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PMA Show Heads Back to Vegas
by Diane Berkenfeld

In today’s constantly changing marketplace, it’s more important than ever to take advantage of the myriad educational sessions and classes, lectures and events surrounding the annual PMA show. Networking opportunities with fellow retailers can result in fresh new ideas as surely as meetings with manufacturers and attending business sessions.

And the PMA show doesn’t have to mean “all work, no play.” There is a photo safari, morning fun runs, golf tournaments, and a variety of other gatherings designed to offer needed relaxation. There’s also the local flavor of Las Vegas—which itself adds non-stop nightlife to complement the days on the show floor.

More Than Just Photo
The Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) will be holding its 2004 Convention to run concurrently with PMA, from Thursday, February 12 through Sunday, February 15. Sessions include hands-on projects, marketing, and business topics. PPFA has been the trade association for professional, custom, picture framers, galleries and framing and art suppliers and distributors for 31 years; and has more than 3,000 members.

The DIMA Annual Conference will be held February 10 and 11. DIMA will be bringing its Digital Workflow Arena back to PMA 2004. The interactive venue will feature 1/2-hour presentations throughout the show, highlighting all areas of professional color-managed digital workflow from capture to output. DIMA’s Digital Workflow Arena will be host to a variety of professional digital imaging products from Color Burst, Epson, Fujifilm, GretagMacbeth, and Imacon, just to name a few.

DIMA will also hold its famous Shoot-Outs, including the addition of a new category this year: Digital Photo Kiosks. The DIMA Shoot-Outs are a popular event. DIMA creates venues to evaluate different digital imaging systems—on a level playing field. For the Digital Camera Shoot-Out each manufacturer must use the same model, lighting, printer and be shot by the same photographer. Only the camera itself is different. For the Digital Printer Shoot-Out, a target file is created and sent out to a digital printer, media, ink and RIP manufacturers to output according to specifications. For the Digital Photo Kiosk Shoot-Out, DIMA invited the respective manufacturers to bring their latest equipment to the DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out studio for evaluation based on a list of criteria. Results from all of the Shoot-Outs will be displayed on the PMA show floor.

The Professional School Photographers Association also holds its annual convention around PMA, running from February 9-11. A variety of topics include business, marketing and digital imaging techniques to help school, senior, and sports group photographers.

Another new group will be holding its first annual sales and marketing conference, co-locating with PMA this year. The PEiR Group (Profit and Education in Reprographics) was formed for independent reprographers and their vendors. The group’s goals are to advance the industry through the improvement of its members. The PEiR conference will be held Feb. 12-14 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino.

The PrintImage 2004 Annual Conference will be held February 12-15, 2004 with exciting sessions and events for those in the small and quick printing industry.

Annual PMDA Awards Dinner
An annual event that occurs on the eve of PMA, the PMDA Annual Awards dinner will be honoring individuals who have made an impact on the photographic industry. The honorees are: Dan Carp, Chairman and CEO, Eastman Kodak Company was voted the PMDA Person of the Year; Yasuo Asakura, product director, R&D Imaging System Group for Olympus America, Inc. was chosen to receive the Technical Achievement award; Dave Rogers, Chief Photo Buyer for Wal-Mart will be receiving the Norman C. Lipton Lifetime Achievement Award; and Henry Winkler, the Professional Photographer Award.

Back to School
PMA’s extensive schedule of educational sessions includes a vast array of speakers and topics, offering up a wealth of technical, business, and marketing advice. The sessions run the gamut—and include all types of imaging and photography businesses from photo imaging retailers to mass merchandisers, minilabs to commercial and portrait labs, retail portrait studios to Adobe Photoshop tips and tricks.

Kiosk Krazy will be presented by retailer Mitchell Goldstone, of 30 Minute Photos Etc. This session will discuss the self-service photofinishing model; Michelle Slaugther of InfoTrends Research Group will discuss Trends in Consumer Digital Photography, directed to mass merchandisers, chains and consumer electronics stores; Bringing a Small Lab Into the Digital Age is the subject William Stroud, of Penguin Photo Inc. If you run an analog lab, and still haven’t made the switch to digital, this is one session not to be missed. Julianne Kost, Adobe Systems will be offering Photoshop Tips and Tricks for lab staff and photographers who utilize digital output systems; and Katrin Eismann, photoshopdiva.com will be teaching a Night School class on Professional Retouching Techniques. One of the largest growing niches in recent years, Scrapbooking, will be covered in the Tutorial: Attracting New Business Through Scrapbooking, with speakers Nancy Mann Hill, Ph.D., View Enterprises and Jeanne Wines Reed, Great American Scrapbook Company; Mike Woodland, of Dan’s Camera City will be addressing the topic: Never Start A Business Without an Exit Plan, for all imaging retailers; and Adrienne Zoble, Adrienne Zoble Associates, Inc. will discuss The 365 Days of Photo Opportunities: How Many Are You Capturing?

Whether you go mainly for the educational opportunities, networking, or to see the latest and greatest new products, attending the PMA show is important for everyone in the imaging industry.