From RAPC Chair Bob Matyas:
Members of the RA Photo Club,
Last Spring the 2010 Member Survey was held with the objective of assisting the Executive and Group Leaders in planning the 2010/11 program and activities and also to enhance future club communications and organization.
The results have been analyzed and action plans have been developed that respond to the feedback we have received.
The purpose of this communication is to summarize for the membership what the Executive and Leaders plan to implement. It should be noted that this is not a static plan. Certain activities and changes are being investigated and will be communicated once they firm up.
Members should recognize that ours is a volunteer organization. The volunteers have given and will continue to give many hours of their free time to the club without remuneration to provide what we hope will be an interesting program and set of activities. Not everything may come to fruition but we will try our best to execute the plan.
The following summarizes the major aspects of the plan.
Regards,
Bob Matyas
Chair, RA Photo Club
on behalf of the Executive and Leaders
RA Photo Club Executive & Leader Action Plan 2010/11
1. Communications
* More than half the survey respondents wanted an “Online News Blog, with almost daily updates and email notices sent notifying of new content”.
We listened, the blog is in place.
* Provide a “push-driven” email system.
o Will look at a profiling capability so members can select the content & frequency they want (like selected blog tags, the newsletter, perhaps forum keywords,…)
o In addition will communicate existing “notify” and profiling
capabilities
* Web Calendar
o Leaders will ensure that their activities are identified in the
Event Calendar, are current and provide adequate detail
* Web Site & Forums
o Improve understanding of how to use the club’s website.
Investigating a quick “How To” Overview from the home page as well as Tips & Techniques PowerPoint rolling slides prior to a meeting and/or at the break
o Make members aware of technical documents available in the Downloads
section e.g. HDR
o Forum content will be thinned out so old irrelevant entries are
removed
* Printed Newsletter. Being investigated in some form (TBD) but insufficient content and limited volunteer interest to date
2. Competitions
* The purpose and objectives of Competitions as well as setting
expectations for what members can expect during Competitions Night will be
summarized and communicated
* To improve on the quality of the comments and feedback to competitors, judges will be requested to follow the guidelines below:
o Provide general feedback on the most appreciated aspects of the submissions of a given competition and the areas which could benefit from further fine tuning
o Provide constructive feedback that will help photographers to either improve the submitted entry itself, or suggest a point of view on how the photo could have been taken to enhance its composition, impact, and
technical merits.
o Avoid comparisons and judge a photo on its own merits
o Limit comments to originate from a single judge for a given photo and not exceed 15-20 seconds on average; some photos may warrant further explanations, while others may receive little or no comment if it is a repetition of elements already addressed.
* Some have suggested that the presence of CAPA judges may improve the judging aspect of the competition, our experience shows that it does not necessarily improve the level of judging or the quality of the comments. CAPA has provided a short list of only 8 available judges for the region.
Note: While we strive to provide an environment that nurtures fair judging and constructive feedback, the fact is that photography is very subjective and hence complete satisfaction will never be achieved.
* To increase the interest of members attending judging nights, and to assist members in their assessment of the submitted photos, each judge will be asked to briefly state to the attendees the criteria which they intend to use to evaluate images, and their expectations for a high scoring photo for a given subject. The audience will then have a better appreciation for the scores and it may help them critique their own work and those of others more constructively. The judges will be asked to repeat their criteria at the beginning of the presentation night.
* Request that each judge provide an overview of their evaluation of the competition at the end of the evening, with key points to improve and key points that impressed.
* Competitions Committee will evaluate the possibility of modifying the scoring system e.g. some positive comments have been made about the approach taken by Club Polarisé
* Investigate means to motivate members to stay after the break on Club Competition Nights
* To make Awards Night more meaningful, means to ensure award winners are present to receive their awards will be investigated
* Run a competitions primer night, most likely by assembling a panel of successful members to present techniques, tips, and past experiences to achieve success (possibly with Feedback Group)
* Encourage members (via Communications Committee) who are reluctant to submit images for Competitions due consider alternatives photo feedback group, slide showcase, AV presentations, RA Gallery exhibits, website gallery, etc to build skills and confidence to eventually participate in
Competitions
* Assess the pros/cons of participating in external competitions (e.g. CAPA & PSA) via an ad hoc committee
* Render the judging and presentation system more accessible so that anyone could operate it given a basic set of instructions. The system will be thoroughly documented and will enter a change management process to ensure its reliability when it is needed.
3. Photo Editing
Two strong themes from the member survey were (1) a strong interest in digital editing or post processing in general, and (2) a strong interest in instructional presentation. The Digital Group will respond as follows:
* September presentation on basic post processing for preparing images for the web, slideshow, print, etc presentation via Lightroom, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements. Completed September by John Oakes
* October presentation on workflow using Lightroom and Photoshop for ensuring that photos are backed up and archived in a logical manner.
