Next Meeting: Jan 7th Mike Larson speaking: 7:30PM

Our next meeting will be January 7th 2010!  Mike Larson will be our featured speaker, so this should be a big meeting.  Time and Location now finalized!

TIME: 7:30PM

LOCATION: home studio of Lisa and James, 1488 Harrison #203 (enter on 11th St.), SF, CA 94103

(note: this location is for this meeting ONLY, we’ll be back at Keri’s house for subsequent meetings, including the post-holiday party in Feb)

Mike’s Wedding Site

Mike’s Seminars

Mike will be doing a Live Night shoot Demo & Innovative talk: Excelling in client relationships, Trust, 100% referral biz, UN-commoditizing yourself, Mastering your art, Excellent times.

Details: We’ll do a LIVE Night (flash) shoot of a couple going over practical examples of how to relate to clients and get amazing images during a casual portrait shoot OR a wedding. Mike will share how he relates to clients to build trust, and confidence with your clients and yourself to separate YOU from other photographers. Its important to know where you stand in comparison from the rest of the industry Are you a commodity or a highly desired artist? How to become that unique artist you want to be. Then a final inspirational slideshow & stories with open Q&A

Mike will be meeting before hand in each city for breakfast or lunch to share his heart of where the industry is now, what trends are developing, what the future holds for successful photographers growing a business in todays economy. You are invited to come, hang out and participate in this dialogue and open conversation, as an intro the the Pictage sponsored evening!

Mike’s Bio: Developing his style from an editorial/catalogue photographer, and shooting surfing & lifestyle, Mike had the opportunity to work with multi million dollar ad campaigns which gave him a perspective on quality, mastering his craft, and real world marketing. Big clients such as Roxy, Bodyglove and Swell.com like these, don’t accept anything less than perfect. Shooting slides for immediate editorial demanded shooting right the 1st time. Traveling the Globe and getting things done required excellent management, and closing leads and maintaining excited clients became his number one job. in 2004 Mike jumped back into weddings with both feet and within 2 years had shot 80 weddings. His mindset to fast track and develop a big client base in 2 years paid off.

Now in the last 2 years Mike’s business has grown and so has his outlook on business & life. He has a team of 6 photographers who photograph 80+ weddings per year. Their volume has given them the freedom to grow and pursue exciting opportunities. His business has allowed him to travel the world. Using his business growth and buzz he built a brand new studio on the coast of California.

He maintains an amazingly blessed marriage with his sweet wife Rachel. Striving to always be learning, reading, sharing & encouraging others. He believes that one’s business should be a vehicle for a more abundant life. Have your business support your ideal lifestyle. Recently he has photographed weddings in Singapore, Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Hawaii & the West Indies as well as having a recent wedding published in InStyle Weddings and another upcoming feature on Style me Pretty.

“Business success & profits should be just scalable as your freedom in life”

Dec 2nd PUG: Tinywater Photography and building a unique brand, Part II

Hi Everyone!

Our next PUG meeting will be on December 2nd at 7:30 pm. Dan and Caroline from Tinywater Photography will be coming back to talk more about choosing a target market and branding; they gave an overview of this topic in October, but the emergency bridge closing and some other factors made attendance lower than it normally would have been.  So because this is SUCH an important topic for the coming year, Dan and Caroline are coming back to talk in more detail about creating a business that will stand out from the rest and build a solid client base that will keep steady no matter what the economy has in store for us in the coming year.  Dan and Caroline are incredible photographers with a really solid, fun, unique image and a lot to say on the subject of standing out in the crowded marketplace that is Northern California.

To check out Tinywater’s work and get a sneak preview of some of the things they’ll be talking about at the meeting, you can go to their website: http://www.tinywaterwedding.com/ One look at their site and you’ll see what I mean.

Hope to see you on the 2nd–it should be a lot of fun!

