SC PUG BLOG

Meeting Night Changes

2007-08-23T13:02:00.000-04:00

We have been meeting on the second Tuesday of each month by default. Our PUG kickoff meeting had to be fit into a booked schedule and was planned to continue on that regular date.

The second Tuesday night of the month is probably THE most planned meeting night out there. Even the SC chapter of the PPA in Columbia meets on that night.

At our last meeting, the consensus was that it is ok to change the meeting night. Josie Martin would not be able to come due to tennis if we scheduled on a Thursday night. I am left with Mondays. I am not available to come on 3rd Mondays. As far as I know, any other Monday is available. Please leave comments to this post stating your choice of 1st, 2nd or 4th Monday. Or you can send me an email. Share this blog link to share this information. There is quite possibly some Pictage users in the area who have not already attended due to the 2nd Tuesday night. I want input because I do not want to lose any regular members due to picking a night not good for them. PLEASE contribute your input soon. I would like to see this begin in September.
1st Monday dates:
9.3.07 (Labor Day)
10.1.07
11.5.07
12.3.07
1.7.08
2.4.08
3.3.08
4.7.08
5.5.08
6.2.08
2nd Monday dates:
9.10.07
10.8.07
11.12.07
12.10.07
1.14.08
2.11.08
3.10.08
4.14.08
5.12.08
6.9.08
4th Monday dates:
9.24.07
10.22.07
11.26.07 (right after Thanksgiving)
12.24.07 (Christmas Eve)
1.28.08
2.25.08
3.24.08
4.28.08
5.26.08 (Memorial Day)
6.23.08

Please review and vote in the comments below!
Thanks,
Faith

SCPUG Roundtable

2007-08-23T12:23:00.000-04:00

I would like to see our blog become more like a round table. It still must be limited to Pictage Users who attend PUG meetings. I would like to see more collaboration amongst the group.

I will soon be sending emails out with an invitation to be a contributor if you have been attending PUG meetings and are with Pictage.

Faith

August PUG

2007-08-16T20:21:00.000-04:00

We had a great meeting at our August PUG meeting. Jill, we miss you! Josie - Congratulations on your engagement! Kendall - welcome! Shara & Terry - thank you for coming!

I think we had great discussions. We will talk about lighting at our September meeting.

See you again in September!

Faith

July PUG meeting

2007-07-04T11:45:00.000-04:00

Our meeting will be held on Tuesday night at 6:30pm at Sunfire Grill. Please take the time to RSVP at pugs.pictage.com.

Also note bringing your cameras. We need to have our local PUG shoot with a winner. There is a national PUG contest that the local PUGs are participating in. Photos submitted are to be taken at a June or July PUG meeting and the theme is people. Would you all like to go down by the waterside just down the road from Sunfire? Is that allowed or public area? Email me at photos@ourstudios.net with any nearby photo location requests.

Check out the fun theme the CO PUG did on Pictage TV - community.pictage.com. PS - You can submit videos of your own to Pictage TV!

We are still making a day trip on Sunday with family. Anybody who said they could come Sunday, but not Tuesday is welcome to meet up with us on Sunday. We'll be at the Charleston Aquarium from ~12-2:30ish. Then we'll head down to The Battery for sight-seeing/picnic. Then we'll find a beach for a couple of hours before heading back home. Contact me to let me know if you want to join us at our Battery picnic - you are welcome and we'd love to see you. I will accept photos taken Sunday for the PUG contest, too. Finding us?! Our group will consist of Joe and I, our 4 children - ages almost 16, 12, 6 and 3 + my 3 sisters. They are all single, so no other family members will be with them. Our current plans are to be at The Battery around 3pm. Not sure yet if we'll pack a picnic or get pizza or a chicken bucket.

Faith

JULY PUG meeting/photo shoot/contest

2007-07-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

Please make your selection to this poll this evening. I need to make my final decision first thing in the morning. The PUG invitation email will be going out tomorrow. I know some of you have already answered me in an email. If you could spare a moment to put your answer here in this format, I would be soooo grateful!

Joe and I along with our family will be making a day trip to Charleston on Sunday, July 8. I thought the Battery would be a great place to have our meeting with our PUG photo shoot/contest. My sisters are willing to watch the children while we have our meeting.

The regularly scheduled meeting night is Tuesday, July 10. We will still have a PUG photo shoot/contest if we hold the meeting on Tuesday.

Anybody that cannot make the Tuesday meeting if that is the night I need to schedule it, you can still meet up with us on Sunday while we are at The Battery. Just let us know.

Thank you for your input,
Faith Piper

April 10th meeting

2007-04-13T08:11:00.000-04:00

We were happy to host Melissa Hasson from Pictage to demonstrate AD3.0 to our PUG group this month. We met in a classroom at Charleston Southern University for this meeting since Sunfire Grill had already booked the private rooms for April. We will be back at Sunfire Grill for our May meeting - May 8th at 6:30pm. Thanks to Mr. D. Boyter for setting us up with a room at CSU.

