Jim Dittmer Article 4-4-07

Hi guys!
There is a HUGE pent-up desire for a Photoshop users group in Portland. It wouldn't surprise me if we quickly went to 1000 members with hundreds of attendees at each meeting. The logistics of this may be quite daunting. And, by the way, we can't expect the kind of assistance from Adobe that they give their InDesign group. In case you are skeptical about the size of the group growing that quickly, consider the following:
I've been a working printing prepress professional in Portland for 24 years, my first exposure to Photoshop was version 1, and I've been using PS for color correction etc. exclusively for about 13 years or so. I'm pretty well known in the design and printing community and am called upon by literally hundreds of people for PS help or advice. I'm not trying to brag here, just trying to establish my bona fides. That said…
- Of the 50+ names on the MeetUp list, I only knew 1, and I know a LOT of people!
- Local design schools (The Art Institute, Chemeketa, PSU, Mt Hood, PCC, as well as our 2 state universities and others) graduate over a hundred designers a year, with at least 5 times that number taking classes and interested in learning more.
- There are over 300 independent designers and agencies in Portland alone.
- There are hundreds of pro photographers moving to digital and learning PS. And perhaps a thousand amateurs and semi pro's doing the same.
- The art community is adopting digital quickly, especially for their publicity campaigns and ads.
- Their are dozens of PS pro's who are aching for a venue to network, show off, and pass along their skills.
Our challenge is not getting attendee's but rather, coping with the numbers that do come. We may actually have to limit the numbers at events! There are lots of ways to do this and we can discuss them at length later.
As for charging dues…
- As much as we might not want to, finances will be an issue. Halls capable of holding a hundred plus people are hard to find and expensive (Our group has paid as much as $300 for a place)
- Having some group funds allows us to bring in speakers from other places. Many will come and speak for free if you pay the transportation, hotel and food expenses, but that can add up fast. Speakers of the caliber of the late Bruce Fraiser charge $1500 + expenses and up.
- Even if it's just informal meetings, it's nice to have coffee and cookies, or pizza occasionally!
- If a formal dues structure is not wanted, how about an admission fee? Or perhaps a donation can at the door?
- Charging a fee will help to eliminate folks who aren't really serious about the topic.
I must confess to not being to familiar with the inner workings of MeetUp. Do they charge dues? Is it a group fee? How much are we talking about? Our experience at the Pacific NW Color Management Users Group (CMUG) has been as follows:
1) Having a central clearing spot for info is important. Whether it's the MeetUp site or our own (or both) is not of great importance.
2) MeetUp appears to be a great recruiting organization
3) It would be easy to steer folks to the organization website by including a URL "for more information" that lead to the website and/or blog
4) As I mentioned, I really don't think we have to worry about the BIC factor (Butts In Chairs), I think it will be more of a challenge to keep the meetings effective with a large group.
There's a lot more to discuss, but there's time to do it. Do you want to have lunch some time prior to the meeting for planning purposes? Also how large do you want the first event to be? Shall we try to grow this gradually to start?
Well, I must get to work. Talk soon!
Jim
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Jim Dittmer
JDA Creative Color
239 SE 6th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
503-525-0846 V 503-525-0943 F
jim@jdapdx.com http://www.jdapdx.com/
iChat http://us.f631.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=jdapdx@mac.com