BWPS Kicks off the 2011-2012 Season

The summer is drawing to a close and we hope you have all been keeping your cameras close at hand to capture whatever amazing sights the summer has had to offer to you, and that you will share it with us during the 2011-2012 season. You may recall we asked for member input to enhance the functioning of the club last spring. We received suggestions from 29 people, and the Board has tried to put as many of the suggestions as they could in place for the new year.

Our new season starts with a learning program on Wednesday Sept. 7th at our new meeting place at St. Andrew’s Church in Framingham. Three of our AA members who are also competition judges (Mike Roman, Mike Goodman, and Ed McGuirk) will tell us, from each of their perspectives, what camera club judges look for in competition images. Members are encouraged to bring three images to be evaluated in smaller groups in light of the criteria these judges use. Frank Forward, our VP and Programs Chair has put together this and other exciting programs that will be scheduled for the first Wednesday of each month. (See website calendar for details of the season’s programs). Our goal is to have 1/3 of the programs be hands-on, 1/3 of the programs be learning programs, and 1/3 be inspirational presentations from expert photographers.

Our competitions will now be on the third Wednesday of the month, starting with a nature image competition on September 21. This is one of our three special internal competitions for the year. It will not count in the overall scoring for the year, but will provide us with images to enter into the external interclub Nature competitions (NECCC, PSA, and Glennie Salons) as a club (See member guide for explanations of these interclub competitions). Our regular internal monthly competitions will start the third week in October. (See website calendar for details of each competition). Our new competition co-chairs, Marianne Dent and Bob Paysnick have been hard at work lining up judges for each competition and learning the ropes from Steve Iadarola, who has transitioned out of the competition chair role.

The new BWPS Board has had three meetings over the summer and has been putting new programs (mentoring) and ad hoc committees (refreshments and welcoming/membership) in place to help smooth the operations of the club. Please cooperate with committee membrs (Joan Chasan and Barbara Roggeveen) in volunteering to bring either snacks or drinks at least once during the season and in assisting the membership committee (Catherine Pfau and Al Persson) with putting a Member Directory and new member badges into operation. We have also authored, with the help of Chris Wraight, a draft member orientation guide which we will distribute to all current members shortly, put on the website, and make sure new members know how to get a copy. It contains (almost) everything you need to know to be a productive contributor to and partaker of BWPS activities. We will be adding to it as new information becomes available.

We have purchased a new projector that should enhance our competitions and we will be auctioning off the old one to the highest bidder at one of or meetings. The board has also decided to begin circulating the notes from our board meetings (which occur as needed rather than on a regular basis) to keep the membership in the know about decisions as they are being made. Talk to any of the new Board members if you have additional ideas or need questions answered. They will be happy to talk to you. They are:

President Nancy La Pelle
Vice President & Programs Chair Frank Forward
Treasurer Jeff Slovin
Secretary Karen Randall
Competition Co-Chairs Marianne Dent & Bob Paysnick
Communications/Website Dana Lane
Photographic Society Of America Rep Debbie Guyer
NECCC Representative Michael Roman
Directors (Past Presidents) Debbie Guyer & Mike Roman

Let’s make this one the best year yet!!