Melissa "teaching" us AD3.0

PUG members listening intently and learning all about AD3.0

Thank you Melissa! And thanks to all the wonderful photographers who come to the PUG meetings. Blessings to all your businesses.

Faith Piper

Updates

2007-01-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

New Year's Resolution - Keep up with PUG blog. :)

November meeting - We had a guest speaker, Lee Deas from Obviouslee Marketing in Charleston, SC. Great information. You can see out her advice/consult at www.obviouslee.com.

December party - We had a small, but fun get together.

January 9, 2007 - We had 11 attendees not counting Joe and I. Nathan Holritz was our guest speaker this month. He came from Chattanooga, TN to tell us about Photographer's Office. You can check it out with a 30-day free trial at www.photographersoffice.com.

Pictage now offers FREE online color correction. Proof Products will be printed with this color correction from those events that used this automated service. Final prints are not affected by free color correction. Need more than just automated color correction? The standard online color correction is still available for purchase.

This just in (check out the Pictage forums!): Pictage now offers FREE album design. This is the same service they were charging $49 for. You can still edit your albums after the FREE album design is complete.

Next Month: Our meeting will be on February 13, 2007 at 6:30pm. Bring your wedding contracts. During local topics, we will be conducting a peer review of our wedding contracts as this new year begins.

We need a February Studio Spotlight. All you need is about 5-10 minutes just telling or showing us something about your studio. This segment builds on the getting to know each other.

Send me an email requesting to share the SC PUG Google Calendar. Create your own Google calendar.

Thank you. Looking forward to an awesome 2007!
Faith Piper

SC PUG Referral Calendar on Google Calendar

2006-09-18T10:30:00.000-04:00

Please email photos@ourstudios.net with your request to subscibe to this calendar. If I set it up correctly, you should be able to update you own information on the calendar.

Please set-up your booked dates. If you would rather someone else do this for you, Le me know you list of booked dates (portrait and/or wedding) to photos@ourstudios.net.

Thanks,
Faith

Pictage's FREE upload month

2006-09-15T01:11:00.000-04:00

This is a piece of information I shared at the PUG meeting that all of you need to know about! No matter what plan you are on - All uploads from 9/1-9/30 are FREE. Take advantage of this time to upload all your events pre-Pictage to take advantage of all the holiday sales promotions!

Also - make sure you review and keep up with the holiday promotions at http://pro.pictage.com/holidays2006. This site should be up and running by the end of the week, early next week. The holiday sales promotions will start October 1st. Take the time to send out an email to all your brides/clients. Do a search on the general Pictage forums for examples where some sent out great looking html holiday emails.

Pictage suggests you include:

Thank them for their business this year

Let them know to be on the lookout for the promotions
Remind them that you are available for portrait sessions - book these early so that people have time to order these for Christmas
Remind friends and family to register for events
Share gift ideas and include deadlines from the campaign calendar

Ensure that all events are released to the public - set expirations as close to 12.24.06 or 12.25.06 as you can for any last minute shoppers

Make sure holiday cards are in your cart - verify through catalog manager

One suggestion is to make a separate "catalog" for your holiday promotions. Set all the events that you want to use the holiday catalog. Remember to pay very close attention to the photographer opt-out instructions if you do not wish to participate. It is ALL or NONE. You cannot opt in to some and not others except through non-inclusion of products in your catalogs.

Consumer opt-out is at the bottom of all emails they receive. If you have a client that is absolutely upset by all the emails, please remind them of this opt-out option. It will mean that they opt-out of all the email promotions, so save this as last resort. You may also see if just informing them of all the upcoming special promotions during this period.

Faith

Last Night's Meeting Was GREAT!

2006-09-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

WOW! We had a great turnout last night at Panera Bread. It was awesome to see everyone !

Robbin won last night's $100 PICtageCredit! Banner is due next month. Caroline - it was great to finally meet you. She came up from Hilton Head with her fiance! They are getting married next month! It was good to have Joey and Kasey back. Jill and Brian came again. Jill showed us a couple of Asukabooks she had designed. They looked wonderful!!! It was a really great idea to make that 5x5 Senior book! I can't wait to see the Asukabook I ordered recently. Leigh and Pam - it is great to see you both again. It was tough having the table be so long in a restaurant. I sure hope you heard me alright. Sheri, it was great to meet you. I know Joe enjoyed seeing you again. Small world - Joe and Sheri graduated high school together. And Lauren, a hearty welcome from Boston. I hope we get to see you come back. Lauren, I believe, is doing some intern work with several photographers in Charleston. She attended the meeting with Banner.
Josie even popped by to say hi after most had left. Some of you might have seen her on the way out! She had been teaching tennis, but just happened to be at Panera at the end of our meeing.

I really loved seeing all the great Pictage and photography conversations going on. I wish I had my camera, too.

