where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Hey, just curious, do any of you run photo clubs?
This isn't going to turn into a plug for the club I am part of, but we're having some trouble keeping a decent attendance (high attendance = more funding from the school).
Actually, we have no funding at all right now.
I was thinking about starting a Flikr group and maybe doing some workshops on the basics (composition and tech stuff, but not Photoshop, I'm no good with that stuff.)
Any ideas guys?
It's very difficult running an organized club. It's hard to get people's schedules to match for meetings and it's hard to keep interest/membership going. First I would suggest that you define who you are targeting with your club.
If it's just for students then make it more than just a social networking thing or just about workshops. Not everyone will be interested in every workshop and they are often hit or miss. Sometimes you'll put a lot of effort into organizing one and then no one shows up. Other times you'll get lots of people when you weren't planning on so many.
Photo contest are a good way to spread the word about your club but be prepared for a lot of work if you want it done right. If you use a photo contest to raise money for your club then make sure you follow your schools rules on cash handling and fundraising.
Flickr is a great tool for starting up a club but again it's hard getting people's interest and schedules to match. People who meet on Flickr are more interested in shooting somewhere or something interesting and aren't really there to meet every month.
I've never ran any but I belong to some. Cost are always covered by the members for the different shoots and etc.I've never seen anyone charged for memberships but the shoots vary from $0 to walkabout shoots, to $200 for model shoots and etc.
Normally when I see composition and tech stuff taught, is by the one chosen by the group to lead the outing. I've always enjoyed doing them and the learning curve is really good. Only problem I've seen is when too many show up but normally that's not the case.
Hope this helps you and good luck on running your club.
where is this club .. ?? is it part of a school?
I am a member of a camera club..(was a committee member but didnt have time) but its open to public and is part of the national association of photographic clubs..
Yours post sounds like its part of a school. so I will direct my comments to that. When I was in school our photographic club ( yeah i was on the committee too :-) then) had a fair number of members. we had a lot of associations with the other clubs and we helped them by covering their events etc. we also worked with the school magazine as photo journalists. which published our articles and photos and photos of the various events from the other clubs etc. In our meetings we basically shared resources and ideas from our various shoots and experiences. Also provided workshops (equivalent to photoshop techniques etc.. these days) for any interested members or non members eg: dark room sessions for curious friends etc. (the girls were especially welcome :-) )
School Club activities need to be much more than just about the main subject (lol! I was very active in 7 clubs at school, including being the president of the largest school club, to the detriment of my studies! ) it needs to help develop social skills, organisational skills, learning to work in committees. Serving the community etc.. hope this helps.
It's always best to join an established local or national club then it is to try to start one up on your own. Do you have a good faculty sponsor backing your effort up? Faculty sponsors will make or break a campus club. It also depends on where you live. Bigger cities have more going for them then smaller towns. The more like minded students in your area the better the club membership. All of the clubs I belong to are national and come with lots of benefits. What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by forming your own club?
I was part of a club in Seoul South Korea that has links to flickr. It was great with day trips and comments provided to uploaded photos. Competitions run with local shops in the city and a D90 was given away one year. People come and go and like Niko mentioned its tough with everyones different schedules conflicting all the time. I started graduate school recently so I have no time anymore with two jobs as well. They are quite interesting and informative though NSX. Why not give it a go and try starting one up? :)
Thanks for all the thoughtful suggestions- yes, it is tied with my school. It was just recently started up, and no, I am not president so I'm basically more free.
But from the one meeting I have attended, the club has a major issue with getting people and events to keep attendance. We have so few members that I became a board member just by default- no one ran against me.
I'm trying to figure out why. I think the major reason is that people think you need a DSLR to do some good photography, but that's only partly true.
It will certainly hold secondary position in my life. My academic career is way more important, and if exams and stuff come, I will not sacrifice my grades for the club.
I know a member who is part of the school newspaper. His mentor basically told him not to go into the newspaper.
You may also open a group in a social network like Facebook (or/and in g+), this place can be used to upload low-res photos and let the students/members see the work done, also it is possible to schedule events, etc.
I belong to a bunch of clubs that work in this way :)
Thanks, rbid- we have a Facebook group for meetings, extra questions and stuff.
We had our second meeting tonight, it was a bit loud and there were far less Nikon users than Canon. We were probably outnumbered maybe 3 or 4 Canon to 1 Nikon user.
