Industry Advisor
Kevin Casey
President & CEO, Collages.net
PPA Member since 2003
Location: Langhorne, PA

• Read his bio.
• Read his Board Spotlight interview (June 2008), featured in Professional Photographer magazine.

Bio
Kevin Casey founded and built Collages.net from scratch with no previous experience in the photography business. But after holding key roles in two start-up companies (medical and clinical lab industries), Kevin had the necessary know-how. His technical sales and marketing experience—ranging from product development to building markets for a wide range of innovative products, services, and tests—prepared Kevin to lead Collages.net to success. The idea to scan photos for photographers and post them online has quickly evolved into a multi-million dollar corporation. Collages.net’s leading workflow, online posting, and printing solutions now help over 10,000 pro photographers increase their competitive advantage.

In addition, Kevin has a BA in Mathematics from College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He even spent 6 years in the U.S. Air Force as a B-52 combat crew member.

Board Spotlight, June 2008
By Angela Wijesinghe

“I’ve always liked what PPA does for the industry,” remarks Kevin Casey, PPA’s Industry Advisor. “It has one goal: to help photographers.”

In his business, Casey also deals with professional photographers’ needs (split about even between wedding and portrait work). The company that provides online posting, printing, albums, press-printed books, workflow solutions, and more for pro photographers was conceived nine years ago when Casey received the photo of an employee’s baby and wondered how it could be shared. Now, pro photographers can save time, save money, and differentiate themselves through Collages.net’s comprehensive product line.

“I tracked my early customers,” Casey remembers. “Many of them stopped using other advertising mediums (like Yellow Pages) because of the referrals they received by posting their events/portraits online."

And even though he is more of a watercolor artist than a photographer, Casey had to handle Collages.net’s workflow when he was a one-man business. For instance, to build his business model in a pre-digital world (1999), he sped up the manual scanning process by taking digital images of paper proofs. Then, as photographers wanted to discourage customers from copying, he had the word “proof” etched onto glass and placed over the proof before taking its picture.

“It’s much smoother now. It is incredible to see how far this entire industry has advanced,” he says.

Smoothing out the Collages.net process has given Casey an edge as the Industry Advisor. In his mind, there is a need to balance great photography with the stylish products many consumers look for. As Casey says, “The most successful studios keep current with the new trends, colors, and styles of products and services. In today's competitive market, it is important to keep an open mind. Today's customers want variety and choice, so exposing them to the products now available is a fundamental key to success.”

If it wasn’t enough to be the original creative and business mind behind Collages.net and PPA’s Industry Advisor, Casey is now the seventh-fastest boardercross racer in his age group. (He was convinced to try boardercross, a snowboard race, by his 22-year-old son who is starting a pro-snowboarding career. They both went to the March 2008 Nationals.) While he might have trouble finding snow in Phoenix, Imaging USA 2009 will be the perfect place for him to share more business insights with PPA members.