I attended Strictly Business 3 in Los Angeles put on by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) in January. Wow, what an enlightening and rewarding event! I’ve been a member of ASMP since 1994 but this was the first national event I’ve attended and I can’t believe I waited this long. All the speakers, most whom are working ASMP members themselves, were very good to excellent. I really appreciated ASMP president Richard Kelly. In addition to being a natural at impromptu speaking I watched him introduce himself to new and young members making all feel welcome. I think this is a great characteristic for an organizational leader to have.
Speaking of new members, I was expecting the majority of attendees to be mostly middle aged guys like me. I was pleased to see a fair amount of younger shooters and women there and interested in learning professional practices in our industry. Strictly Business has its own blog where you’ll find a few more articulate posts than this one about the LA event. As in any workshop or seminar, you get out of it what you put in. This is best $250 business investment you can make. The added camaraderie and making of new friends and acquaintances was icing on the cake.