Roundtable Anyone?

I have been giving this idea some thought for several years now... Here on Maui, we don't have a local chapter of any of the trade organizations for commercial & editorial photographers. No ASMP... no APA... no EP. Now that we no longer shoot film and gather at the local commercial lab every afternoon to collect our daily processing runs, we rarely even have opportunities for any sort of face to face meetings. 

This is a sad thing to me, especially given the ever increasing demands for rights from clients without the formerly customary compensation for those rights. I feel we can all collectively benefit from a regular opportunity to gather on some sort of regular basis, whether it be monthly, every two months... whatever, and discuss what's good about our respective businesses, what's happening within our industry, within the statewide editorial & advertising marketplace, problems we are facing in conducting sound & time-honored business practices, strategize on ways to face head on the coming issues surrounding use & the new digital media, occasionally present our recent work to friends & colleague & shoot the shit in general...

I propose some form of regular gathering of those of us who call ourselves freelance creatives... my main interest of course would be a gathering of photographers working primarily in the editorial & commercial realms of our industry (sorry wedding/portrait folks... you do have a local group). That said, there is a community of freelance writers, graphic designers, illustrators, etc. out there whom I'm certain find themselves without any sort of loosely organized support network. I would suggest that our meetings, should they eventually come to fruition, be open to these artists as well. After all, we do share many of the same industry concerns and business practices. In addition to working freelancers, I would also suggest that aspiring and seasoned assistants also be welcomed into the fold as they, too, are an essential part of our businesses and will all eventually go on to be photographic freelancers.

What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Anyone willing to chime in on the matter? I would even offer my Wailuku studio as a place for these meetings to be held, though perhaps some sort of neutral ground like a restaurant or cafe might be a more appropriate venue. I'll leave that topic open for suggestion & discussion.

Anyone interested in seeing a regular or semi-regular gathering of this sort get established, feel free to either leave a comment here at the blog entry or contact me by email at:

photoho@hawaiiantel.net

Be sure to include some means for me to contact you. And by all means, be sure to pass along this idea for a regular gathering to those industry colleagues that you know. There IS strength in numbers.