The Photo Managers Conference 2021

Breakout Sessions

Learn from the experts to improve your technical and business skills.

Listed below are our eighteen breakout sessions. Registered attendees will receive details in mid-March on how to choose the 6 sessions you want to attend live. The good news is all sessions will be recorded, so you can watch all of the sessions long into the future.

Click on a Title to Learn More:

Download a Printable PDF of All Descriptions.

Beyond Photo Boxes: Exploring Archival Storage Options

Description: 

All photo organizers have used archival boxes to store clients’ prints. In this hands-on session, go beyond the box to discover ways to safely house prints, slides, negatives, oversize photos, rolled or cased photos, fragile or damaged photos, and various types of film.

SPEAKER: Kate Jacus

Bill ShapiroKate Jacus is the founder of The Photo Curator, LLC and the Marketing Coordinator for Archival Methods (a TPM Partner). Her love of organizing and expertise in archival storage stems from her 13-year career in the museum world.

 

How to Capture the DIY Market and Still Stay Profitable

Description: 

This 90-minute session will discuss ways to work efficiently with the “hybrid client.” Whether it is due to budget constraints or a desire to be more involved in their project, the hybrid client wants to do much of the work themselves but also wants to hire you as their trainer. Attendees will learn how PhotosFinished approaches these types of projects, breaking big, overwhelming projects into smaller manageable parts, and how we efficiently balance their participation with our involvement. PhotosFinished provides in-person client training through Zoom sessions and other predesigned tutorials. We will share the pitfalls to watch out for so that you can still be profitable without sacrificing quality, as well as how the hybrid client fits in with your other full-service client workflows.

SPEAKERS: Kerry Butkovich & Becky Hussey

Bill ShapiroPhotosFinished is a photo management business founded by owners Kerry Butkovich and Becky Hussey. After working in the education and business world respectively, Kerry and Becky founded PhotosFinished based on their passion to help others reclaim and enjoy their family memories. Kerry started her first business in 2009 creating slideshows for various events after 15 years in the classroom. She quickly realized the need for organization in combination with the creation of slideshows. Becky has always been passionate about archiving and enjoying her family’s memories, and became a photo organizer in 2010 to help others share their family stories. In 2011, Kerry and Becky decided to merge their services and PhotosFinished was born.

Kerry and Becky are charter members of APPO (now The Photo Managers) and both became Certified Photo Organizers in late 2011. Kerry and Becky, like all of you in this session, are passionate about helping others organize their memorabilia, creating systems for safely backing up their collections and finding ways to display and enjoy their families’ memories. Their motto is simple: “Your Photos, Our Touch.”

Essentials for Your First Year as a Photo Organizer

Description: 

Starting out as a Photo Organizer is a huge learning curve. It really takes something to start a new business — you need to create systems and processes, handle marketing, generate leads, figure out pricing, and manage clients and projects — as well as your accounts and, of course, learn the technical skills and methodology required to organize photos! There’s a lot to get your head around, and Carly’s just done it, so join her as she shares the best things she learned in her first year.

SPEAKER: Carly Michael & Kimberly Melton

Bill ShapiroCarly Michael, founder of PhotoGenie, hails from Melbourne, Australia, grew up in her family’s camera shop, and has been surrounded by photos her entire life. She’s a trained photographer, a photography educator, and spent a decade as the lab manager of her family’s photo lab. Her commitment to avoiding the Digital Dark Age, the loss of all photos from this time period, had her leave her family business in January 2020 to become a photo organizer to help people solve a problem that they don’t yet know they have.

Kimberly Melton

Kimberly Melton, founder of Visual Story Media is from Charlotte, North Carolina. Her background is in project management and marketing. She is a Certified Photo Manager. She became interested in old photos sitting with her grandma Nellie as she was told stories about what life was like growing up in the mountains.  She is passionate about helping people get their photos out of the closet or phone so they can enjoy them again.

 

Systematize and Scale

Description: 

If you only had to organize your clients, running a business would be easy! In this session, you’ll learn how to get your own business organized with a system that will let you scale when the time comes. Learn why the right processes and documentation will help you move past your own busy-ness, so that you can start hiring and training the right people.

