Focus On Imaging exhibition at the NEC
This time I have just arrived back from FOCUS
- the largest of the UK trade shows this one held up in the NEC near Birmingham.
Less of a professional show this event also attracts thousands of amateur
photographers and so picking a day, and a time to arrive is always key to ensure
you get what you want done, and not just get lost in the crowds and
queues.
This time I have just arrived back from FOCUS
- the largest of the UK trade shows this one held up in the NEC near Birmingham.
Less of a professional show this event also attracts thousands of amateur
photographers and so picking a day, and a time to arrive is always key to ensure
you get what you want done, and not just get lost in the crowds and queues. So
we got there about 30 minutes before it all opened at 10am and queued knowing
that I had about 2 hours before it got crazy
busy.
Having been to the SWPP show
in January we had covered off many of the key suppliers we needed to see,
although I had arranged to meet up with Dave Newton on the Canon stand for an
important conversation (more to come in the next few months), and also the two
other professional bodies (notably, and of course obviously absent at the SWPP
show).
I did a quick walk round and
then covered off the important conversations, picked up the two or three items I
needed to buy and then met up with some other professional photographers near
the MPA stand (hi to Teri, David &
Ozzie).
Just before leaving I
stopped back at the BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photographers) stand
and signed up for Affiliate Membership (I need to qualify with them before I can
have full membership). The BIPP is one of the two major professional
organisations in the UK, along with the MPA, and joining marks a key transition
in Meonshore's membership plans, and qualification plans in the professional
marketplace. The BIPP has a very active local regional group, with education,
seminars and networking and a balance of activity between social photography
(weddings, portraits, and events) and commercial
photography.
More about this later,
and of course once we have qualified then I can talk more about the
BIPP.
Posted: Tue - February 26, 2008 at 09:35 PM
