January 2007

President's Message

2007 Resolutions?

Got too may leftovers from 2006.

As I write my first article for 2007, I’m in a hotel room in Phoenix Arizona for the annual Wedding Merchant Business Academy Convention (MBA). Yep, it’s freezing out here for this Florida boy.  Why so far to attend a convention you ask? Simple. To keep my marketing edge current and to immerse myself in the ideas and new technology that is sweeping our industry.  Bottom line is as a professional photographer/businessman if I’m not growing and expanding my knowledge base, my competitors sure are.

If I had to describe my 2007 resolution to you it will sound cliché, but here it is anyway.  CHANGE IS GOOD! Lots of photographers resist change because it takes them out of their comfort zone or it channels them in a direction in life they feel inadequate to manage.  However, I’m learning that discomfort and inadequacy are the schoolmasters who help to dissipate my biggest fear of all--failure. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

One of the MBA lecturers, Ash Buckles, made a startling statement to attendees when he said, “In the near distant future email will be replaced by blogs.” Despite this fact, and to prove a point, he asked how may of us knew what a blog was and had written one.  About eight people out of a hundred stood up and only two of those had written blogs for over a year.

 Now, instead of saying, “ I don’t understand this new potential technology and I don’t want to learn it”, here’s what I resolved to do.  1) A Goggle search on blogs when I got back to my hotel room, 2) Check out every books on “blogs” in the bookstore, and 3) Pick Tom Collins’ brain (Mr. Techno) on the subject when I returned home.  I preferred to turn my “intellectual fear” into “experimental excitement”.  (Incidentally, I highly recommend, The Rough Guide to Blogging by Jonathan Yang.  I completed the book on my 4-hour flight back to Fort Lauderdale.  Good stuff!).

As I look back on 2006, I now realize that my emotional belief that “CHANGE IS GOOD!” could have been a rallying cry for PPGF.  As a sidebar, I’m telling you that the Executive Board went through a lot of changes to pull off the successes we experienced last year. No, not all of them panned out, but the majority of the changes turned out to be pretty darn good.

With that said, here’s how you and I can make 2007 the most significant year for being a member of PPGF.  Anticipate (no expect) change, embrace it with gusto, and don’t be afraid to share your success with others.  So, whatever may come your way in 2007 remember:  “CHANGE IS GOOD”.  I hope to see you at every event that we have scheduled for your learning pleasure.

Enjoy!

Willie L. Hill, Jr., CPP

President

January Program

"Creativity In Digital Imaging" Positive Retouching Without the Negatives with Fred Brinson

Wednesday, January 17th at 7:30 pm; Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale

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