We are so excited about these new posts that we are going to start doing bi-weekly. We get a ton of questions about different classes and events that we have on Fisheye Connect. We thought one of the best ways to introduce you to the course and the instructor is to spend some time hanging out with the them. Thats right you can ask questions and we can just chat about upcoming events. 

We kicked it off with Erin Verbeck who is a co-author of a business book, Worth Every Penny which stands as New York Times Best Seller, The Wall Street Journal Best Seller, and USA Today Best Seller. She is also a marketing mavin behind The Joy of Marketing along with Sarah Petty. This was our first rodeo so bare with us as we work out any kinks. 

You can't sign up yet but Sarah Petty will be launching the Photography Selling System soon so you can CLICK HERE to learn more. And guess what, we are giving a FREE seat to one lucky member so you can also CLICK HERE to enter in the contest! 

Come hang out! 

Thanks for tuning in! 

Just another email subscription? I think not!

The heart of why Fisheye was created is for photography enthusiast like myself, to be able to have one location to search for photography workshops and events. Searching for photography events in your area use to be a nightmare; scouring through websites and Google to look for local education or trying to keep in touch with people of interest by what events that they had going on or they were participating in.

Our time is precious and that method is SO inefficient. Fisheye Connect is a FREE service. If you are interested in photography you can come to Fisheye Connect search by location, categories, or certain instructors/groups. BUT here is the part that is really awesome. If you don’t see something that interests you OR if you want us to keep you connected without you having to dedicate time to continuing to search, we can do it!

Our Subscription service is FREE. And it’s not the normal “here is my email, ping me with all this information.” Our system sends out an email every Monday of the events that are coming up in the next two weeks along with the events that have just released. So when you subscribe you get a sort of concierge service, which is pretty darn valuable huh?

BUT let’s take that a step further. If you only wanted to be notified by events in your area…. or you only want to be notified when a certain instructor or group is launching something…. or you are only interested in events that involved lighting, wedding, and portraits, your weekly email can be customized to YOUR preferences. Take that awesome sauce.

We are your personal photography event concierge. So get back to work taking pictures, playing with your kiddos, or dedicate your time elsewhere because we have you covered and we will keep you connected! :)

Here is a screen shot of how easy it is to customize! If you haven't already subscribe HERE. 

We have been brewing up some pretty awesome features over here at Fisheye Connect. Again we are taking your feedback and putting it into action! The heart of Fisheye Connect for me was to allow people to connect. In particular photography instructors with photography enthusiasts. We have been working on a project that I hope will blow your socks off!

Welcome to our community site! The goal is really simple, to allow you to discuss, connect, share, and help one another. Create a profile, kick your shoes off and browse around and stay for a while.

community.fisheyeconnect.com

Feel free to create groups or join groups. You will also notice that another extension of the community site is a forum. This will be a place where you can ask questions!  It's all about community and helping one another. Instructors can now submit educational material and we will be posting it in our blog for all of you to view. I know what you are thinking another area to have to stay connected. We are making your life easy. We will be pulling in some of your favorite blogs all here one this site! You can sign in using your twitter information and update your twitter status from our community site! You can even search for photographers in your local area!

I wanted to introduce you to some people and clear the air on some things.  Fisheye Connect was started and founded by me, Kristy Dickerson, really as just an idea to help other photographer enthusiasts like myself to find quality photography workshops.  Myself and a team at Peachtree Solutions help me take this idea from just a million post-it notes to the web, and it launched in June of 2010. Really I just had this idea of having all photography education on one site and went for it.

 I have gotten a lot of questions and emails lately asking if I still owned the company.  I own 100% of the company and always have. I feel like what I need at this point is a team or a board of advisors that can help make decisions for Fisheye Connects future.

We believe there is strength in numbers. Having individuals with different expertise, knowledge, and backgrounds will combine to create a sense of synergy. The board of advisors and myself will be making decisions that will enhance the overall experience and to pave the way for greater success for Fisheye Connect.  For now I want to introduce you to two individuals, Gary Fong and Rob Nicolson.

