The WPS Blog

Be sure to check out the WPS calendar and sign up for an hour long chat session with Karen Boardman, the WPS IP attorney.  She'll be discussing copyright briefly as well as going over the WPS privacy policy as that's been a hot topic as of late.

Make sure to RSVP here!

http://weddingphotog...an-ip-attorney/

Source: Late night chats - 5/3/2013 - 8pm

Source: New name, same great taste!

One of the changes we have been discussing for the past several months has been the name of our wonderful group! The "Wedding Photographic Society" has been very apt but limiting and not as accurate as it could be considering the vast majority of our members are also portrait photographers. We have also gained a lot of attention from a large group of very talented portrait only photographers but the current name didn't encompass their business models.

To make our groups name more accurate, we have now officially changed names, Our new name (which, admittedly, is a very small change), is:

The Wedding & Portrait Society

The content, meetings and everything you know about the WPS is staying the same but we want to make sure our portrait photographers know we have them in mind.

We'll be slowly moving over everything to the new domain and name but you will always be able to reach us at the following web addresses:

www.thewps.com
www.weddingphotographicsociety.com
www.weddingportraitsociety.com

We'll be following up with more information soon but, in the meantime, welcome to your new home at the Wedding & Portrait Society.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY TRIAD WPS!

What an amazing & spectacular meeting last night for the first The WPS Triad Chapter meeting. Thank you Triad photographers for welcoming The WPS into your community and we are thrilled that you have joined the family. A lot was discussed at the meeting regarding what to expect from your local chapter along with The WPS as a whole. We are here to serve you and help you grow as photographers and in turn you help us grow stronger united.

Here are some key questions which were asked by the group:

Are the meetings free to attend?
Yes, all monthly meetings are free to attend to all levels of photographers. All photographers regardless of their photographic experience is welcomed and embraced. We all can learn from one another and make our community and businesses stronger.

How many people / photographers attend WPS meetings?
That number varies depending on the discussion topic selected by the group. It can be anywhere from 15 to 60 photographers.

What makes this different than other groups? We get together often so why do we need The WPS?
Content, content, content equals education and growth. The group is organized and delivers educational content monthly which can directly affect your business. Meet-ups are nice but gathering with a designated purpose to better your business is always better.

Does it cost any money to be a member of The WPS?
At this time, no. However, a minimal membership fee will apply to help us offset costs in the near future. At this point we are kicking around an annual membership due of $20 to $25 to help keep The WPS machine moving.

How many chapters are there at this time?
We have the Raleigh Chapter, Wilmington Chapter and now the Triad Chapter. There will be more chapters opening in different market areas due to the positive organic nature of our group.

Who will be our Chapter leaders for The Traid?
At this time Jonathan & Renee McCardell tagged with the responsibility. However, they will need others to help organize and help with logistics for each meeting. The Traid WPS needs one or two more individuals who wish to truly give to the photographic community. Please contact them if you are interested in being a servant leader.

How long have you, The WPS, been around?
The group started off with four photographers talking business in 2005. The WPS was officially organized in 2009 by a collection of Raleigh based wedding photographers.

How many members are there?
At this time we have 947 members on Facebook and an equal amount who have joined us on the forum (where the good stuff is located).

What does The WPS offer the member?
Well, first of all a positive community to bounce ideas around an amazing forum which generated over $75,000 in 2012 for wedding referrals, monthly educational meetings, contests (photographer of the year honors), forum chat room, educational information on The WPS blog, an annual convention / workshops in August to name a few. There are many other benefits but these are just the tip of the iceberg.

The above questions were a snippet of what was talked about during the meeting. Remember the Triad Chapter is YOUR group to make into something amazing just like we have in Wilmington and in Raleigh. Trust and character play a large factor when becoming member of this unique group. Welcome to the family Triad WPS!

As part of the ongoing ideal to grow the WPS, we partnered with 3 other organizations this year for our holiday party.  Instead of announcing the 2012 WPS Photographer of the year at a private event, we teamed up with the Raleigh, Durham & Chapel Hills best & brightest wedding vendors to announce it to over 200 people in the industry.  This give our POTY a much higher profile and gives the WPS much higher visibility with the industry leaders.

The event was, well, over the top with a Vegas Themed event, dancers, roulette, blackjack, unbelievable lighting, an Elvis impersonator and tons of industry professionals looking to have a great time!

Phill from Twenty One Films was on hand to document all the excitement and released this incredible video from the event!  This event is open to ALL WPS members so, if you like what you see you should make plans to come for next years party!

Hey Everyone!  Some of the things we do behind the scenes are never seen and, at other times, they are.  This is one of those times where the behind the scenes work has really paid off and you, as WPS members, are going to benefit!  Now this is primarily for the Raleigh WPS members so, if you are in the area, please read on.