New Meeting Location - September and beyond

2006-08-23T23:49:00.000-04:00

Our next meeting is on September 12, 2006 at the Panera Bread on Sam Rittenburg Hwy in Charleston. For a map/directions, you can go to www.PaneraBread.com.

Our meeting time is 6:30pm.

30 minute meet, greet and sign-in time
Pictage Topics, announcements, ideas, marketing discussions, etc
Local Topics - This month we will discuss joining a local SC referral network based on availability started by Pictage photographer Ruth Rackley. We will also discuss participation in the new PUG Referral Database for broader referrals.
Studio Spotlight - This month Jill Higgins is our feature photographer. Sign up to be a future studio spotlight! This time slot is only about 15 minutes. It honestly does not have to be a major presentation. This is to give us a way to get to know more about each other to further nurture our relationship as fellow Pictage photographers!
Pictage Raffle! - Brand new feature - Pictage will be giving away a $100 Product Credit to one lucky winner at the end of each monthly meeting! You must be in attendance to win. There is a limit of 3 wins per photographer.

Can't wait to see you all and meet more new faces in September!!!

Faith Piper

Next PUG Meeting - Sunday, July 9, 2006

2006-06-27T08:12:00.000-04:00

WHEN: Sunday, July 9, 2006 @ 6:00pm
WHERE: Folly Beach - We will "meet" at the back deck of Holiday Inn. It looks like at this point, we will be meeting at another Center St restaurant. Wine and Gourmet @ 11 Center St looks promising right now. Following the informational parts of the meeting, we will head out to the beach. Heading down to the lighthouse for sunset photos looks promising right now. Sunset will be around 8:30pm.
WHAT: Proof Products Extravaganza, Sunset Photos
WHY: Giving & Receiving Pictage Feedback, Learning, Sharing & Networking with other Pictage Photographers, Growing Your Photography, Having Fun, Making It Work For You!
WHO: Pictage Photographers from all over SC and Savannah, GA. Non-Pictage Photographers are welcome to attend 2 meetings.

www.follybeach.com

Please RSVP at http://pugs.pictage.com

SEE YOU THERE!

June Meeting

2006-06-27T07:34:00.000-04:00

We had another great attendance at Andolini's in downtown Charleston. (I like their pizza, too!)

We had new Pictage samples to show as well as the ones we had previously. These samples will be brought to all the meetings.

Charles Bordner from Imagine That, Inc. did a great job spotlighting his studio. He is located in Greenville. He is looking for associate photographers on independent contractor basis. If you have a similar style and are interested, send an email his way.

Here are some photos from the meeting:

Our next meeting - Tuesday, June 13, 2006

2006-06-09T23:36:00.000-04:00

Our next meeting is Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at 6:30pm. We will be meeting at Andolini's Pizza on Wentworth St in downtown Charleston again. Based on last month's meeting, we reccommend you order what you would like on your way in. The first half hour or so is scheduled for registration and mingling.

The June Studio Spotlight will shine on Charles Bordner with Imagine That, Inc. from Greenville, SC. He will also share information about the June local topic - The SouthEast Photographers Forum.

For the June meeting, I will also set up all the samples as a display to save time on passing them around during the meeting. This way, you can look at them, handle them, etc during the registration time and again at the end of the meeting. Any samples that are a direct topic from Pictage can be passed around or viewed again as deemed necessary.

I would like to request you bring ideas and suggestions you already know you'd like to voice in writing. This will give me a better base of notes from which to report everything back to Pictage. I will also provide paper to write any new ideas and suggestions down that the topics may bring up. This will also help those photographers who need to cut out early still have their voice heard.

Please, also bring ideas and suggestions for:

Local Topics
Studio Spotlights
Permanent Meeting Location
Networking

Don't forget to RSVP!

Welcome from co-leader, Faith Piper

2006-06-09T23:18:00.000-04:00

Joe and I would love to thank you for participating in this wonderful, sharing community of photographers at Pictage.com. We owe many thanks to Pictage for forming Pictage User Groups at the local levels. Photographers have seen many changes and surely will see many more to come. Let's be on the innovative, cutting edge moving our businesses forward.

It may sound cliche - but this is "OUR" group. All of us. When I went to Pictage Partner Conference LA in September of 2005, I immediately signed up to become a PUG leader. I did not sign up as an experienced leader, but rather as someone who wanted this in our area. Pictage wants to hear from PUG groups with a clear, audible voice.

Take a moment to read the PUG mission statement in the BLOG description above. Bring your ideas to the next PUG meeting. Hope to see you all there.

Faith Piper
Sandpiper Studios, LLC in Aiken, SC

LINKS

2006-06-09T23:08:00.000-04:00

NEW! Pictage Forums for Charleston PUG

RSVP to the Charleston Meeting Location

We are meeting at Andolini's Pizza - Wentworth St location - in downtown Charleston

PUG Website

Pictage Website

Pictage Forums

SouthEast Photographers Forum - based right here in SC!