As an exhibitor, preparing for a convention reminds me much of being in theatre. (At least the experiences I’ve had with high school and community theatre.) The day before the opening, there are a lot of moving pieces. The convention hall is chaotic, booths are half constructed, cargo trucks come and go, and a lot of people are moving about – chatting, laughing, waiting….

But, when the lights turn on opening day, everything is polished and orderly. People are in place with materials and products in hand. And soon, the convention hall floor buzzes with the exchange of ideas and business cards.

Such was my experience again in Nashville at ImagingUSA, the longest running national photo convention and expo in the United States.

I had some good conversations with photographers on a range of levels. From clarifying work-for-hire and copyright basics to learning how professional photographers are making a living while meeting consumer expectations with technological changes. It’s the push and pull of ideas and exchanges that really make these conventions valuable for both the exhibitor and the artist.

For example, a couple that owns their own photography studio near Chattanooga, Tennessee realized that many of their clients want digital copies of the photos – not for scanning and reproducing – but for posting on their Facebook pages. The photographers decided that, when a client purchases a photo, they will also give him a small digital copy of the photo that is suitable for Facebook. (Note that the photo has a watermark of the studio’s name on it as well.)

This approach might not work well for all photographers in all markets. But for this couple, it has proved successful, and is a worthwhile tidbit of information to pass on to others.

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On a slightly different note: As one of the hundreds of people who truly experience the show from start to finish, from set-up to clean-up, I can’t help philosophizing on how the process of a convention is not unlike the process of many creative works.

Sweat, time, and resources all go into the behind the scenes in order to produce something – a product or a work – for the consumer to enjoy. More often than not, the consumer enjoys it with little knowledge or regard about all that went into the production. (I doubt convention attendees thought about exhibitors’ aching legs and tired voices.)

I’m okay with this most of the time. After all, when you’re enjoying something, you don’t necessarily want to think about work! But, when you disregard the amount of work that went into something in order to justify taking something for free, that’s where I have to draw the line.

Engage in an ideas exchange with me about my work or let’s swap business cards, both of which we do on the convention floor. But don’t take my work and act like it didn’t cost me anything, because it did.

I’ve heard so many artists at this convention and others say this same thing over and over again. Enjoy what we do, but don’t take what we do for granted. Otherwise, at some point when artists stop creating, there may be nothing left to take.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 5:49 pm by Lucinda M. Dugger and is filed under creators, culture, events, piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.