Convention - what did you think?

[Cecil]

Sheila and I have attended every year and enjoyed every one. We used to be the ones that came the longest distance (from the Shetland Islands) but such has been the success that there are people from all over the world. As far as I am concerned things could not be much better. The only small thing that happens every year is some of the speakers are not using microphones so are not easy for old men like me (56) to hear. For the price they charge, the food at the hotel could me better. Breakfast was good but eggs and bacon very overcooked. Tea and coffee always cold. And a few other simple things that could so easily be put right. However once again a great weekend - see you next year.

[Phil Jones]

Emailed

Dear Phil, Juliet and team

Just want to say that my first SWPP/BPPA convention was wonderful! I was so looking forward to it and it still surpassed my expectations. 
You do an amazing job, I saw so many inspiring, educational speakers (all of them) and checking out various products at the trade show was invaluable.

Many thanks
Charlie

[willibonks]

Dear Phil, Juliet and team

WHAT A SHOW!

An amazing thanks to one and all - not quite sure how you managed it  - but it worked brilliantly!

From the outset it was looking good - and being one of the first to speak - and thanks to all who got up early  - I was able to breeze around the show for the remaining days - answering more questions as they came up - it's always amazing what photographers will tell you for the price of a pint!

I have read a few of the posts about the niggles - and I have to say that the biggest was the wait at the bar - don't the hotel realise how much more they could have taken with just one other member of staff behind the counter...?  The rest of it - when you consider the amount of people that the show attracted - pales into the insignificant.  And the meal at the Sunday Bash was great - other conventions could learn from this!

Jules and Phil - Just Keep Doing It!   With the team of course...

Gary

[Phil Jones]

Emiled

Phil,

Thanks for the great show last week.

The event confirmed my decision to launch professionally in the next 12 months. Joining SWPP will be my first step Currently in the process of signing up with some of the training vendors who were there.

I learnt a great deal at the show just from the stands and everyone was so helpful.

Thanks for organising such an open and welcoming show for aspiring newcomers.
Will be back next year for the full three days and Masterclasses.

Best wishes for 2008

John

[Colin Jones]

More Comments:

Hi Jackie,

It was nice to meet you at the convention. I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to all those involved in my oppotunity to attend the convention and recieve SWPP membership. I feel as if a door has been opened to me, and attending the convention has filled me with even more excitement, passion and determination to succeed in photography.

Thanks for picking me!

Kind regards and best wishes for 2008

Charlie

[ciaranoneill]

Well done to Phil & Juliet,
Great weekend, great speakers, great trade show and great awards dinner. To all the moaners; when you enter a competition you should be prepared to go to the final even if you don't win, it wouldn't be much fun if only the winner turned up! As for the q at the bar, it just seemed like a good excuse to order a double! If I had a complaint it would be the quality of the judges... but thats just because I didn't win overall... only joking. A tough job well done.
Thanks again Phil, Juliet and team for a great weekend (and great prizes)
Ciaran

[Bohemia]

I think I missed out on a lot by not going to the business school. I feel about the convention like most kids feel about Xmas! It was good to meet new people and share information, even if I did get told off by a certain Irishman about my prices being too low!
Roll on the next one.

[Steve Fisher]

I have a few issues with the convention - my first convention with SWPP. Have listed as feedback for the organisers and discussion for the rest...

Hotel was awful! Accomodation basic, price excessive. Given that there was a SWPP delegate price, I paid more then their standard rack rate. Had to wait on average 1.5 hours for food in the evening - they must have know/been told that there were sessions going on passed 9pm/10am? Could't get food during the day, as I think nearly every seminar I attended overran. No food sources nearby/within 30 minute walk. Staff - when there were any, usually unhelpful. Stay in a lot of hotels and this one has always been pretty bad.

Business School - With hindsight, I guess this was pitched at the amateur to semi-pro guys, which I don't have any problem with as this I understand is the majority of the attendees and membership base. However, I do have a problem with the literature/advert for each speaker as I found the majority not fulfilling the outlines they gave which is what I used to select them. Really annoying to get up in the small hours to travel to an 8am seminar to find some one talking about something completely irrelevent to me.