145 Mansell St.
SF CA 94134

Keri and Lauren

Sept 23 meeting: Search Engine Optimization and Social Media for Wedding and Portrait Photographers

NEW START TIME!  730PM (so the east bay people no longer have to fight traffic!  Yay!)

LOCATION: 145 Mansell Street, San Francisco CA (Southwest corner of the street, knock or ring at the small door set into the building on Mansell right next to the corner of Brussels St.)  Map here

Speaker: WADE HOLLOWAY

FolioMojo founder, internet marketer, SEM, SEO, photographer, dad, extreme skier, urban gardener, music lover, foodie, and  geek.

Wade will be teaching the how’s and why’s of Search Engine Optimization & Social Media for wedding and portrait photographers and studios.  You should walk away with something to take home and implement that will make an immediate difference to your online presence and hopefully your pocketbook.

Discussion will include:

Search Engine Optimization for photogs
-Why it’s important & how it can affect your bottom line
-Foundations of good SEO

Live Site critiques

Q&A

Giveaways and Prizes!

If possible, please bring a laptop to take notes and view your website.
This will be a hands-on ‘workshop’ style talk.

August 26 meeting: CANCELLED

Sorry guys, there was a miscommunication with the host and we are therefore not meeting at Keri’s house.  A couple of us are going to meet for dinner, call me at 510 882 1980 if you want to come.

Lauren

next meeting August 26

There was some talk of having another meeting in late July (after the Denis Reggie meeting on July 1) but due to a change in speaker schedule, we are going to skip it and resume in August.   August 26, to be exact–stay tuned for the topic.

Thanks everybody and see you then!

Lauren

San Francisco PUG Meeting July 1st with Denis Reggie!

Special Guest Denis Reggie will be at the July PUG!

Info: This event is FREE and open to all professional photographers we just ask that you RSVP (to the right)!

Time: 6:30PM

Location: Fort Mason Center in the Firehouse Room

Address: Marina Boulevard & Buchanan Street, San Francisco, Ca 94123

http://www.fortmason.org/directions/index.shtml

This very special PUG gathering features Denis Reggie up close and personal as he shares favorite images and stories from behind the scenes. He will detail his techniques, offer industry insights, and answer questions in a casual, living room style format. This is a Canon Explorer of Light event and is open to all working and aspiring wedding photographers.

ABOUT DENIS: Hailed by Town & Country as “the great wedding photographer of our day” and by Oprah Winfrey as “the best in the business,” Denis Reggie and his impact on wedding photography have become legend. Sensing the frustration of many brides with the posed look of traditional and pseudo-fashion wedding photography, he set out in the early 1980’s to refine and popularize the truly natural, editorial style he termed “wedding photojournalism.” The wedding photography industry has never been the same.

In the American PHOTO cover feature naming “The 10 Best Wedding Photographers in the World,” Denis Reggie was listed first.

At the request of the Smithsonian Institute this year, several Reggie photographs will become part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History in Washington.

His images have been featured on the cover of LIFE, and named in “Photographs of the Year” by People, LIFE, People, and Newsweek among other publications. He has been interviewed at various times as a guest on NBC’s Today show as well as Oprah! A Denis Reggie photograph of Oprah Winfrey and Jackie Onassis was featured on a program highlighting “Oprah’s favorite things.”

He has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, VH-1, E! Entertainment Television, CNN, and Fox in national broadcasts. He has also been the subject of feature stories in each of the major wedding and photography magazines, and in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and numerous other publications. His photographs are frequently used in books on weddings, etiquette, and photography including titles by Vera Wang, Letitia Baldridge and Town & Country.

Denis Reggie’s celebrity client list reads like a Who’s Who among America’s elite and includes Vera Wang, John Kennedy, Jr., Susan Lucci, James Taylor, Mariah Carey, Rudy Giuliani, Peter Jennings, James Garner, television anchor Campbell Brown, Alan Greenspan, Ted Turner, and Don Henley to name a few.