·      Gary Fong
Gary is an entrepreneur, founder of Pictage’s lab, and former wedding photographer. Fong ended his photography career in 2002 to pursue business interests such as marketing photography products, luxury vacation rentals, yacht chartering, plastics manufacturing, a distribution and fulfillment center, and authoring a successful inspirational memoir.  Fong brings to the table a wealth of business knowledge and experience in and around the photography industry.

·      Rob “Ninja” Nicholson
Rob is a Wedding Photographer, Marketing Strategist and Community Advocate. In addition to photographing 10-12 high-end weddings per year, he serves as the Vice President of Marketing for ShootDotEdit and is the founder of Photog Shootout, a nationwide community-based photography group of approximately 4,000 members.  Being so active in the photography industry helps him keep a pulse on its evolution.

I am so excited to have them on board to help make decisions for Fisheye Connect to help the entire community.

Well the new year is coming to an end. We have a lot of things planned for 2011. One thing that will be in place soon is a board of advisors. We feel that a few really experienced individuals to help make decisions for Fisheye Connect will enhance the overall experience and to pave the way for greater success.

We wanted to get your feedback. The goal of Fisheye Connect is to be the workshop hub for photographers. With that in mind we also want to be the hub for quality workshops. As most of you know we do have a rating and review system in place that follows up with all the attendees after the workshop. Currently Fisheye Connect can view it as well as the instructor, but we are thinking about making this public. Ratings and reviews are one way of creating quality experience for the students as well as the instructors.

We have created a very quick survey and your feedback would be greatly appreciated. CLICK HERE to leave your response. The first question is just if you want the ratings and reviews public or not, and the second just asked if the answer is YES would you also like a 30 day grace period to follow up with any attendees that did not have a good experience?
As always, I appreciate your time and feedback!

Thanks,
Kristy@fisheyeconnect.com

As 2010 comes to a close I wanted to recap on this past year and my educational journey. I believe, the end of the year is all about goal setting and revaluating to see where I have come and where I want to head….. and boy what a year this has been!

Here is a brief Summary of my 2010’s in-person educational experiences:

• February, Jasmine Star, Orange County - (Marketing, Portfolio, and Business)
• March, WPPI, Las Vegas atteneded Platforms for Dane Sanders, Tri-Coast Photography, Kevin Kubota, Jesh De Rox and more. (all)
• March, Justin and Mary Martanz, Las Vegas  - Porfolio and Shooting
• May, Mike Colon, Atlanta - (Shooting, Portfolio, Business, Technical)
• June.... launch of Fisheye Connect! 
• August, Jeff Jochum and Lawrence Chan, Irvine, Startup Strategy/ Biz Clarity I (Business and Marketing)
• September, WPPI Road Tour in Seattle Washington, Chicago Illinois, Washington D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia (all)
• October, Simon T. Bailey and Marley Majcher, Atlanta, Biz Reset (Business)
• November, Pictage's Partnercon, in New Orleans (all)
• November, Mike Larson, New Orleans, Shooting Workshop (Technical and Portfolio)

So obviously education is very important to me…. I created Fisheye Connect to help others just like me, wanting to learn from some of the best and most experienced in the industry. Continuing education is near and dear to my heart and I truly believe that everyone should always keep learning and challenging themselves daily.

Every workshop, fellow attendee, new page on a book, different city, and experience have all shaped me into the photographer that I am becoming but more importantly into the person I am a becoming.   Fisheye Connect was created just for that purpose, to connect photographers of all experience levels and backgrounds with each other. I look back over how all these experiences have shaped and touched me, and I know it is safe to say that I wouldn’t be where I would be today without all of these opportunities.

So here is to a New Year full of new experiences, happiness, health, and prosperity.

Thanks ya’ll! (yep I said ya’ll)

Kristy Dickerson

Can you believe that October is here! These last two months have flown by and I wanted to send a quick email to tell you about what has been going on around here. We have been jet setting with the WPPI Road Trip across the country and working on a pretty awesome new feature.