Rockerdown Studios has a new studio "co-op" in Cary that is open to rent for all photographers.  I stopped by to check it out last week and met Rusty, the owner, and chatted a bit about their capabilities.  Each studio setup is pretty standard but they already have seamless rolls, strobes, cool lights and an assortment of props.  The coolest thing about this is they will rent this out either on an ad-hoc basis, as a "co-op" or even let you use the space for meetings (complete with your work on the walls, slideshow, etc).

So, how does this help you?  Rockerdown Studios has graciously offered an awesome deal exclusive to ONLY WPS members.

50% off annual or Executive membership fee. (Expires 4/26/2012).  This is good for 2 weeks only!!!

20% discount on yearly membership fees

You can learn more about their co-op here:  http://coop.rockerdo...m/studio-co-op/

Please contact Rockerdown Studios for more information and be ready to provide your WPS username to get in on this great deal!

Source: Exclusive deal for Raleigh WPS members - Deal on studio co-op

After our Tuesday monthly meeting, I had a suggestion on the suggestion box.  Make it anonymous.  So here is how it works.  No member can see your post, only you can see your own.  The forum admins can also see your post (if we couldn't, we could never respond) but that's it.  The topic will not show up in the topic list nor will it show up in the "latest" posts.  In other words, whatever you say/request in that forum will be anonymous to all members.

With us bringing our spiffy new home up to speed, we have a great opportunity to help promote you, our valued members, and your knowledge to the photography community at large.  We have a "content" system setup where you can write an article in the forum and we can post it in the article database.  This can be on any subject you want but instead of asking a question, you need to educate about a topic, any topic, that you think would be of use to both help WPS members, but those who are not members yet.

Yes, this is a win/win.  We get good content from our members that helps drive people here, you'll get a link on the article back to your website (good for SEO) and get your name out there as an authority on a topic.

Rules:
1 - The WPS staff reserves the right to approve any article before it is posted.
2 - If it is deemed editing is needed before publication, the WPS staff will work with the member to edit the article.
3 - You give the WPS irrevocable permission to post the article on our website.
4 - The article can contain one link to your website to give you credit (or for people to find out more information about you).
5 - This article must be written in the "giving" spirit.  No sales, no dangling carrots to get more information, etc.  In other words, it must be written in the spirit of the WPS.

So, interested?  If so, please message me or email us with your idea PRIOR to writing it so we can approve (and make sure there are no duplicates).

Look forward to everyone showing their stuff!

Source: You wanna be a star?

Hey everyone!

One of the things we'vebeen debating behind the scenes is how to make the most relevant content for each region in such a fashion that gives everyone the flexibility to access all the information while keeping it hidden enough so you don't have to scroll thru things.  In other words, quick access to relevant information with the flexibilty to find other, not as relevant (but important) information should you want to.

A prime candidate is the location database and help wanted forums.  These are both great forums but we've heard from many members that it should be segmented.  I also realize that many people may not care so much and all I am hearing are the more vocal folks.  So, to try and get a better feeling for how important this is, I've got a poll asking how to best segment it, if we need it done at all.

So, the choices are specific to the help wanted & location forums.

Do it by permissions.  It means you ONLY see your local area content and cannot view anywhere else.  This is the cleanest option but you won't see anyone elses stuff - bad if you want to travel.

Do it by folders, so each chapter or region will have its own sub-forum.  Good for seeing info outside of your area but when we are at 100 chapters, it may get unwieldy and more changes will be needed.

Don't do it at all

Source: POLL - Chapter forum segmentation

I want to be the first to welcome you to the new & improved WPS forums!  There are tons & tons of features here and we'll be adding more soon!  Please look around, kick the tires and enjoy yourselves!  I wanted to point out a few very cool features:

First of all - please login using your OLD userid & password.  If you cannot remember it, please use the recovery system (which works now).

Chat - This is a 50 person chat room that only members can see.

FB Integration - You can "like" stuff in the forums and it will populate your FB page.  To use this, you either need to select the "login with facebook" from the main screen, or edit your profile and setup your facebook account under the "facebook" tab.  It can import your FB profile photo as well, if you like.

The calendar!  Finally!!!  A centralized place we can all see the events going on.  The chapter leaders and WPS leaders have the ability to post up meetings so make sure to follow that calendar.  As we grow, we may split off into regional calendars to keep it cleaner.

Notifications - you now are setup to get notifications when someone replies to a post, quotes a post and alot more.  

The facebooked skin!  At the bottom of the window, you'll see a "change theme" link.  Try out the "facebook" theme..  pretty darn cool.

As I said, we have more coming soon as well.  Stay tuned and enjoy our new home!

The WPS Admin team.