President's Message

Well here it is, my first Presidents message as I enter my first month as President of the Professional Photographers Guild of Florida. I am pretty sure everyone in the PPGF knows me by now as I have been serving on the board for 7 years since joining the guild 8 years ago. I have been treasurer twice but never had the courage to move further up the ladder to finally lead the guild that has done so much for my photography career. I am actually very honored to serve all of you in this way and it gives me great satisfaction to realize how much all of you support me as I leave my mark on the PPGF. As I think back over the time I have been involved with the PPGF I can see everything from two sides. I remember seeing the work of so many photographers that truly amazed me. I never thought that I could be involved with such talent. But here it is years later and I see so many new photographers just starting out, learning and progressing and all of this really exemplifies what the PPGF is all about.

Over the years I have been witness to tremendous changes in the PPGF and the Photography industry overall. Today digital technologies have changed every bit of our studios from shooting to editing to billing to contacting our clients to internet delivery of our products. I think we can all agree that organizations like ours are more important then ever. The PPGF has gone through some growing pains just like most of us as these changes have rocked our industry. Gone are the sponsorships from major film companies to help publish the Gold Coast Exposure in printed form and our long running and highly successful "Flea Market". These have been replaced by The Gold Coast Exposure Online Edition the Digital Technology Trade Show. One part of our guild that has not been updated is the membership roster that was in place when I first joined. I remember 70+ members with half attending each meeting. Today we have less then 50 members and less then half attend regular meetings. This has to be our main focus during the year to finally complete the transformation of the PPGF. It's not just up to the board to promote the guild and find new members but every one of us needs to put in an effort. Let other photographers we meet know about the PPGF and how the PPGF has added to your knowledge as a photographer. As we build our membership back to 70 or 80 or 100+ members the guild will start to build on it's own. With more people each of us would only have to put in a little effort to make a big difference. With more members we could have committees to work on various project instead of a single board member. With more members our salon competitions would mean more with more members participating. With more members we could attract better sponsorship for better speakers to teach all of us more new techniques and technologies. When I first joined the PPGF was alone atop the various Florida photography guilds, now were mid pack at best.

The PPGF will once again set the standard for local guilds as our trade show grows. Within a few years will we be able to host a trade show that will rival the FPP. The support from various vendors and manufacturers has been spectacular and our second show last year was 50% larger then the first. I look forward to another big jump in size this year. With digital technologies advancing at an exponential pace the PPGF's Digital Technology Show is going to grow with right along with it. This show can be the flagship for the PPGF and make the PPGF the premier photography guild in Florida.

I once again want to thank all of our members for supporting me and I look forward to a very successful year.

Thanks,

Jon Laye