We've been trippin' with WPPI
The response of Fisheye Connect was great on the WPPI Road Trip. WPPI seems to attract fresh new photographers who are eager to learn, and the energy is contagious! We don't have all the final stats yet, but close to 70% of the attendees were women, and the majority had been in business less than a year. Almost all of them were looking for education on how to take the next steps... which is you guys! At the road trip we handed out pens, tablets, and a listing of all the current workshops that were on Fisheye Connect. As more and more people learn about the great workshops on Fisheye Connect, we get better at fulfilling our goal of making it as easy as possible to find photography workshops that are convenient to you!

Lindsey Alder, speaker in D.C.'s Road Tip, with Kristy Dickerson

Weekly Workshop Updates in You Inbox
In response to the WPPI Road Trip and attendees looking for workshops close to there home we have launched a new feature, weekly update emails. These no-nonsense mailings will show you what workshops were released this week, as well as those planned for next week and serve as a reminder of the previous week's releases. Each listing will provide a brief description of the workshop, as well as a link to view a full description on the the Fisheye Connect site, so these posts can actually be saved as a kind of evolving table of contents for all workshops. We've added some options to your account profile allowing you to filter these notifications by geographic area and interest, or even turn them off completely. As a bonus, we will also be bringing attention to any Early Bird Pricing that is set to expire that week. NOTE: Subscription to this Newsletter does NOT automatically enable these emails. So, please GO HERE to turn on these workshop updates.

We hope you find as much value in these notification emails as you tell us you find in the website, and as always, we look forward to your feedback.
That is it for now!

Thanks,
Kristy@fisheyeconnect.com

You can CLICK HERE to sign in to your Fisheye Connect account now.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the contest, I wish I could send you all! We selected five entries at random to attend and the winners are.

Sia McDonald-Sacramento ;Sia McDonald Photography

Paige Green - Irvine ;Paige + Blake

Jeff Almquist- Irvine; Almquist Photography
 
Jacqueline Goetz - Sacramento; Jacqueline Goetz Photography

John Kim-Irvine ;Back Light Photo

Congrats to all of you! You will be able to pick up your badge at the table when you arrive!

-The Fisheye Connect Team

Okay so I will keep this short! WPPI is hitting the road next week and kicking it off with Irvine and Sacramento!  We are going to give away 5 seats! All you have to do is comment on this post and tell your Name, city you want to attend (either Irvine or Sacremento), email address, and studio name.  5 people will be selected at random, and the contest will end this Thursday (August 19th) at midnight EST. That is it, no jumping jacks or situps! 

The winners will be annoced this Friday on twitter first! And if you want to check out the other availble dates or to see all the speakers that will be speaking on the tour go HERE.

Here is a summary of all the fabulous speakers that will be presenting next week!

• Irvine, CA -  Monday August 23rd

             Becker (Host)
             The Boudoir Divas
             Jules Bianchi and Joy Bianchi Brown
             Rick Miller
             Joe Bussink

• Sacramento, CA - Wednesday, August 25th

             Bambi Cantrell (Host)
             Kay Eskridge
             Lawrence Chan
             Jeff Jochum
             Andy Marcus
             Johnathan Canlas

In my humble opinion, one of the most valuable things you can take away from a professional workshop is creating new relationships with other attendees, ultimately building a personal community of like-minded individuals across the country.

I make it a priority to keep in touch with many of the photographers I meet while attending workshops. Sometimes, we end up attending multiple workshops together, without ever knowing beforehand the other person would be there! We learn and grow from each other and we provide support for one another.

For instructors, this is important to know. For instance, why not offer someone that is already committed to attending your workshop the ability to bring along a buddy? In cases where you have the workshop space to do it, you could even offer them the bonus of a reduced rate when bringing a friend, business partner or even an assistant.  It's a pretty cool system when you can get people who haven't yet attended your workshop recruiting others to your class.

For instructors this is what it look like on the pricing page. You can now enable registrants to allow guest registration, and the price can be left the same or you can alter the price to encourage signups!