SPEAKER: Caroline Guntur

Bill ShapiroCaroline Guntur is a Photo Organizer and Genealogist, specializing in digital photo organizing and family history. She is the owner of The Swedish Organizer, LLC, a company that provides customized family history solutions to clients all over the world. Caroline also hosts webinars and workshops, and creates online courses. Caroline is a member of the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO), the National Genealogical Society, the Photo Managers, the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and all of their respective Chicago chapters. https://www.organizingphotos.net

 

The Digital Photo Diet: A Guide to ‘Overwhelm’ Prevention

Description: 

Bloated? Listless? Dragging? Out of control? If this describes your devices then here’s an exciting new way to shrink those photo libraries, take inches off of your galleries, and drop several disk sizes—effortlessly! Follow my miracle ‘photography reduction’ plan and you’ll finally be able to fit your photos onto that little black hard drive of your dreams! An actionable ‘diet regimen’ will be provided in re-brandable format for managers and their clients.

As photo managers, we are all acutely aware of the problems caused by digital overwhelm—increasingly unwieldy cloud programs, loss of value in our images, and no real change in sight. This talk contains practical advice for both current and future photography. It will include actionable steps to stop clutter before it happens and, in fact, to change your photography habits altogether. A customizable handout for both managers and their clients will be provided.

SPEAKER: Nicole Olds

Bill ShapiroMy name is Nicole Olds. I am the owner of EnjoyYourPhotos.ca. Born in the UK, I moved to Canada in 2003 and now live in Collingwood, Ontario. As a professional photographer and photography coach, I am so glad to have discovered and become a part of The Photo Managers and the photo organizing industry. I love using my Lightroom skills (early adopter) and newly developed camera scanning capabilities (thank you, Adam Pratt!). I love to help clients get their images organized so that they can indeed enjoy them rather than see them as an overwhelming chore. I’m excited for the future in an industry that is always changing — it’s certainly keeping me young!

 

Developing a Business Operations Manual

Description: 

As a business owner, it is very helpful to have a Business Operations Manual to help you run your business. This specific manual covers your processes for the various parts of your business and gives you scripts and standard operating procedures for what you do. No need to treat each client project as a new and different project — have some standard steps to become efficient in what you do.

SPEAKER: Bonnie Shay

Bill ShapiroBonnie Hillman Shay is a Certified Photo Organizer and founder of Mariposa Photo Organizing based in Highland Park, IL. Bonnie helps her clients organize, edit, and back up their printed and digital photo and video collections as well as create photo books, online photo galleries, and other ways of sharing their photos. She wants her clients to have access to their family photo treasures since they are a gift that keeps on giving and appreciated by generations to come.

Bonnie makes sure her clients are left with a M.E.S.S. when she completes their photo project. A M.E.S.S. stands for photos that are:

  • Manageable to keep
  • Enjoyable to look at
  • Shareable with friends and family
  • Safe and secure from technological failure and natural disasters

Bonnie has been featured in numerous publications, and offers presentations to inspire people to curate their family’s photo collections. Bonnie is a member of NAPO (The National Association of Professional Organizers) and The Photo Organizers.

 

Create a New Revenue Stream with Online Courses

Description: 

Online courses are a great way to add a passive revenue stream to your Photo Management business, and offer a lower-price solution to clients who cannot afford your full-service options. This class will show you the required tools and a process flow for creating your first online course!

SPEAKER: Casey von Stein

Bill ShapiroCasey von Stein, aka Miss Freddy, is a certified Photo Manager living in Golden, Colorado. She helps clients worldwide make sense of their photo mess through remote organizing sessions and online, self-paced classes.

 

Photo Finishing Technology Facts and Fun

Description: 

We all work hard to understand the various technologies and specifications involved in getting a good scan, print, or photobook. In this session, we will explore the different ways photo prints are made and the advantages to each technology. We will explore some of your best options for printing, and spend time exploring image resolution and how this important image acquisition decision affects your output. We will explore the file types that lend themselves to the best print, color management, and how to judge the color of your output. We will also provide an exploration of film sizes through history and some characteristics that are important for each.

We will try to have extended time for Q&A as I feel this topic always brings a lot of questions out.

SPEAKER: Daniel Baldridge

Bill ShapiroDan Baldridge, co-owner of Photo Gym, has been employed in the photo industry for over 35 years. His knowledge of imaging is vast and he loves sharing what he knows. Beginning with commercial darkrooms leading to commercial photofinishing to where we are today, Dan has seen a lot of technology pass under the bridge. Equipped to tackle even the most complex photo-related challenge, he thrives on finding ways to bring photos out of hiding and into the everyday using the very latest technology.

