Merits for providing education to an associated industry?

[Keith_A_Howe]

I got my PPA Craftsman degree for service to PPA and it's affilaites. I did not earn a Craftsman for service to the industry. That's not what the degree is for. I got the National Award for service to the industry and it wasn't necessary to have a single merit to recieve it. The Craftman degree is for service to PPA and it's affiliates. If you want that degree, you have to provide service to the association. If you want recognition for service to the industry then aspire to a National Award.

Keith

[Stan_Lawrence]

I got my PPA Craftsman degree for service to PPA and it's affilaites.

The Craftman degree is for service to PPA and it's affiliates. If you want that degree, you have to provide service to the association. If you want recognition for service to the industry then aspire to a National Award.

I'd be inclined to agree.... when I got my craftsman (back in the late 1800s), it was 25 speaking merits.... locals and state/regional conventions. I don't believe it was designed to be a service to the world degree, it's a service to ppa degree. There appears to be so many ways to get merits at this time, I can't see diluting it any more than has already been done.

[robertash3000]

The problem with that line of reasoning is that it can make for a really parochial view of the world. Or more accurately, a parochial view of the industry. It makes PPA look aloof and makes it look like PPA thinks it defines the professional photography industry. Long-term that can be a dangerous stance to take.

I'm a board member for our local PPA affiliate, one of the largest in the country, and this is a topic we discuss from time to time. I'm always on the side of cross-recognition and other cross-pollination, especially with equally worthy professional organizations like ASMP.

If someone puts some thought into it there are definitely standards and criteria that can be defined, that make sense and that stop appropriately short of giving credit for talking 15 minutes about cleaning your camera to the Kiwanis Club.

And on that topic, I've lost count of how many PPA speakers I've heard and read who still feel the need to tell PPA members "Get your flash off the camera!" and other equally basic camera facts. Telling people that is not far removed from telling people in a different forum how to clean their cameras. To some degree the only real difference is our view of the audience being told such basic things.