I've spent two full days (and one night) as of now immersed in PhotoPlus Expo; going to seminars and parties, talking to people, listening to people and trying to get a vibe of the convention. I'd say right now that it has seemed very subdued. There are obviously fewer vendors exhibiting, and only one of the seminars I attended was full. The others seem to average around 25-30 people--at least the ones I've been to. I've heard stories of bad management, with people not being told when the one film seminar is cancelled at the last minute. And the rooms have been air conditioned and freezing.

That said, there have been bright spots, not least of all is the great community of people that you see and meet at an event like this. The power of that can't be underestimated. And a couple of the seminars have had information worthwhile to pass along.

For those of you who are looking towards advertising--get an agent. That's the word from JoAnn Tansman of BBDO and Andrea Kaye of McCann Erickson. Make sure you have a real point of view in your work and stick to it. Remember it's a business, and don't compromise just to get the job. That will make it worse for you the next time and worse for everyone else.

Oh, and send out mailers eight times a year.

Harry Benson said something really great about being friends with celebrities (well he actually said a lot of great things): "My feelings and my energy are more important to me than Jack Nicholson's." That's a man who has been in control of his career.

According to the panelists of "Twitter Revolution: Changing the Photographic World, 140 Characters at a Time", you MUST incorporate this into your world. But remember, the more content you provide to people (things you recommend, things you like), the more permission they will give you to promote yourself. But have a mission strategy before you begin. Know what you want and what you can offer others. Be real, be yourself, be remarkable. No one wants to hear about your bad mood or the coffee you just brewed.

This leads me into the issue of branding, as in the seminar: "Starting Today: You're a Brand. Building Your Brand & Image.". What is the first phrase or word that comes to mind when people hear your name? Can you answer that? What does someone get from working with you? What makes you different?

These are the questions you need to answer to begin to create (or re-create) your brand. I mean your brand as in "the CEO of Me, Inc. " Your brand is your reputation, so you have to strive for authenticity so that what you see is what you get. You need to be a storyteller online. You need passion and be someone people can trust. You need to offer valuable content that distinguishes you from all the other photographers out there. And you must figure out how to do this in many different ways.

How many ways can you spin one thing into ten?

I want to talk about the ASMP event "Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover: A Print On Demand Publishing Test", where Stephen Mallon and Frank Rocco send out identical material to 18 print-on-demand companies and brought the results out to an interested group in New York in July. There is a lot of nuts and bolts information I want to pass along here, but I need to pull it all together so it makes sense. This seminar brought out a great group of mostly non-ASMP members (time to join up, gang) who were able to look at and handle all the books. Their comments are being culled and I hope to have a more in-depth post about all of this very soon.

The seminar was full of lively discussion and Q&A, with prizes given out in a raffle at the end. If you weren't there you missed out, but I know there is interest in learning what criteria was used in judging, and I'm trying to figure out a format I can use to present the information to you. So stay tuned.