 

 

Using pCloud to Remotely Organize Your Clients’ Photos

Description: 

Most people haven’t heard of the versatile cloud storage platform pCloud, which appears as a hard drive option on PC or Mac. You will learn how to manage client photos electronically on your computer and immediately share results with clients. Additionally, you can share their entire collection in a customized file structure through a simple branded link.

SPEAKER: Lisa Tonjes Moritz

Lisa Tonjes MoritzLisa Tonjes Moritz has been organizing professionally for 13 years, but she has been helping others organize since she was a teenager. In March 2007, Lisa turned her organizing hobby into a business. Her mission is to give her clients HOPE by making their busy lives easier. In 2012, she joined the Association of Personal Photo Organizers because it was exciting to be able to bring one of her favorite hobbies, photography, into her business. As of May 2019, Helping Organize People Everyday became Helping Organize Photos Everywhere, and the sole focus of HOPE organizing is to help families organize, preserve, share, and celebrate their memories.

 Lisa lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband Bruce and their son Anderson (who arrived on his mom’s birthday in 2016). She enjoys traveling and volunteering. In fact, she met her husband while they served together on the Omaha Jaycees board. She is the current President of the Friends of CASA and an active member of Omaha Rotary. https://hopeorganizing.com/

 

 

Client Onboarding Best Practices

Description: 

Great client onboarding experiences set the tone from first contact to final invoice. Adam will lead you through the framework he uses with every new client, and we’ll crowdsource the best ideas into a new set of industry best practices. Join this interactive workshop ready to share your best ideas, and every attendee will leave with a new template they can use for their next client onboarding.

SPEAKER: Adam Pratt

Adam PrattAdam Pratt loves people, photography, and a good story! He’s spent the last 25 years at the intersection of creativity and technology, including 20+ years at Adobe, where he works on the Creative Cloud team. He has experience as a photographer, book author, software trainer, and photo organizer. He’s also the founder of Chaos to Memories, where he helps people enjoy their photos again by turning their photo chaos into precious memories they can enjoy and share.

 

 

A Case Study: Getting Past the Fear of Organizing 1.7 MILLION Photos

Description: 

Did you ever have a client who was terrified of losing their media? They copied their photos from one site to another and maybe another, but still were not sure where anything was. This only added to the anxiety about losing precious memories!

I will review a case study of a recent client who started with 1.7 million photos (plus videos) and show how I organized it down to 350,000. I will share my thoughts and fears along the way, as well as my methodology, workflow, tools, and mistakes.

SPEAKER: Rhoda Gordon

Rhoda GordonRhoda Gordon has been certified as a photo organizer by The Photo Managers and is the owner and founder of Sunflower Photo Solutions. Photography is in her blood, coming from a long line of photo and photo equipment enthusiasts. In addition to her love and knowledge of photos, she is an electrical engineer by trade, which aids in her technological competence, problem-solving skills, and attention to details and deadlines. She has been organizing photos (print and digital), creating montages, and curating photo books most of her adult life. She is a life-long learner and continues to keep up with the most recent changes in photo management applications. Her passion is supporting others to preserve and organize their beautiful memories and enable them to pass down their amazing legacy to future generations. Let her help you tell your story!

 

 

A Comparison of 3 Archiving Companies

Description: 

Our clients ask us how they can preserve, protect, and, most importantly, ensure their photo collections live on for future generations. I have been researching three platforms dedicated to the permanent archiving of family photos and history: Forever, Collectionaire, and Permananet.org. We will look at the features these platforms offer, how they differ, and what kind of real permanent archiving they can deliver on. These are answers for the future that your clients need today.

SPEAKER: Peter Bennett

Peter BennettPeter’s career has spanned over three decades as a professional travel and editorial photographer, photo agency owner, teacher, and photo organizer. He has produced and edited six photography books, and his work has appeared in hundreds of magazines and other publications. Peter has been an instructor at the Los Angeles Center of Photography since 2010.

In 2016, Peter started Fotoflow Solutions, taking his years of professional experience and knowledge to those who really needed it, helping his clients organize, preserve, and enjoy their personal and family photos. Most importantly, he wants to show everyone how they can start being the editors of their own life story and to begin archiving their family history, ensuring that their legacy can be safely and securely passed on to others.