Trade show was ok, noted a few points made by others - a day just for the delegates who attended all week would have been nice/extra reason to buy the full ticket - actually doesn't need to be a day, just a couple of hours in the evening after they set up. As a general comment to the exhibitors, and as mentioned by someone else, talking to your reps stinking of alcohol had me about-turning on a couple of occasions - keep it for the evening guys...

The print competition was very enlightening - I found myself completely engrossed by it. Davids Williams asked the audience to encourage SWPP to continue with this (apparently not usual to do in front of audience) so, yes, SWPP be encouraged, found it very useful - not because I am or have entered before, but hearing the view of those in the know about images was some of the best training I got from the whole week.

Gerald Hardage - Excellent / work is on its own level, very interesting guy, hope I can be as inspired as he is when I'm 70!
David A Williams - incredible/inspiring! Clearly the best speaker for me, has changed my photographic life! Highly intelligent man with a unique and completely refreshing insight into the whole point of photography - if you didn't see him, see him soon. Be prepared to come away depressed, as when you look in the mirror he holds up to all of us, you may find you were doing it all wrong! - like I was.

Was very disappointed with David Beckstead - one of those I really wanted to see.... Still confussed as to why he is spoken of as the world best wedding photographer, his presentation and DVD are the same - nothing new - would appear to be 80% models - not sure what that is teaching anyone - I guess I just didn't get it. Very nice guy though and funny, bumped into him a couple of times and found him very pleasant....

General comment - just because a speaker is a sccessful photographer doesn't always make them a sucessful speaker! Basics like controlling time / audience participation use of 'Powerpoint' etc - SWPP should encourage the new guys to take some training in this area - at least the use of powerpoint!

Suggestion to organisers - how about a workshop for experienced pros, no disrespect to anyone starting out as we have all been there - believe me, it's just to get better you have to be challanged.

So for me a mixed bag, if I didn't come across David A Williams and Gerald Hardage, I guess my frustration cup may have boileth-over, but those guys were worth every penny and with hindsight I would have paid three times more....

Sorry if I got up anyone's nose, but hey, that's the point of forums and I tend to shoot from the hip 

[ciaranoneill]

Hi Visual chaos
We must have been at a different convention! For such a central hotel I thought it wasn't bad. We only ate in the hotel once and had no major wait. We went to a great Thai place about 3-4 mins walk away in one direction  and found a couple of places in the other direction too! Maybe we were just lucky!
We also stay in a lot of hotels too so we know to check around for the best price.
As for the masterclasses etc I ve always found it better to go in with an open mind. A lot of seminars tell us stuff we already know but I think if you can't pick up at least something you're really not trying! Sometimes a little tip from an expert can make a huge difference.
As for the speakers all I can say is I'm looking forward to your next talk Visualchaos. When can we see you in action?

[Steve Fisher]

Hi Ciaran

No we went to the same conference, its just that we have different opinions on it - to my knowledge we are still aloud to have different opinion aren't we?

As for trying, I took over 20 pages of fullscrap notes, attended over 35 hours of presentations from 8am in the morning to nearly 10pm at night - I thought I was trying very hard personally, and will by also 'trying' a lot more over the year with other presentations/seminars. As I said I found it a mixed bag.

I think the question from the thread was "Convention - what did you think?" which I answered, but you seemed more interested in my view than you own.... Just an observation... anyway you can have the last word, you are a much better photographer than me

[Andy Cubin]

Folks,

I started this thread for all of us to openly air our views on the convention.  One reason was hopefully for Phil and the team to get positive and negative feedback so that refining could take place for next year.

One reason I did NOT start the thread was for individuals to openly critiscise other's point of view.  We should be all entitled to offer our tuppeny worth without suffering a blasting for it.

Visual Chaos, thought you got it pretty nailed.  Ciaran -shame you had to do that.

Let's leave the personal slagging to lesser folk eh?

[Steve Fisher]

.... actually, on reading back my original post it was amiss of me to not say that despite the 'mixed-bag' feeling I had, that I would definately be comming back next year as the price SWPP charge for the conference is so extremely low and you can't beat it for value for money. I feel that I should have actually put that at the end of my post.