..Even with her full days, Stephanie Morey still finds time to shoot. "It is important to me. I do not do it as much as I used to, but, in a way, it is no different than before Freestyle. I still have to create time to be a photographer because time does not create itself." ..

Photographer Stephanie Morey gives back to the photo community through education and expertise as Freestyle's Training & Marketing Coordinator. Freestyle is one of the most recognizable names in the photo industry. The first nationwide supplier of such names as Oriental, Ilford, Arista, and Holga, Freestyle has spearheaded numerous products and helped many companies break into the tough U.S. market.

This same innovative business strategy made Freestyle the first retailer in the industry to offer a "No Risk" guarantee on everything they sell including sensitized goods like film and paper. For their mail order customers, Freestyle is leading the industry by virtually eliminating expensive haz mat fees and providing same-day shipping service at no extra charge.

One of a handful of companies in the United States to have a Kodak strategic partnership agreement, their customer base spans the spectrum and includes a loyal following of professionals, schools, educators and students. Remarkable customer loyalty is due in part to their commitment to provide both education and expertise to all photographers. Their catalog includes pages of techniques and advice. Freestylin' Quarterly Newsletter, local Keepin' Up With Freestyle, and the Advisor Series are both educational and free for the asking.

Freestyle is also the only major photo supplier with an on-staff training specialist who helps ensure that everyone, employees and customers alike, has an opportunity to learn and grow. Marketing and Training Coordinator, Stephanie Morey, has put into place rigorous employee standards for both customer service and technical knowledge, and she is continuously working to create new channels for customers to increase their photo expertise.

Schooled in both Human Communication and Instructional Design and Technology, Stephanie Morey worked as a Consulting Training Coordinator to Bank of America and later as a Project Manager for LaSalle Partners. She started exploring photography in 1996 to, as she puts it, "jump start my flagging creativity" and was about to turn her passion into a profession when Freestyle approached her. She joined the team in 1998 and became the company's Training Coordinator in 2000, a role recently expanded to include Marketing Coordinator.

"I was presented with an extraordinary opportunity to combine my skills in training and photography in a professional environment. I choose to define and express myself through my work, so a chance to work in both these fields was an opportunity tailor-made for me."

Morey, 40, is described as a friendly and intensely-energetic woman. A characterization that elicits a chuckle. "We are all this way. It is practically company culture. Our energy and enthusiasm keeps us creative and working hard, and we have fun doing it. Thanks to the leadership of Gerald H. Karmele, Freestyle's Chief Operating Officer, we are more focused and are driving harder than ever before.

Ms. Morey's office opens directly onto the sales floor of the Hollywood Retail Store, located on Sunset Blvd. Behind her hangs a large, framed plaque containing the company's mission statement that reads, in part, "...We will provide every customer with the ultimate shopping experience -- helping to maximize the proficiency, knowledge and enjoyment of their photographic endeavors."

To her right hangs two 8x10 lith prints, a Maco IR820c infrared print, and a cross-processed assemblage print.

"When I moved into the Training Coordinator position at Freestyle we saw an immediate need. No retailer in the industry had formal training programs in place for both employees and customers."

"As a rule, photo suppliers have lost sight of their customers. They give priority to their cameras, not their customers," says Morey, "As a photographer I've been there. When I go into other camera stores I feel like I'm about to enter a battle of wits. That does not happen at Freestyle." "Oue employees have always had the reputation of being the friendly helpful folks. But by the mid 1990's we were growing so fast that our legacy of great service was in danger of being lost. That is why my job became so important. Every employee had to be on top of their game right away. Freestyle customers expect (and deserve!) the best in sales and service every time they call or visit."

Beginning in 2000, Freestyle set new standards for everyone who deals with the public. Stephanie spearheaded a program which requires sales employees to attend three days of customer service training and ensures that all sales employees are PMA recognized as Certified Photography Consultant. She also provides employees with regular classes on photographic theory and application.

Morey's approach to customer education is equally focused. "Job-one for Freestyle is to become a total customer resource for both supplies and education. Photography is an amazingly dynamic craft and most of us are hard-pressed to discover new directions on our own. There is just not enough time." "Freestyle, on the other hand, has more available knowledge and expertise than anyone else in retail," says Morey. "Over the decades we have developed relationships with some of the masters of our craft. So, the decision to share our expertise was easy. After all, what good is it if we keep it to ourselves?"

"We chose to begin with printed publications because they have a number of inherent advantages. Periodicals like Freestylin', Keepin' Up With Freestyle, and the Advisor Series lets us reach the largest number of customers who can then keep them as a reference. We see our other printed pieces as an opportunity to disseminate knowledge, too. We put material in our "Did You Know" column in PC Photo magazine, in our catalogs and all over www.freestylephoto.biz."

