We have been brewing up some pretty awesome features over here at Fisheye Connect. Again we are taking your feedback and putting it into action! The heart of Fisheye Connect for me was to allow people to connect. In particular photography instructors with photography enthusiasts. We have been working on a project that I hope will blow your socks off!

Welcome to our community site! The goal is really simple, to allow you to discuss, connect, share, and help one another. Create a profile, kick your shoes off and browse around and stay for a while.

community.fisheyeconnect.com

Feel free to create groups or join groups. You will also notice that another extension of the community site is a forum. This will be a place where you can ask questions!  It's all about community and helping one another. Instructors can now submit educational material and we will be posting it in our blog for all of you to view. I know what you are thinking another area to have to stay connected. We are making your life easy. We will be pulling in some of your favorite blogs all here one this site! You can sign in using your twitter information and update your twitter status from our community site! You can even search for photographers in your local area!

I wanted to introduce you to some people and clear the air on some things.  Fisheye Connect was started and founded by me, Kristy Dickerson, really as just an idea to help other photographer enthusiasts like myself to find quality photography workshops.  Myself and a team at Peachtree Solutions help me take this idea from just a million post-it notes to the web, and it launched in June of 2010. Really I just had this idea of having all photography education on one site and went for it.

 I have gotten a lot of questions and emails lately asking if I still owned the company.  I own 100% of the company and always have. I feel like what I need at this point is a team or a board of advisors that can help make decisions for Fisheye Connects future.

We believe there is strength in numbers. Having individuals with different expertise, knowledge, and backgrounds will combine to create a sense of synergy. The board of advisors and myself will be making decisions that will enhance the overall experience and to pave the way for greater success for Fisheye Connect.  For now I want to introduce you to two individuals, Gary Fong and Rob Nicolson.

·      Gary Fong
Gary is an entrepreneur, founder of Pictage’s lab, and former wedding photographer. Fong ended his photography career in 2002 to pursue business interests such as marketing photography products, luxury vacation rentals, yacht chartering, plastics manufacturing, a distribution and fulfillment center, and authoring a successful inspirational memoir.  Fong brings to the table a wealth of business knowledge and experience in and around the photography industry.

·      Rob “Ninja” Nicholson
Rob is a Wedding Photographer, Marketing Strategist and Community Advocate. In addition to photographing 10-12 high-end weddings per year, he serves as the Vice President of Marketing for ShootDotEdit and is the founder of Photog Shootout, a nationwide community-based photography group of approximately 4,000 members.  Being so active in the photography industry helps him keep a pulse on its evolution.

I am so excited to have them on board to help make decisions for Fisheye Connect to help the entire community.

As 2010 comes to a close I wanted to recap on this past year and my educational journey. I believe, the end of the year is all about goal setting and revaluating to see where I have come and where I want to head….. and boy what a year this has been!

Here is a brief Summary of my 2010’s in-person educational experiences:

• February, Jasmine Star, Orange County - (Marketing, Portfolio, and Business)
• March, WPPI, Las Vegas atteneded Platforms for Dane Sanders, Tri-Coast Photography, Kevin Kubota, Jesh De Rox and more. (all)
• March, Justin and Mary Martanz, Las Vegas  - Porfolio and Shooting
• May, Mike Colon, Atlanta - (Shooting, Portfolio, Business, Technical)
• June.... launch of Fisheye Connect! 
• August, Jeff Jochum and Lawrence Chan, Irvine, Startup Strategy/ Biz Clarity I (Business and Marketing)
• September, WPPI Road Tour in Seattle Washington, Chicago Illinois, Washington D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia (all)
• October, Simon T. Bailey and Marley Majcher, Atlanta, Biz Reset (Business)
• November, Pictage's Partnercon, in New Orleans (all)
• November, Mike Larson, New Orleans, Shooting Workshop (Technical and Portfolio)

So obviously education is very important to me…. I created Fisheye Connect to help others just like me, wanting to learn from some of the best and most experienced in the industry. Continuing education is near and dear to my heart and I truly believe that everyone should always keep learning and challenging themselves daily.

Every workshop, fellow attendee, new page on a book, different city, and experience have all shaped me into the photographer that I am becoming but more importantly into the person I am a becoming.   Fisheye Connect was created just for that purpose, to connect photographers of all experience levels and backgrounds with each other. I look back over how all these experiences have shaped and touched me, and I know it is safe to say that I wouldn’t be where I would be today without all of these opportunities.

So here is to a New Year full of new experiences, happiness, health, and prosperity.

Thanks ya’ll! (yep I said ya’ll)

Kristy Dickerson