WHAT'S
HAPPENING AT www.acmp.com.au?

Tony Page, ACMP Board member and webmaster, updates the
last 12 months on-line.

During the last year I have been responsible for running the ACMP web site and international matters. On the whole, I can report a year of steady progress making maximum use of our limited resources, with some disappointing aspects outweighed by definite improvements in overall performance.

After many frustration's, Collection 1 was eventually put on line after Tim Wimborne rephotographed the entire book using David Roche's facilities. The difficulties inherent in this and the time involved (including the construction of 300 web pages) has convinced all concerned that we cannot rely on voluntary work to get the next five collections up. We will be looking for sponsorship/donation of professional services next year to accelerate the whole process.

Links to your web site.

Strong feelings expressed by some members (as I mentioned last year), together with income brought in by the web site portfolios that helped defray costs, resulted in the Board deciding that free links could be provided to any member's own professional web site. Quite a few members have taken advantage of this (if you haven't, why not?!), and whenever I discover that a member has a web site I add it to the links page. This is another page that is due for redesign next year to increase its prominence.

Usage of the site has been only average in my opinion, although there has been an increase in visits recently, perhaps explained by the greater number of members now on line. I have been disappointed by the small number of people using the members' bulletin board, as this can be a marvellous way to do anything from selling equipment, asking for or sharing information, announcing events, complaining about whatever bugs you or, dare I say it, giving praise where it's due. For those unfamiliar with bulletin boards, you can post any message on it straight from your own browser, just type your golden prose in and push the "post" button (don't forget to refresh your page if you want to see your message instantly on line)! Maybe we just need to publicise the facilities offered on our site better. Certainly I have not been able to spend much time doing site publicity over the past twelve months. Unfortunately our planned PR launch campaign was a victim of budget cuts.

Gradually, we have managed to build up a system to update our state program and publication pages (thanks to Brad Hick, Mick Bell, Guy Little et al) and hope to improve these features of the site as the range of meetings, seminars etc grow in the future. With administration help (see below) information should be more extensive, timely and accurate, although it's not bad now.

Web site researcher needed.

As I commented in my report to you last year, to get our site up and running, arbitrary decisions as regards design and content, not to mention costs, had to be made. Available time and money has meant we have not been able to do everything we planned, but on the whole the site is running well. There is no doubt, however, that the time has come to move to the next stage of its development. We have had indications that sponsorship is available, but to a limited extent.

I have recommended to the Board that we appoint a part-time administrative assistant (eg three days a month). This person's job will be to chase up site content (including database updates), ensure it is suitable formatted, and generally perform the basic administrative tasks which are currently taking up time I should be devoting to site development and other Board matters. We have already had expressions of interest from some interested parties.

We are currently also considering redesigning the site to use 800x600 resolution as a basis instead of 640x480. This would also allow us to increase the size of images used on a page, while maintaining the principle that a complete image should be visible without scrolling. Although current estimates put those using the smaller screen resolution at approximately 15%, few of those would be in the graphics industry, although quite a few are in business (I have first hand experience of a client complaining some of my images were too big to fit on his screen!). I would really like some feedback on this, as it is quite a big decision involving substantial work, and we want to get it right. We are also actively considering putting substantially bigger images on line that can be chosen by those with larger monitors and fast modems (or patience) as an alternative. Again, it would be nice to get some feedback.

As more and more members get online (the number is growing very quickly) our website will provide them with a valuable source of professional information and news, as well as a forum where they can communicate directly with fellow members. Again, please use the Bulletin Board! One of our projects is to greatly expand our links page into a substantial reference facility for members. This requires your help. Please send me any link you find useful in your work from the white pages and technical papers to useful bulletin boards and infotainment (I already have Dilbert).

Is your folio online?

I hope more members will take advantage of the opportunity to put a mini-portfolio online and/or get a link to their own website if they have one. This can be a valuable marketing tool (I've heard of several jobs gained this way) and at $10 a month has to be a bargain.

On the international side, we have seen an increase in cooperation (largely in the area of information sharing) between various national photographic organisations. Copyright protection is very much a live issue all over the world. Usage and reprint rights in magazines have also been an issue. The growth of an Editorial Group in the USA may be a useful pointer to a field we could devote more time to here in Australia.

I can only repeat what I said last year: in the future, I believe we can enlist the AOP and the ASMP (USA) to help us bring pressure to bear on Australian agencies and organisations to conform to world standards on copyright and usage. We're already seeing some excessive demands and outrageous attempts to browbeat photographers into signing away their newly won rights by companies whose parent organisations in the States or Europe wouldn't dare attempt such actions. Perhaps a few questions could be asked further up the line as to why they think they can get away with it here.

In closing, may I once again thank my colleagues on the Board for putting up with me for the past year, and more importantly, thank our ACMP members, who through their support, both financial and otherwise, have shown a responsible and forward-looking approach to the future of our profession. I hope other photographers, not currently members, will realise that only by standing together and building a strong professional organisation can we ensure the wellbeing of our industry in the years to come. So join, together we can make a difference!

Tony Page,
Director for Website and International Affairs

This website copyright 2005 ACMP - PO Box 779 North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia
Ph. +61 2 9025 3975    Fx. +61 2 9025 3990 Email: secretary@acmp.com.au
All individual photographs copyright the photographer concerned