* Subsequent meetings are still in the formative stages
4. Education
The Survey indicated that People are looking to the club to help them improve their image taking/processing. There is also significant interest in additional courses on Printmaking, Creativity, Photoshop elements, Photoshop. The most interest is in Creativity and Photoshop. It was noted that addressing the photographic needs of beginners versus experienced members is an issue. The following is what is planned by the Education Committee:
* Photo Techniques Workshop Part 1 – addresses beginners needs –
November 20, 2010
* Photo Techniques Workshop Part 2 – intermediate level – February 26,
2011 (New for 2010/11)
* Photo Techniques Workshop Part 3 – more advanced for 2011/12
* Matting Level 1 – addresses beginners needs – to be scheduled for January 2011
* Matting Level 2 – intermediate level – to be scheduled for May 2011 (New for 2010/11)
* Lightroom – preliminary discussions underway
* Creativity – Part 1 & Part 2 workshops are scheduled for November 6, 2010 and March 5, 2011 respectively with Yannis Souris (New for 2010/11)
* Gallery – Establish a module to support participants in generating images suitable for electronic submission for galleries, competition and slide showcase. October 31, 2010
* Photoshop instructional modules – Preliminary discussions underway
* Digital printmaking: Preliminary discussions have been initiated for Spring of 2011
5. Studio
There has been considerable concern expressed by members about the environmental issues of the studio. We have aggressively pursued resolution of this matter with the RA Centre management. We are pleased to report that the RA Centre has responded positively with the following plan.
* The Association will underwrite the cost to fit up “TinyTown” as a temporary location for the RA Photo Studio. This space will be available to the Club until December 31, 2010. During these next three months, the Association will complete a review of facilities with the intent of relocating the Studio for the remainder of the fiscal year. The RA’s Facilities & Property Services plan to have TinyTown available for the Photo Club as of Friday October 22.
* TinyTown will be a fully dedicated facility for the Studio and is located on the 3rd floor of the RA Centre. It was previously used as a daycare
6. Digital Videography
In response to interest in using a digital camera for recording
motion pictures, we will have the following:
* AV Meeting on Thursday December 9th, 2010 – Introduction to Video Software Tools, Mike Giovinazzo
* AV meeting Wednesday, February 2, 2011 – Pro Show Producer, Ed Overstreet.
* AV & Digital Groups have scheduled joint sessions on videography techniques for April, 2011 – one segment will be at a Digital meeting followed up by a segment at the AV meeting.
7. Social
The Social Committee will address feedback on the reception desk, name tags, the Flea Market, friendliness and helpfulness among the club members, approach to involving new members in club activities and helpfulness of the SC in making you feel welcome and informed as follows:
* To improve visibility of the Social Committee (SC), the reception table will be installed in the hallway, at the entrance to the Clark Room for Club Nights with knowledgeable host/hostess
* To encourage interaction with new members, newcomers will have a smiling face attached to their name tags
* All visitors will have to sign the guestbook and will be provided temporary badges. After three free visits a member of the SC will approach the individual to politely remind him/her about the club policy that subsequent visits require joining the club
* The delay between paying the membership dues and obtaining the name tag should not exceed one week
* With relocation of welcome table, Flea Market will have more room. Flea Market will operate the second Tuesday of each month and be pre-announced at Club Night
* An activity group organizing an event during the coming week will be encouraged to have a representative at a clearly marked table to answer any questions regarding the planned activity
* At the SC table, new members will be invited to complete a form by providing basic personal information and fields of special photographic interests. This information will be forwarded to respective group leaders, so that they can send a personal invitation to forthcoming events to these new members
* The SC will try to introduce each new member at his/her first visit to at least one of the ‘old’ members, so that they have at least one familiar person to turn to
* The Christmas party and Annual Awards Dinner will be evaluated in late October
8. Urban Group
In response to feedback for more urban events and visibility the following are planned:
* 10 – 12 outings for the 2010/11 year
* Build on success of previous years – Iron Butt, Scavenger, Museum, Summer events, Theme shoots, visit to another city
* Consider adding non-shooting events. e.g. visiting an exhibit, touring a facility
* Consider some events at times other than weekends
* Consider a night with a full program, rather than after the AGM
* Look for ways to share images online, either in a club photo gallery or through use of Flickr
9. Library
* Monitor borrowing of existing 10 magazine subscriptions, recommend replacements and/or new subscriptions
* Procure new bulletin board for Club Nights
10. Club Night Exit Poll
* Some respondents to the 2010 Program Survey suggested a more timely survey of attendees’ assessments of Club Night presentations. An online Exit Poll has been initiated this season in the Program Forum asking for a simple 1-5 rating of each night together with constructive comments i.e. What went well? What could have gone better?
(0)Dislikes
(0)