 

Client User Guides Made Easy

Description: 

A custom curated user guide is an amazing tool for both the client and the photo manager. The client will be IMPRESSED, surprised, and delighted as you go over each section of the user guide at the project’s completion. In this breakout, I will identify why a user guide is important, how to create it, the steps within your normal workflow that will be used, and most importantly, the sections to include in the user guide. Samples of my user guides for both print and digital clients will be available.

SPEAKER: Rhoda Gordon

Rhoda GordonRhoda Gordon has been certified as a photo organizer by The Photo Managers and is the owner and founder of Sunflower Photo Solutions. Photography is in her blood, coming from a long line of photo and photo equipment enthusiasts. In addition to her love and knowledge of photos, she is an electrical engineer by trade, which aids in her technological competence, problem-solving skills, and attention to details and deadlines. She has been organizing photos (print and digital), creating montages, and curating photo books most of her adult life. She is a life-long learner and continues to keep up with the most recent changes in photo management applications. Her passion is supporting others to preserve and organize their beautiful memories and enable them to pass down their amazing legacy to future generations. Let her help you tell your story!

 

Practical Steps for Crafting Life Celebration Books and Family Histories

Description: 

When an organizing project uncovers a multitude of puzzle pieces that tell a wonderful story, do you neatly label all the pieces and file them away, or do you start planning an amazing life celebration or family history book? Using Scrivener software as the central tool, learn how to gather all the puzzle pieces in one place to craft an amazing final deliverable. Note: this session will not cover book design.

SPEAKER: Fabiana Morris

Fabiana MorrisFabiana is co-founder of Treasured Pixels in Houston, TX, a photo management business she started with her husband in 2016. Tackling large, historically rich projects is her specialty. She is passionate about uncovering the amazing stories hidden in client collections to preserve for future generations.

 

What's New with Apple Photos in 2021: Big Sur and iOS 14

Description: 

For so many clients, Apple Photos is the gateway to photo management and sets expectations that we have to understand and address. Attendees will come away with an understanding of important new features and updates for macOS Big Sur and iOS 14, fun tips to use and to share with clients, and the latest options for using Photos in an organizing workflow, whether or not the Photos Library is the final home for your clients’ pictures.

SPEAKER: Paul Einarsen

Paul EinarsenPaul is an Apple Photos specialist who empowers people to create a rich photography experience on iPhone, iCloud, and Mac. Bringing over three decades of experience in digital photography, desktop publishing, and the commercial printing industry, he teaches Apple users how to get the most value and fun out of their photography. After working at Apple as a Genius and Creative Trainer, Paul founded Bluewater Imaging LLC to deliver personalized coaching and training so people can get the most out of this amazing technology. 

 

Creating an Individualized Photo Management System for EACH Client

Description: 

As photo managers, it is our responsibility to take our knowledge of best practices and to combine that with the clients’ capabilities and wishes to develop an effective, individualized photo management system. This class will explore how I develop an individual plan for EACH client — rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This course will review the necessary components that each plan should have, options for each component, and considerations to make when choosing those options.

SPEAKER: Christy Wright

Christy WrightChristy Wright established Structured Simplicity in the Chicago suburbs in 2017. She specializes in digital organization to help clients simplify their photos, small businesses, and lives through the technology they already use. She also helps clients establish backup systems in order to preserve their files and memories. She is a certified member of Photo Managers as well as a NAPO member.

 

A/V: Working with Audio and Video to Enhance Your Client's Media Collection

Description: 

Videos are an integral part of any client’s media collection. From old media (8mm, VHS, etc.) to smartphones, video tells the stories of our lives in a way photos cannot. In this class, we’ll discuss adding audio to digitized old media, creating videos with burst photo stills, organizing videos into annual timelines and/or a thoughtfully edited highlight reel. This service works with both family and corporate clients.

SPEAKERS: Marci Brennan & Chris George

Marci Brennan and Chris GeorgeI’m Marci Brennan, a TPM certified professional photo organizer. I live in Queens, New York, with my husband/business partner, Chris, a videographer/photographer at chrisgeorgeproductions.com. Together we offer our photo and video organizing services throughout New York City and beyond. Our goal is to help busy people manage, organize, and preserve their photo and video collections so their valuable images are always at their fingertips and safely backed up.

The love of images has been a constant theme in my working and creative life. Drawing on my art background and years of professional experience in the photo industry, I help families restore their cherished memories and create a cohesive, thoughtfully curated media libraries. 

Your personal photos are a rich and important legacy, worth organizing and preserving for your children and future generations. Don’t wait any longer. Let’s get started!