"Of course we never lose sight of the importance of established learning institutions. Without schools, photography as we know it wouldn't exist," says Morey. " We have developed a number of support programs, "Show Your School Spirit," a program from which college photo departments receive thousands of dollars annually. Every time a store customer buys, Freestyle donates a percentage to the college photo department of the customer's choice.

For students, Freestyle sponsors the SPE Crystal Apple Scholarship, a $5,000 award presented by the Society for Photographic Education to one outstanding college school photo student. Local full-time students can also get a Student Discount card to help them save money on supplies. With the popular Demonstration Program educators can request a free, on-campus demonstration designed to augment class curricula and give students hands-on experience in the creative processes.

At the suggestion that other companies also provide on-campus demos, Morey smiles. "True, but ours are not vendor-sponsored dog and pony shows. We are out to make real learning possible."

What is in store for 2003? "Increased opportunities for customers to learn, share, and grow, confides Morey. "We recently found ourselves asking what happens to a photographer after they graduate from school? If they have the money and time they can attend a workshop. But that is both periodic and finite. So, we are going to start looking at ways we can supply 'post-graduate' educational opportunities. We want to create an environment that fosters ongoing discussions, lifelong growth, and the exchange of ideas. We've already started with the Freestyle Board of Photographic Advisors." Incepted in Fall 2002, this Advisory Board is comprised of some of the most talented and influential professionals in the photographic industry. The Board, currently seventeen members, includes notable names like John Sexton, Bob Byers, Henry Gilpin, Robert Hirsch and Gene Nocon and also includes notable women photographers Theresa Airey, Elizabeth Opalenik and Norma Smith."The members of our Board of Photographic Advisors are more than photographers. They are mentors, educators and advisors. We are extremely fortunate that they share our vision and are willing to share their expertise. Customer can go to www.freestylephoto.biz and email their questions to some of our Board members. Also look forward to product reviews and articles written by them."

"Customers can also look forward to our store renovation. We intend to create an environment where customers can come to discuss their craft and experience something new. We will add new state-of-the-art training facilities that will include a lecture/presentation room and a training darkroom. In our version of the future, none of our customers are left without an opportunity to learn and grow. There are more plans, but I'll let them be a surprise."

Even with her full days, Stephanie Morey still finds time to shoot. "It is important to me. I do not do it as much as I used to, but, in a way, it is no different than before Freestyle. I still have to create time to be a photographer because time does not create itself.""I've found that my creative tastes have changed. I still have my Hasselblad and Speedotron kits, but my latest passion is for pinhole, Holgas, and alternative processes. I also love combining digital and traditional processes together."

Her gear includes two Holgas, a Zero Image pinhole camera, a variety of 35mm Canons, and a Hasselblad kit. She uses both a Sekonic Multi 508 and a Minolta IV-F light meter. Favorite films include Arista 125, Maco IR820c and Agfa Scala.

images: 1. top merge visible - 2. untitled2 NY, self-portrait - 3. untitled1 NY

Stephanie Morey

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Business and Legal Forms for Photographers
Third Edition
by Tad Crawford
Forming New Strategies for Photographers’ Success

Attorney-Author Crawford Updates Industry Classic for Apprehensive Age.
Both the manner and business of photography have changed in recent years. Technology has opened the door to new equipment and opportunities, as legal and economic changes have altered the way photographers find and perform jobs. Today’s uncertain financial climate has emphasized the age-old need for photographers to negotiate and meet deadlines and budgets, while legal tools for protecting their work have assumed a new urgency. Help is now on the way. Attorney Tad Crawford has fully revised and expanded the industry classic Business and Legal Forms for Photographers, third edition, to help photographers organize and promote their businesses as well as minimize legal vulnerability.

For all of the most important transactions any photographer is likely to undertake, this volume contains thirty-one business and legal forms, step-by-step instructions, advice on standard contractual provisions, thorough discussion of contractual issues relevant to the industry, and unique negotiation checklists to help photographers operate with the highest standards of professionalism. “Attaining the knowledge of good business practices and implementing their use is an important step toward success for any professional,” Crawford observes.

