Photo Plus Expo in New York City

Although I'm still in London, I ought to acknowledge the self-proclaimed "Most Important Event in Photography: October 23-25, 2008" in New York City's Javits Center. Frankly, I wouldn't attend it even if I were there, since it's a sort of convention-like event that showcases new products that I'll eventually read of on the internet. Unless I were to specifically meet other similarly-minded photographers, or get some promotional freebies (never happened in my case), I give Photo Plus Expo a pass.

Don't get me wrong. I think that such events are terrific for the industry, but they're just not for me. I'm not a tech head, and my interest in what I call "hard gear" is essentially limited to Canon products. If I want to tantalize my permanent lust for computers,, monitors and hard drives, I drop by the Apple store...for Canon cameras, ah well...B&H is a handful of streets north of me...that's the extent of my interest in that kind of stuff.

Having said that, I read PDN's reports on some of the event's seminars, and here are some interesting nuggets:

From a photographer called Blake Discher:

* Start a blog (separate from your web site), and make sure the first words on the blog are your keyword phrase.

* Get the URL that�s your keywording phrase, if you can. (in my case, I got thetravelphotographer.net)

From Louisa Curtis:

* Client expectations are that they prefer web sites to show large images showing quality work; they expect photographers' sites to load quickly and operate intuitively; they don�t want to wade through clutter; and they want to be able to contact photographers easily (ie, put your phone number on your web site, not just your e-mail address).

From Kat Dalager:

* Web site design should support the photographer's brand so that it�s easier for clients to remember you. It�s all about functionality, and convenience of getting in and out.

From Amy Salzman:

Forget the moving pictures, forget the music, leave out the bells and whistles. (I disagree, but I guess she's referring to commercial photographers rather than photojournalists or travel photographers).

For the whole reporting, drop by the very informative PDN Pulse.

Posted in: Events