Last week there was some healthy discussion on the BestPhotoList Forum about the value of attending the annual US PMA show and conference.
Allan Showalter, current PMA President put his thoughts into words and I thought they were really worth relaying here. This is the first time I have seen someone walk through their store and really look at everything they have added to their business as a direct result of attending PMA. Definitely worth a read.
Brothers and Sisters of the Photo Industry,
I posted my thoughts on the value of attending the PMA Tradeshow and other tradeshows on this forum (BestPhotoList) 6 or 7 years ago and I am repeating an edited version of that post below.
By way of introduction and full disclosure I am PMA's current International President and a former Chairman of the Board of IPI. I have also attended 3 PRO conventions in the last 10 years.
IPI and PRO do a truly outstanding job of providing their members excellent content and networking opportunities at their annual meeting and throughout the year with forums etc. I would encourage every photo specialty store to be a member of one or the other of these groups if not both.
By their very nature though these organizations must have a narrow focus. They are like a rifle or a porthole. They provide ALOT of firepower on a small target. The PMA tradeshow is more like a shotgun or a picture window. It provides a wider view and scatters in to more areas.
For example, the most recent PRO and IPI tradeshows had 43 to 60 exhibitors and under 400 attendees. The 2012 PMA Trade show which was the smallest in years still had over 150 exhibitors in the PMA section alone and of course as part os CES there were over 155,000 attendees although only around 25,000 should be considered to have a high interest in digital imaging. This different size makes PMA different event to be used in a different way than the buying groups' shows. In the words of my collage Economics 201 textbook these tradeshows are not "substitute goods".
I confess.. I am not a good listener. But in 1982 I attended a PMA type meeting and got one idea from it that entirely changed my business for the better. It was something so easy and obvious and fit perfectly in the business we already had and our equipment and skills.
I have since been to many PMA sessions and found that ideas like this are no fluke. I have been fortunate enough to collect more of them than I can count over the years
We have just finished our best year ever in the photo business and I owe much of that success to the small amount of listening I have been able to make myself do at PMA and other networking and educational opportunities.
I look around our labs and see the digital copy stand idea from Dave Marvin and the zoom lens from Brian Woods. Inkjet and pro services ideas from Brian Ainsworth. Equipment bought with help from my friend Bob Rowland.
This forum (bestphotolist.com) by my golf partner Bob Banasik. And the Fuji Forum from Randy Wright. Marketing ideas and lots of other help from Bob Russell. Pricing from Brian Noble and John Peterson. Mouse pads from Mike Saint Germain. Custom framing equipment because Ray Figlewski and others gave recommendations. APS pricing from Bill Smith. Portrait studio pricing and stuffer design from Bob Artz and his daughter. Greeting cards by Bob Hanson, Rob Klaben and Dave Marvin. The cutter works in our Frontier lab works because of a part number from John Albright. PhotoShop tips I got from Brian Mundy. Locket photos and TV promotion from Jim Schwartzbach. Countless ideas directly and indirectly from Bill McCurry. Accounting skills from Gary Grinaker. Banking suggestions and working with wholesale accounts from Mike Wodushek. Compensation ideas from David Guidry. Digital pricing and much more from Mike Worswick. A big customer because of a referral by Mike Weiss. Technical know how and equipment recommendations from Rob Gordal and Tom Hoerner at Fuji. Hardware selling ideas from Larry Carillo, Frank Calagaz. Print from print systems based on information from Brian Asa. Event photography ideas and much more from Kirk Sidley. Store displays and photo classes from Chris Lydle. Photo Sports cards from some guy in Baltimore I met on our plane to PMA. And a much better view of business in general from Sada Cumber, John Seagull, Neil Cohen and Ron Inkley.
I owe these people and many others a debt I cannot repay to them, but I will try to do my part to pass along what I have learned to honor what they have done for me.
I got access to all this help through the efforts of a lot of good people at PMA. IPI, PRO and the Buck Rogers National Photofinishers Group.
The point is that most all these people will be at PMA this year and will be sharing ideas that can make your business better...lots better. I would encourage you that if you are on the fence about attending to go and learn from them.
Sincerely,
Allen Showalter
Showalter Imaging Group
King Photo
Harrisonburg Photo Finishing