The third edition of this esteemed guide has been updated to cover electronic rights’ issues and includes five new forms for trademark application, employment application, employment agreement, restrictive covenant for employment, and project employee contract. All of the forms are included on a CD-ROM to aid in customizing for use in the practice of the profession. The thirty-one forms also include:

* license of rights
* application for copyright
* invoices
* sale contracts
* nondisclosure agreements
* stock agency agreements boo

Business and Legal Forms for Photographers, third edition, also contains information on photographers’ organizations, how to contact volunteer lawyers for the arts, and much more. In a time of rapid change, this book is an essential resource for photographers—well-established or beginning—seeking the path to success.
Business and Legal Forms for Photographers can be found in better book stores, or it can be ordered directly from the publisher by calling: 1-800-491-2808, or order online from our catalog page where you will also find a full description, a table of contents, and reviews.

$29.95, 8 1/2x11, 192 pages
(includes CD-ROM)
Paperback, ISBN 1-58115-206-X
Publication Date: January 2002

Historic Photographic Processes
By Richard Farber

Historic Photographic Processes is a comprehensive user's guide to the historical processes that have become popular alternatives to modern and digital technology. Though many of the techniques, applications, and equipment were first developed in the nineteenth century, these same methods can be used today to create hand-crafted images that are more attractive and permanent than conventional prints or digital outputs. Fine-art photographer Richard Farber incorporates extensive research with clearly-written directions and resource lists to provide in-depth information on eight of the most enduring processes in photographic history, including salted paper, albumen, cyanotype, kallitype, platinum/palladium, carbon/carbro, gum bichromate, and bromoil. He guides the reader through each step, from selecting the appropriate paper and sensitizing it to exposing, developing, and toning the final print. Each method is accompanied by a short explanation of how it was originally used and its significance in the evolution of photography.

Historic Photographic Processes contains more than fifty color and ten black-and-white images that beautifully illustrate each of the processes described. Chapters include an introduction to photographic techniques and applications, such as useful safelights, sizing paper, measuring solutions, exposure controls, ultraviolet light sources, and making enlarged negatives, as well as an extensive section on safety in- and outside of the darkroom. The appendix provides important information on the chemicals discussed, as well as health-and-safety references, supply sources in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and a complete catalog of Internet resources

The Getty Center, Los Angeles - June 28, 2002 - uploaded October 2002

Panel 1 - The Stakeholdaer Continuum
Moderated by:
Meryl Marshall-Daniels, Founder and President of Two Oceans Entertainment Group.
Panelists:
Jerry Campbell, Chief Information Officer, University Librarian, and Dean of the Univesity Libraries at the Univesrsity of Southern California.
Jay Heifetz, Cofounder and Principal of Heifetz Communication
Ken Robinson, Senior Advisor to the President for Education, the J. Paul Getty Trust
Scott Ross, Chairman and CEO of Digital Domain, Inc.

Panel 2 - Technology is Creating, Distributing and Accessing Art
Moderated by:
Jeff Cole, Universtiy of California, Los Angeles, faculty, Cole serves as the Principal Investigator of the UCLA World Internet Project.
Panelists:
Derek Broes, Founder of the Distributed Computing Standards Coalition.
Sandra Ruch, Executive Director of the International Documentary Associaton.
Patrice Rushen, Alumna of the Colburn School of Performing Arts.
Scott Siegler, Founded Tri-Star Television, and was later apponted President of Columbia Pictures Television

A personal view...by Jean Ferro, Photo Artist and President, Women In Photography International

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the first assembly of the American Assembly. The J. Paul Getty Museum’s audience was full of the most talented arts educators, non-profit directors, and artists from the Los Angeles Community. One of the most important aspects of the creation of art is the final outcome, and preserving the art work. Sometimes it’s more exciting to just create and much more of a stumbling block to protect and preserve the art work. So, how it is handled, viewed, protected and how the artist is abel to preserve their identity with his/her art for generations to come becomes very important issue. The first step is to be equipped with knowledge to support this goal.

The panel,..... brought forth ideas, questions and suggested solutions. Perhaps, opening the dialog and only scratching the surface of this new advent of technology and the transitions we all face while travelling on the infrastructure of the super highway of communication. As simple as it was for me to download all this information from the Assembly website, (which they encouraged), it is that simple to digest any artwork that is available on the internet. Drag and Click and it's yours! What do we do? How do we protect our work? What programs, alternatives, exchanges exists. Is your work registered with the copyright office? What path would you follow to find out if it's being used without your permission. Do you know your rights? Do you make clear to your clients the rights granted? Do you include a copyright notice with the sale of your work? Is your work protected in the USA, Worldwide?

There is no one answer, and there are constant changes and possible solutions that need to be addressed at each turn in the road. It’s never too late to start to take steps to maintain that security. A fine example and one of the most successful artists who understood how to preserve and secure a place for his art and name was Andy Warhol...

