of PMA.
 
We do have an official PPFA photographer that takes photos of the competition pieces. This would need to be coordinated before the convention with the photographer. We do not need to be adding additional people just using the resources we already have available. This is something we need to get on the to do list for next year along with a timeline of when to start coordinating.

We need to set up something after the winners are announced to have a good photo of them with their piece (or a representative from the chapter with the piece). This year the announcements were done at the luncheon instead of the floor due to the complaints of noise in the past. We just need to keep working on the details!

Robin
 
Fran has been the official photographer for the last couple of years. She is not volunteering.
 
I stand corrected, Fran is great for that purpose, FMO, but we get a lot more exposure on Facebook and other media. In the beginning of the month we average 2000 organic page views, during the convention I was constantly posting for the PPFA, we skyrocketed to 15,000 views to 20,000 as the convention went on. All free exposure.

Except for the new camera phone I went out and bought yesterday.
 
".............I like the idea of doing it at the time of unpacking. This could also serve dual purpose - to document/record the condition received."

Mike,

This is exactly how we did it this year. Photos were taken of dinged packages first, and when everything was unpacked and set up, a photograph was taken of each piece -- knowing we would need photos of the winning pieces for the awards ceremony this year. Photos / framed entries were identified only by their assigned entry number from a label stuck to the table. REMOVABLE labels were then attached to each piece. (I did check removable labels at home first -- 3 days on Museum glass -- no damage.) -- Better than the old "toe tags" that come off or get all bent up with moving the pieces????

I am NOT a photographer, but did the best I could with Photoshop Elements on my laptop -- up until 4 a.m. getting the reports, photos, and PowerPoint ready for the luncheon the next day. (I did find some "stretched" photos and have since fixed them.) I hope no one thinks all of this behind-the-scenes stuff happens by magic, tho I wish it did.

"This would also give judges some control, so nothing is prematurely leaked?" Mike[/QUOTE]

Just so everyone knows -- when judging is finished, the winners are lined up in order on the table. The judges see only the entry numbers -- and even then they do not know WHO the winners are. They find out the next day -- just like everyone else. Competition wouldn't be the same without the suspense -- and unfortunately some people can't keep a secret.
 
The cost of a photographer is in the budget for the convention. So if it was not Fran it would be another photographer that is hired to do the pictures.
 
Linda Pujo said:
I am NOT a photographer, but did the best I could with Photoshop Elements on my laptop -- up until 4 a.m. getting the reports, photos, and PowerPoint ready for the luncheon the next day. (I did find some "stretched" photos and have since fixed them.) I hope no one thinks all of this behind-the-scenes stuff happens by magic, tho I wish it did.
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It's great that you have put in such a huge effort, Linda, and everyone including me appreciates your excellent efforts! If you are not a photographer and are spending all that time taking and editing photos, etc, some of your workload could be lightened if a professional photographer had been employed to shoot the entries using professional equipment and setup. Professional lighting dramatically reduces editing time and the photos would need little or no editing. Possibly just resizing.
Please know that I am not criticising you or anything you have done. It really should not be your responsibility to photograph and edit competition entries for display to the world!

Robin Gentry said:
The cost of a photographer is in the budget for the convention. So if it was not Fran it would be another photographer that is hired to do the pictures.
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I wonder if a professional photographer was actually used? There wasn't in 2010 in Anaheim.

After searching PPFA site and TFG I discovered photos of the placegetters only. They do not appear to be pro photos:
On the Find a Picture Framer page? This seems to me to be an illogical place for competition photos! Print comp photos are on a link at the top of the page! Where are the Open comp photos? There they are at the bottom of the gallery list!

Facebook - Same photos as on the Find a Picture Framer page. Not professional photos!

A professional organisation needs to appear to be professional and that's not the impression I'm getting from any of this. Non-members might be getting the same impression!
 
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