SWPJC – Don't wait till Next Year!

Dave Black former speaker at SWPJC

SWPJC March 10 – 12 and Student Workshop 9 – 10

"Next Year" is the common thing I always here from people when I ask them if they are going to Southwestern Photojournalism Conference this year.

This is the 25th annual meeting of the conference. The conference has changed through the years to reflect the industry as best we can.

In 2007 and 2008 the economy was hard hit and our numbers were suffering because everyone's personal budgets were hurting.

We added a Student Workshop to the front end of the conference for students to get some one-on-one time with our speakers. This has proven to be very helpful for students to get their work reviewed and talk to the industry leaders.

The industry has been hit hard. Last year Canon and Nikon Sales were down close to 50%. All this doom and gloom doesn't mean there is no longer a need for photographers.

At the same time the industry is changing the amount of pictures taken last year was up. That adds up to more than 14 trillion photos annually (14,600,000,000,000). Much more conservatively, if only one billion people have cameras or phones, and take less than 3 photos per day/1,000 pictures per year, that's still 1 trillion photos captured every year.

The need for those who know more than just how to push the button are in great demand. People know that with all these photos being created every moment for their "Brand" to be seen it must break through with images that "Capture the Audience."

This year's keynote speaker Garrett Hubbard [left] at a previous SWPJC.

I know I go to the conference to meet people that I can hire through the year as projects pop up for my clients. Last year I hired many photographers for projects and continue to look for more photographers. This is where I go to find not just great shooters, but those who see this as a calling.

Esther Havens past speaker

Don't wait for next year anymore. Commit to meeting with other photographers who see this as a calling. Come to Fort Worth this year and connect. Listen to some of the best in the industry tell you where they see things going for the professional photographer.

Go to the website to learn more SWPJC.org Then go and book your transportation and hotel. I hope to see you there.

Gary Fong with the Chick-fil-A Cow.

Don't put off to Next Year when there might not be a Next Year conference. Signup and come while we are still doing SWPJC.