Printable View
I'm planning to go to Imaging USA for the first time but come from a very remote area. I will have to come by myself as I don't have any buddies who are photographers. Will I be dreadfully out of place? I really want to come, but the thought of traveling to what I consider to be an ENORMOUS city, with a totally unfamiliar airport, all ALONE, is a bit daunting. :o Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
The Atl airport is a big airport, but easy to navigate if you just read the signs. Where are you coming from? You definitely won't be out of place at IUSA, you will be surrounded by thousands of photographers from all over the world.
And many of us are traveling alone. Many of us on the forum try to make a point to get together as a group once or twice to kind of get to know each other in person at Imaging. So keep coming back to the forum, and definitely take the opportunity to travel, even if it's by yourself. My husband had always traveled with me up until a couple of years ago, when I ended up in Tampa by myself. And last year I flew from Michigan to New Orleans alone but was able to hook up with some friends at Imaging that I had met the previous year, and now we keep in touch thruout the year. It's well worth the experience! Hope we see you there!
I suppose it can't be any worse than the airports at Chicago or Dallas, right? And I've managed to navigate both of them by myself. I guess I'm just psyching myself out a little bit. I'm sure I will have fun when I get there. Do you ladies go to the pre-convention as well, or just the actual convention? I can't decide. Will I be overwhelmed trying to do it all the first year? Should I just try to do the convention, and then maybe try to do more the next year? Or would it be better to come to the pre-convention and get to know a few people before it gets too busy?
Thank you both so much for your supportive comments. Normally, I don't get freaked out about stuff like this--have no idea what's making me so nervous this time! I guess in the past, I had always been to the airports with someone else the first time around, so I felt more confident when I had to navigate them on my own. How silly is that? It's not like I'm incapable of reading a sign or asking someone for directions! LOL
Anyway, your advice or helpful tips are very much appreciated! Hope to meet you both there!! :)
If you want to meet some of the people from this forum, we usually have an informal get-together usually on Saturday evening after we get the print and digital exhibits set up (we have several PPA forum members who are going to be helping to set up the exhibit). Stay tuned for a thread where we will decide exactly when and where we will be meeting.
If you could use some more (inexperienced) help setting up, I would be happy to help. I need to get tickets and reservations but that surely won't be an issue this far out?
I, too, have been wondering about volunteering opportunities. I'm also a new member planning to attend this January. Which volunteering opportunities at Imaging USA can earn a service merit? I'd also like to meet other members and volunteering seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.
There are two ways to earn service merits at the national convention (Imaging USA).
The first is to become a convention volunteer - those are the people who wear the bright orange shirts and help the speakers, help with directing people, act as hotel hosts and hostesses, act as door monitors at the programs checking ID badges and handing out and picking up program evaluation forms, etc... and doing whatever else is needed to make the convention run. I think these people may get a free admission to the convention, their names listed in the Professional Photographer magazine, and service merits (not sure how many they give for this). They are busy working with the speakers for a lot of the convention. It is a great way to get to know a speaker and can be a valuable networking tool since most of the speaker wranglers end up becoming friends with the speakers and everyone knows that you learn more from your friends one-on-one than you can learn at any seminar. Debbie Scott is the volunteer coordinator this year. Debbie is a dedicated PPA member and the 106th recipient of the PPA Directors Award. If you are interested in this volunteer group, you can contact Debbie by sending her an email to dscottphotoart@gmail.com
The second way to earn service merits at Imaging is by becoming a member of the PEC crew that will be responsible for setting up and taking down the prints and digital equipment for the photographic exhibit. This crew comes in on the Saturday before the convention starts on Sunday and spends most of the day (from around 12 Noon to around 6PM) setting up the exhibit. Our crew meets back again on Tuesday afternoon to take down and pack up the exhibit. For your time and effort, you receive a service merit (or two - not totally sure about the second merit since some things have changed this year) but you do not get any kind of discount or free convention registration. If you are interested in being a part of this group, you can let me know and I will forward your name to our new PEC Administrator to add to her list. This group is smaller than the convention volunteers and will be kept smaller than in previous years. Just be sure that you are DEFINATELY going to be there if you volunteer for this group. Once we reach the number of volunteers we need this year, the group will be closed. Since the group is going to be kept small, if you don't show up and leave us short handed with no opportunity to enlist additional help - you will be remembered. This is also a good networking opportunity since we have several forum members who will be working there along with several of our PPA-PEC jurors and sometimes a few PPA Past Presidents - so it's an excellent educational opportunity hanging prints all day with a bunch of the judges - it turns into a mini seminar and gives you the opportunity to make freinds and pick their brains. If you are seriously interested in this group and will definitely be there, send me a PM with your email address, your cell phone number (in case we need to contact the crew in case of a change) and your PPA number so we can be sure you will get credit for merit pueposes, and I will get you on the list.
I can't tell you how excited I am to be part of the PEC crew! Doin' the happy dance!! :)
Welcome to the crew. I look forward to working with you. There are a bunch of PPA forum members on the crew so it'll give you a great opportunity to put faces to some of of the names you've corresponded with here on the forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky_07