Bradshaw Leadership Conference Report
By Rocky Kneten

Representing Houston, I attended the Bradshaw Leadership Conference in early May in Aspen, Colorado. Upon my arrival, I was greeted with a cold reception - almost two feet of snow had fallen in Aspen in the afternoon! Many leaders from other chapters were trapped in the Denver airport as the airport in Aspen was closed due to the weather. With a little resourcefulness and a couple of chartered mini-buses, most attendees arrived in time for the opening cocktail reception (one has to stay warm).

The conference is basically the national meeting of ASMP. I have sometimes felt that the government of ASMP is "them" - a closed, elitist group. However, after attending this conference twice, I now know that the leadership of ASMP is "us" - independent business people that want to promote a climate that furthers our careers as well as nurture our organization of working professionals. Chapter leaders, as complete strangers, share tips on running a photo business during the more casual moments of the conference. I also know that the national board is hungry for input from all ASMP members; however, this fact does not always get the press it needs in the Bulletin. If something is on your mind, send an email (or contact me and I will hook you up with the best listeners).

Often, the conference deals with the nuts and bolts of the organization, such as funding, chapter organization, successful meeting topics, etc... This year's meeting can be easily described with one topic: the CO-OP. ASMP is providing the momentum to launch an artists' co-operative so that visual artists can become a MARKET FORCE in regards to price stability and common charges for usage. Here are a few highlights:

The Photographers' and Illustrators' Copyright Agency, as it will be called, is open to all photographers. It is not an ASMP venture; ASMP is only a catalyst in its launch. It will be inexpensive to join, so that students and part-time professionals can afford to be members. Since the co-op belongs to shareholders, members have input on its policies and share in its profits.

The co-op can legally set prices for sales.

An artist retains his or her copyright in the work; it is NOT transferred to the co-op (this was a source of early misinformation).

The co-op is autonomous and its board sets co-op policy. The co-op is being set up and administered by a firm that specializes in co-op administration. This firm is composed of BUSINESS people. They study our industry, attract venture capital, and write business plans from the perspective of business people.

The co-op will have a stock agency component, and shortly thereafter will construct an assignment billing agency.

The co-op should be open for business by midsummer. Since the co-op will set its own policies, it would be premature to speculate about the details. However, look for an ASMP Houston meeting to cover more about the items mentioned above as well as more about the structure of the co-op. I can tell you that most of the attendees came to the conference with lots of questions and some skepticism about the co-op proposal. After the frank discussions and up-to-the-minute info presented on the co-op, we left with nearly unanimous support for it. This might be the most important tool for a commercial photography business since Congress gave us copyright in the 1970's.

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Please remember:
The Creative Eye Co-op plans to be here on November 29, 2001
Be sure to check the Announcements page on the main site for details as we get closer to that date.