nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

My friend and I would like to start a photography club. Does anyone have any info on what makes a successful club? Things to do and not do? Should membership be limited? Should it just be DSLR folks, or open to anyone? How should it be advertised? Or is it simply a matter of putting it out there in local media and see who shows up?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Best advertisement if meetup.com
Better be ready too as folks will expect you to have answer not only to everything but also the meaning of life.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

I like that 'meaning of life,' thing. :lol:

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Nat, DO be a Photographic Society of America(PSA) club.
Nat, DON'T not be a PSA club.
Look at their website. Why reinvent the wheel?
I belong to the Berkeley Camera Club, look at our website, a PSA club template.
Good luck. ;-)
SS

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Thanks, Sharp/shooter. I will look into it.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Google: starting a photography club

You will get a lot of links to investigate -

Also, enter what to look for in a photo club - this will give you some ideas as to how to structure your club...

Good luck...

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

The club near me has two meetings a month. One is oriented towards the art of photography and a short section managing club business. Two weeks later is a technical meeting where they get into PP, software and hardware.

It is wide open with no requirements/limitations of what camera you have.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Forgot to add, in my club it's MANDATORY that you shot with a Cannon, but you can use ANY camera!! :lol: :lol:
SS

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I did shoot cannons too, once upon a long time... Kind of loud too.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Both black powder AND smokeless? Great! Sign me up!:thumbup:

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Our club meets twice a month with meetings no longer then 2 hrs in length and is open to anyone with a camera. Unfortunately, it tends to focus too much on shows and displays and less on learning and critiquing each other's work. I've learned more here on the Hog then at the club. Fortunately, we seem to be getting that worked out. We are fortunate to have as members several highly experienced and successful pros who contribute greatly. The point is, you need a comprehensive plan that helps your members at all levels. That's how you get and keep members. Oh yeah, we don't have any club dues. Something about photographers being cheapskates unless it involves a big brown truck!:D

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Yep, we have dues but it's like $15 per year, sort of a "who cares" amount to cover a few snacks and a contribution to the non profit that lets us use their space for the gatherings. We also put together the photos for the annual calendar the non profit uses as a fund raiser.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

All very good suggestions. Thank you!

watchcow Loc: Moore, Oklahoma

things that have put clubs out of operation in my experience:
infighting
lack of programs
lack of communication
lack of leadership
lack of vision

Templates are good, PSA offers lots of advice to start.
Leadership is probably the most important part of all of this. it is also potentially the worst of all of it.
Start with something simple. arrange to use a venue that is cheap or free. sometimes the meeting halls in public libraries and sometimes schools or churches work. churches for a meeting place often will chase off members.

know your locale, have someone that knows some other locales and knows the right people and has some sense and etiquette to prearrange everything needed for field trips.

find local photographers in various facets of the profession to be speakers on occasion. call around and see if there are traveling pros in the area that might be willing to speak. some of these people will want a fee for their speeches, so find out up front.

consider indoor or close-to-home programs like an organized critique night, or occasionally do a workshop instead of a field trip that focuses on something like posing, or off-camera lighting, or macro photography, or tabletop photography of products for e-bay/Craigslist ads. maybe demos on using common post processing apps like Photoshop Elements and Paintshop Pro. this does not have to be complicated and it's better if they are applicable to something close to home.

You will find that having a computer and digital projector or big TV is valuable and it may be a good thing to consider if one venue offer the use of such technology for little cost.

a web site is not a requirement up front, yahoo or google group sites can be used but it is worth investing in a commercial list server service like mailermailer or constant contact.

have some goals. it's ok to not meet every goal, but if you have none at all you will fail at that too. confusing, but more often than not, it's true.

get to know every camera shop and photo printer within 50 miles. even if they won't back you, they will often be willing to share good opportunities and places to shoot. also talk to the newspapers and if your town is famous for anything even if it is the cactus thorn festival, get to know those folks and let your club be the go-to group to record the event. if they have a festival let them add an art or photography competition and be ready to do the submissions processing and judging. the more involved you are not he community, the more the community gets involved with you.

Good Luck.

nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Thanks, Watchcow!