PPMT President’s Message-December 2017

PPMT President’s Message-December, 2017

By Donna M. Butler, PPMT President

As we wrap up the year, we look forward to welcoming an exciting and promising new year. I am so honored to have served as your president for the last 12 months and will continue as a PPMT member, Chairman of the Board and Webmaster in 2018. I want to thank you all for allowing me to serve as your President and I want to recognize and thank all the members of the PPMT Board for their tireless efforts and contributions: Peggy Weatherington, Michael Gustafson, Dorma Tabisz, Dana Lunden, Sandra Hafford and Tracey Teichmann. As an all-volunteer organization, PPMT offers programs that are only possible because of photographers who are willing to give back some of their time and energy. On behalf of all our members, thank you, board members, for your service to our group. And to all our members, thank you for your continued support and hard work.

Our greatest challenge is getting our members to take ownership of the organization and get involved. I want to charge each of you to step up and volunteer this year. If you enjoy PPMT and find value in being a member, please contact us and let us know how you want to get involved. Running a stellar organization is the responsibility of all members, not just a handful of people. It will lessen the load if all members participate. Please don’t expect the same 6 people to carry the weight of all the members. That weight gets heavy. Many affiliates across the country are closing their doors – mostly for financial reasons or lack of membership. This is serious concern for our organization as well and it would be tragic for us to have to dissolve. Now, as Dorma Tabisz takes the reigns as your president, we want to support and encourage her in growing our membership and making PPMT the best it has ever been.

As we reflect on the past year, I believe that we have many reasons to be proud of our accomplishments. In 2017, we brought numerous experts and industry leaders to our monthly meetings who inspired us and taught us so many wonderful things. Our sponsors generously provided hundreds of products and services for our monthly door prize drawings. We increased our membership by 11 new members. We also now have a permanent meeting location at Watkins College of Art.

Additionally, the new website has served us well this year. It takes a lot of time and work to keep the site maintained but I am happy to volunteer my time to the organization to keep it up to date. My hope is that we will have more active member engagement on the site in the coming year. I want every member to visit the website often, which helps SEO. Check out the events calendar, the blog and member content page. Who knows, we may have some special surprises announced only on our blog in the future. And PLEASE update your profile! You can also help by contributing to the free member content. The content categories are: Design Templates, Studio Templates and Forms, Articles and Tutorials and Textures and Stock Images. You may submit your content HERE. There are many small ways to help and we are counting on you this year. We rely heavily on volunteers to keep PPMT going and anything you can do to help the organization is good for everyone. You can fill out our volunteer form and let us know about which opportunities you are interested in.

Whether photography is for business or pleasure we are all here to help each other and to learn from each other. I challenge everyone to make your photography dreams a reality this year by setting goals and working with others to figure out how to achieve them. Community and relationships are the strongest, most important thing in your creative journey. You never know why you will meet the people who cross your path; you never know who will be your next best friend or mentor or who will have the most influence on your life. Often, we do not realize how important we really are to each other and to the community we serve. But, what we do profoundly impacts the lives of so many around us. What we can accomplish together as a team, as the Professional Photographers of Middle Tennessee family, is also extremely important. So, open your heart, your mind, and your lives to each other and know that PPMT is a safe place to create, network and share your ideas and dreams. I wish you all a happy and prosperous year, but also want to challenge you to step up your game and push yourselves to be even more. Set some personal goals for yourself this year as well – shoot more, enter print competition for the first time, declare your candidacy for the CPP program, put together a seminar and start teaching – strive to make yourself the best you can be. PPMT is here to help!

The Board of Directors is working hard on some great ideas and events for next year but even with all these great ideas, we REALLY need your help to make them come to life! The possibilities for momentum and growth are endless. With member input and participation, the leadership will continue to work hard to keep the momentum moving forward. The organization will provide learning opportunities and activities, so members can continue to make their photographs exceptional and improve their craft! We are very excited about the direction we’re headed and the growth we’re seeing. We are always looking to improve, though, so please feel free to offer feedback and suggestions. Or better yet, volunteer some time to help.

We meet on the second Tuesday of every month at Watkins College of Art. If you are interested in checking us out, please contact us at ppmt@ppmtonline.com or come to one of our monthly meetings. The first meeting is FREE to attend. Details can always be found on our website or our Facebook page. Our next opportunity to mingle and learn this month is our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 9, 2018.

If you would like to become a PPMT member, we’d love to have you join us. Our memberships are extremely affordable, and the value far outweighs your membership dues. Visit our website or sign up here.

You are all so dear to my heart and so is PPMT. I love you all. Thank you again and I look forward to an amazing 2018!