Overall, it was successful, but I think our main issue is that not everyone has a DSLR, and although it helps, you really don't need a DSLR for great photos.
Another issue is getting events that people would be interested in- not everyone likes portraiture, and also not everyone knows how to operate a DSLR. A lot of people bought DSLRs but don't know how to use them.
One major major problem- we have absolutely no funding from the school. The group has applied twice to the school in the past, and probably because of some sabotage, we don't get funding, and there's nothing we can do about it.
One glimmer in the dark- the school football team is interested in shots. One major issue- we're not sure how much we can mooch off the school football team. Also, sports photography isn't something I'm interested in.
But yeah, just a bump in the thread. I don't have high hopes. But we did split up the large group into basically Nikon group and Canon group to better explain the features. Didn't really work out, but I did like that our group had less people so I could give more individual attention when talking about photo basics.
By the way a quick edit-
Yesterday I just found out that most of the e-board- president and secretary mostly, don't know how to use their cameras. The president herself asked me, how do you shoot in manual mode? I feel as if the meter doesn't work.
A huge WTF moment came up in my head. She has a D3000, it's a decent camera. But as the president of the photo club, are you serious you have no idea how to utilize the overexposure/underexposure feature of manual? I mean, I barely use manual mode, but I figured it out in probably less than an afternoon. And afterwards, the treasurer asked me, how do you turn off the beep in a Canon Rebel XS. In the menu, it's in the first layer.
Holy crap, I have reason to doubt that this will be a successful club. The president was concerned that before she gets into more serious photography, she must teach new members PASM. So basically she only knew PAS 10 minutes before the 2nd meeting started, and before this she's been running the club for 2 years before.
No wonder why we can't get funding.
NSX-Type R seriously why don't you just put up a flyer on the notices board in the student lounge advertising your own group? State the kind of the ideas and what your group would be all about and go from there. It sounds like this 2 year president run club is pretty mickey mouse resulting in needless stress.
I've co-created a photo club at my school, and it seems my situation is like NSXType-R.
We haven't had our first meeting yet (next monday) but judging from a facebook poll there's almost twice as many Canons as Nikons, and many don't have a dslr...Which isn't a problem but they might get the idea that they MUST have a DSLR. And though he's knowledgeable and has an internship..it doesn't help that our Canon leader will be using a 5dII and L glass...
Almost no funding from school either, so we don't have any incentives to join or even know which events are possible. Printing fliers and a poster pretty much took away our budget for now.
It seems that half the time we'll be teaching how to use a camera anyways (no photography class at my school).
kanuck said:
NSX-Type R seriously why don't you just put up a flyer on the notices board in the student lounge advertising your own group? State the kind of the ideas and what your group would be all about and go from there. It sounds like this 2 year president run club is pretty mickey mouse resulting in needless stress.
Too much effort- I thought this one was going to be okay. I honestly don't mind dropping out. I was hoping that it might be a leadership role for the resume and I'd like to do something I'd enjoy. But I really don't care, especially when I have an exam tomorrow.
iDunno said:
I've co-created a photo club at my school, and it seems my situation is like NSXType-R.We haven't had our first meeting yet (next monday) but judging from a facebook poll there's almost twice as many Canons as Nikons, and many don't have a dslr...Which isn't a problem but they might get the idea that they MUST have a DSLR. And though he's knowledgeable and has an internship..it doesn't help that our Canon leader will be using a 5dII and L glass...
Almost no funding from school either, so we don't have any incentives to join or even know which events are possible. Printing fliers and a poster pretty much took away our budget for now.
It seems that half the time we'll be teaching how to use a camera anyways (no photography class at my school).
It's not even the problem about Canons vs. Nikons. It's the basics that I'm pissed off about.
The very first thing you should know is to know your camera. This person became president probably because she stepped up to it for the wrong reasons. She has taken a photo class, but that's analog photography. Nothing wrong with that, but there's no quick way to process photos on campus, and I'd rather not deal with the cost issue.
NSXType-R said:
Too much effort.... I honestly don't mind dropping out. I was hoping that it might be a leadership role for the resume and I'd like to do something I'd enjoy. But I really don't care, especially when I have an exam tomorrow.
Running a club is a lot of work! Sounds like your intentions were never actually there so it's no surprise the club will fail.
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