For Canon’s full calendar of events, go to www.usa.canon.com/dlc

How to reach Pictage’s CEO

Jim spoke at the PUG last night and he was great–he was smart, candid, and completely lacking in BS.  I am very excited to see the changes he’s bringing to the company and the ways in which they will help “Pictage fit to my business, rather (having to) make my business fit to Pictage.”

For those who missed out on attending last night, (or for anyone else who has questions, problems, or concerns) Jim has asked me to post his email and direct phone number: he encourages all of you to email or call him with your general suggestions, feedback, and/or issues, to help him make Pictage a better solution for all of us.

Email:  Jim@pictage.com

Phone: 310 525 1602

Jim also gave out his personal cel number at the PUG last night.  I’m not going to post it on the internet, but if you want it feel free to email me and you’ll have it.

Stay tuned for more info on the next PUG meeting, which will be a special meeting on July 1st at Fort Mason, featuring Denis Reggie!

MAY 27th 630PM PUG meeting: Pictage CEO Jim Collins will speak…and listen.

One of the advantages of being a PUG member is having the chance to directly influence the direction the company takes in the future–to make it more of you want, and less of what you don’t.  This meeting is going to be all about that.

If you haven’t heard of new Pictage CEO Jim Collins yet or read any of the things he’s written on the forums, now would be the time to check him out.  Jim is a breath of fresh air for this company.  He is candid and open about the ways Pictage needs to improve, and is welcoming of straight feedback and ideas to make it happen.  So far he has shown an ability to understand and connect easily with the photographers at Pictage; his presence at the company gives me (and a lot of other longtime Pictage users) faith that wrong turns are being corrected, and that Pictage as a whole is moving back toward the concepts of partnership, quality, and trust that it started with.

Here is an excerpt from one of his recent forum posts (emph. mine):

I spent the last two days in DC. I went for the PUG and to hear Denis speak, but I also went to get a chance to get out into the your world some and I’m so glad I did. Those who met with me directly, either at the lunch organized by Geoff and Michael in Bethesda or one on one really inspired me. I’m just fired up by your passion.

In these meetings I asked for and got direct feedback on where you feel Pictage can improve. The responses were pretty direct, but they really all boil down to two things…You need be able to trust Pictage with your customers and we need to do a better job of fulfilling our promise of making your life easier. From the examples I heard, it’s clear that we’ve got some work to do.

Here’s my commitment back to you. You keep telling me where we can improve and I’ll work to make sure it happens and communicate with you along the way. More than any other company I’ve run, Pictage is a partnership. Successful partnerships are built on trust. Partners feel safe with each other, even when things go wrong.

One of the folks I met with said that she felt that at some point in the last couple of years the light had dimmed a little at Pictage. She couldn’t really point to anything specific, but felt like the company was disconnected from her needs. Well, I’m here to connect, to be relevent, to be a friend, supporter, cheerleader, problem solver … partner. And I have about 140 GREAT people behind me who are making a renewed commitment to your success.

Someone asked me the other day what I wanted Pictage to be. I told her that was easy – a success factory. To be truly successful as a company we need to be committed first to your success. My time in DC brought that home. Thanks so much to all of you who took so much time out of your busy schedules to meet with me…your candor is the key to our success and I really can’t thank you enough for what was said.

I’ll be doing this a lot – with a PUG tour of my own coming up – and lots of intense one and one and group time for you to tell me what you think. I look forward to every conversation.

So come out to the PUG and meet Jim, and bring your problems, questions, ideas, and suggestions for how the company can change and evolve to suit your needs better.  PUG members have more influence as a group over the future of the company than in almost any other capacity…With a new, forward-thinking CEO and lots of new ideas coming in 2009, this is your chance to be heard.

