Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

ASMP (American Society of Media Professionals) held the first of its four weekend conferences Strictly Business 2 this past weekend in Los Angeles. In fact I just got in from the airport and decided that it was such a valuable experience that I’d immediately write a review about it. The last time the “Strictly Business” event was held was roughly 10 years ago and many of the then attendees have become “Strictly Business 2″ presenters including John Harrington and Judy Herrmann. Other presenters included Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua and Blake Discher.
See the Strictly Business 2 site for more presenter information.

As for the review I’ll cut to the chase… I thought this was the best money I’ve spent on a photo related conference or event and would recommend it to anyone interested in the business of photography. Why? There wasn’t one part of this conference that I didn’t find of value. Subject material was both informative and entertaining. On top of that the networking sessions were incredibly valuable giving attendees the ability to meet photographers of varying skill/experience level; all of whom were friendly and eager to share their knowledge and experiences. The best thing for those new to ASMP… you don’t have to be an ASMP member to attend.

What Was Covered

The event details can be seen here, but in short the program was as follows:

Friday there were private consultations with the presenters to review web sites, portfolios, paperwork, business practices, etc.

Saturday…
Richard Kelly & Susan Carr gave an “Industry Overview”

John Harrington, whose book “Best Business Practices For Photographers” I just read, discussed “Critical Tools for Your Photography Business”. Both his book and presentation are great.

Judy Herrmann discussed “Digital Essentials”

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua discussed “Marketing” specifically relating to photographers.

Blake Discher discussed “Pricing and Negotiating” which was incredibly helpful.

Sean Kernan gave an incredibly inspiring Keynote presentation with a bonus creative exercise that grabbed everyone’s attention.

Sunday…

The morning started off with a tough but helpful Negotiation training session.

The afternoon offered attendees the ability to attend two of four mini-workshops including:

“Marketing to Move Your Business Forward” by Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua

I attended this even though I planned at first to attend another mini-workshop and was glad I switched things up. Leslie gave photographers a good dose of tough love with a twist of humor. I’ll be thinking about and acting on her recommendations for sometime to come.

“Business Workflow to Bring You Profits” by John Harrington

I also attended this mini-workshop and got an insiders view to a successful photographers business workflow… something I’d likely never have seen with out becoming someone’s assistant or office manager. The real life examples and stories had my non-stop attention (at least until I had to leave 5-minutes early to head to the airport… sorry John).

“Taking Control of Your Career” by Judy Herrmann

I originally planned to attend this, but opted to attend Leslie’s workshop last minute instead and rely on the event notes to catch up on what was discussed

“Is Your Website Doing All It Can to Get You Work?” by Blake Discher

If there had been time I’d also have attended this workshop as well, but unfortunately there wasn’t. Blake’s Saturday presentation was incredibly helpful so I regret I missed this one.

Where Is It Happening Next?

February 22-24 in Atlanta
March 7-9 in Philadelphia
April 11-13 in Chicago

Additional Information

See John Harrington’s blog for attendee interviews

For other great reading I recommend John Harrington’s blog and Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua blog.

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