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Fall
2004 Issue 9 |
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| President's Letter I always look forward to the summer -- the long days, the hot smarmy afternoons that only a refreshing drink can quench. An expanded summer reading list. Vacation.
So I took on what I could, with extra assistance of course, reluctantly resigned from one assignment and declined to take another. I had lots of time to think about things. All it takes is an accident to startle you into what might have been. I was really thankful for keeping my medical insurance up to date since i spent a night in the hospital and underwent a surgery. But of course, I never took the time to enroll in the ASMP sponsored disability program, a really valuable component of my membership. Over the days I couldn't help but assess my vulnerability. As professional photographers, we really are more suseptible to accidents: we take risks when we step onto a ladder or into a helicopter or upload our photos (you know what I’m talking about...) and even when we show up at a sunrise shoot at 5:00 A.M. by ourselves. We have to remember that we are not invicible and that accidents do happen. As professionals we have to prepare ourselves for the unexpected so that when they do happen we are not wiped out. The organization ASMP is a valuable asset for the professional photographic community. We gain from the research and compilation of information that the national organization has done of the benefits available to our members. In addition to providing low cost and excellent ongoing educational opportunities for our members, did you know that ASMP offers through various consultants a group medical insurance and disability insurance? ASMP also offers what they call ASMP Prosurance, which can cover equipment, film and valuable papers and can cover the cost to recreate a job if your film is stolen or destroyed in a fire. ASMP also can direct you to financial planning and retirement advisors. A quick review of the main website, www.asmp.org under the benefits section can direct you to more specific information. In addition to all of the insurance benefits, we have such benefits available to us at all times and at no additional cost such things as Alamo, Avis and Hertz rental car discounts, as well as discounts to Adbase, PDN's Photoserve, discounts for webhosting and digital printing discounts and various travel discounts. There are really too many to list, and it's really worth a quick review if you haven't familiarized yourself to what is available through your membership. It's fall now, my elbow has healed up, and it's time for another check-up, a business check-up this time. I want to review my insurance needs and pull a few resources into place. And then, it's back to work for me... See you on the streets.
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But
my summer brought other lessons and insights in the form of a personal
setback. I broke my elbow this summer in a bicycle accident. For
me it was somewhat traumatic: I sustained a compound fracture and
knocked out a couple of teeth. My vanity suffered along with
my ability to work. I fought fatigue and pain for the first three weeks
in August and then it all morphed into a struggle with my own frustration
at being independantly capable. I had hoped that it would have been
a good and quiet time to recover. But you know what they say, all you
have to do is schedule a vacation and your telephone will not stop
ringing.... Well, in my case all I had to do was break my elbow and
schedule a vacation and my phone was ringing all month.