Meeting date and time: Wednesday May 27th, 630PM

Meeting location: NEW!  This is our default location from here on out:

home of Keri Vaca, Small Miracles Photography

145 Mansell St.

San Francisco CA 94134
directions and map

PS. I will also be taking suggestions for future PUG meetings as well, so if you have something you’d like to learn about, a speaker you think could benefit the group, a company or vendor presentation you’d like to see, or if you yourself would like to present something to the PUG, please bring it to the meeting.   See you there!

PPS Denis Reggie is coming to San Francisco Wednesday, July 1st so mark your calendars!

Lauren

NEW PUG location for all future meetings

After 2 years, I am sorry to say that James and Lisa Sanders will be unable to continue to host the PUG meetings at their SF studio.   They did a fabulous job helping launch and maintain the group, and between their business and their baby daughter Elle it’s just become time for them to focus their energy on other things.  But I’m excited to announce that Keri Vaca and her husband have stepped up to the plate, and so all future meetings will now be taking place at their house in the Bayview area of San Francisco!  This is great because the new location is only about 5-10 mins from the old one.

Here is their address:

View Larger Map

145 Mansell St.

San Francisco CA 94134

Directions from 101 south:

Take the Paul Ave. Exit.

Go straight up the hill (that is actually Mansell)

(Mansell is a two way street divided by a median, we are on the down side)

Left on Brussells.
Left on Mansell. You will be in front of our house.  Parking is plentiful.

Ring the bell….come on in!  this is a single family house so it’s easy to find, and it’s the only house with a front door on the block.
The dates (4th Weds of every month) and times (630-830PM) of the meetings will remain the same as always.  Please join us on April 22 at 630PM for the next PUG meeting, the first one at this new location (agenda to be announced shortly).

Three great reasons to come to your PUG group this month!

Three great reasons to come to your PUG group this month!

1. Come for the information: Fab photographer Jules Bianchi is the guest speaker! She explains her talk this way: “I credit much of the success of my business to Pictage, and I use Pictage for almost everything. There are so many great products and programs at Pictage, and you may not be familiar with them all. Even if you’ve been with Pictage for a while, I can show you how to earn more money while spending less, and how to save time just by taking advantage of all that Pictage has to offer.

Some of the things my presentation will cover: — how to speed up your workflow — how to use Pictage’s full service album design to upsell your albums and get them out the door faster — how to use the remarkable products Pictage offers to earn more money — how to get the most out of the community website of forums, learning webinars, and online discussions. — how to use P3 and payment options effectively — how to use all Pictage to get the clients you really want!”

2. Come for the prizes: Not only will you get a great talk from Jules, but she is coming with PRIZES from Kubota Image Tools, Kolo, and Tamrac! There will be many chances to win! She’s also giving away the full set of her custom presets to a lucky winner!

3. Come for the discounts: Take advantage of having Jules in your area and get 10% off a Tea for Two Mentoring session if you book while she’s in town! Jules offers mentoring sessions on subjects ranging from shooting to branding to workflow…Email info@julesbianchi.com to schedule you session.

Find more information online at Jules Café. Its a place to find photography tips on shooting, networking, inspiration, & more. Make sure to visit http:/lwww.julescafe.com to enter the monthly contest – this month’s prize is a Kubota Image Tools fabulous flashdrive with all of Kevin’s actions and his new Dashboard. Click on “blog” and find the post with a photo of Jules’ dog, Olive, to enter the contest.

Learn more about jules and see her work at http://www.julesbianchi.com/blog

**photos courtesy of Jules Bianchi and Ann Hamilton

See you there!

Date: Wednesday March 25 2009 (usually the 4th Wed of every month)

Time: 630PM arrive and mingle, 7PM speaker begins

Address:

James Sanders Photography

1488 Harrison #203 (enter on 11th St.; type # 2 0 3 into the metal call box and wait to be buzzed in)

San Francisco, CA 94103

PS. Anyone who wants to can stick around after the meeting for drinks, to get to know Jules and other Pictage/photography community members in a more intimate setting.   Meetings usually end around 830-9PM and we will be going from the PUG location to a local bar or restaurant TBD.