Please read the information below and visit the links that we have provided to educate you and your right to be educated in art.

http://www.americanassembly.org/ac/

“The Assembly has a distinguished history of examining issues of arts & culture”
 
The American Assembly, an affiliate of Columbia University, was founded by USA President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1950 "to illuminate issues of public policy."

The American Assembly's commitment to issues involving arts and culture goes back to its founding. Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned The Assembly as a nonpartisan setting for people with divergent interests, points of view, backgrounds, and perspectives, but all with an interest in a single issue, to come together and find out what they share, what they agree on, and how they can work together. Fifty years later, Ike's creation remains fresh in spite of how modern American Assemblies contain more points of view and many more issues that matter profoundly to the American polity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the arts and culture sector of our society. Through structured discussions, commissioned research, meetings, and publications, The American Assembly conferences provide a singular venue for examining and shaping the formulation of sustainable public policy for the arts and culture sector and for developing the kinds of responsible recommendations that this nation requires. A recent Assembly project was hailed as "identifying a paradigm shift in how the arts are viewed by society."
Projects undertaken by The Assembly include:

* Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property (2001 and 2002)
This project is described in detail on this webspace.

* Deals and Ideals: For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Connections (1998 and 1999)
The report from "The Arts and the Public Purpose" meeting identified, to quote a senior foundation executive, a "paradigm shift on how the arts are viewed by society," and the "Deals and Ideals" report focused on the increasingly crucial relationship between the for-profit and not-for-profit parts of the arts sector. Both reports were referenced by numerous organizations, including the largest and most influential arts service and membership organizations for their annual meetings. The "Deals and Ideals" project continues--ARTS Inc. held a conference in June 2001 using the Assembly report as the basis of the meeting.

* The Arts and the Public Purpose (1997)
The background papers commissioned for the initial project have been published by Rutgers University Press as The Public Life of the Arts in America.

* The Arts and Government (1990)
The Assembly sponsored a series of meetings in communities around the country, the results of which inform the Arden House Assembly on government funding and the arts, and led to the publication of a book, Public Money and the Muse, which today continues to be a standard text in arts study.

* The Arts and Public Policy in the United States (1984)
A reprint of the book from this Assembly attests to its popularity.

* The Performing Arts and American Society (1977)
Four subsequent regional Assemblies followed the Arden House meeting, encompassing the South, mid-America, the Great Lakes region, and the Northeast. This background volume has also been reprinted by The Assembly and remains available.

* On Understanding Art Museums (1974)
This Arden House meeting was followed by an international Assembly on art museums at Ditchley Park in England. The background volume, commissioned by The Assembly, has been reprinted three times and is still available from The Assembly.

* Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations (1962)
The first edition of the background volume was widely circulated, with a thorough revision and expansion published six years later to meet continuing demand.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERVIEW

The national Assembly meeting on "Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property" will address how the arts are not participating fully in the nation's shift to an information society and to a global economy where intellectual property is a key resource in this new society and economy. This will be one of the first national efforts by a nonpartisan, public policy institution to address the impacts, challenges, and opportunities resulting from technological advances that are confronting the arts as a discrete sector of society. Building on the work of the two mini-Assemblies as well as prior research, and informed by commissioned background papers, The Assembly will convene an intensive three-day national meeting of seventy participants representing the combined thinking and experience of the arts constituencies, leading technology experts, and the nation's foremost intellectual property authorities. These stakeholders and policy makers will undertake a thorough examination of the key public policy issues and practices related to the arts, technology, and intellectual property in America.

Representatives of the arts disciplines and constituencies will express their views and interact with legal authorities and technology experts to develop recommendations across disciplines that will deepen and enrich this ongoing public policy process. The participants will examine (1) how policies and traditional legal doctrines are being adapted in the information age, (2) their likely impact on the arts and on existing and new business models deployed by the arts, and (3) ways in which the traditional policies and legal doctrines should be modified to appropriately accommodate the public interest in the arts. The participants will explore the implications of such legal issues as: fair use, the public domain, access to creative works, and the enforcement of intellectual property laws as they relate to the arts. They will also examine concerns surrounding preservation, and, finally, the global dimensions of the impact of technology and intellectual property on the arts.

The American Assembly has commissioned two books that will initially inform the participants. Michael Shapiro's book will focus on the impact of technology on the "cultural bargain," that arrangement between the state and the individual creator for the benefit of the public. Margaret J. Wyszomirski's book will draw on existing work and will commission several studies relating to relevant business models. As with all Assembly volumes, both books will be published commercially for distribution to the public.

The participants will issue a printed report of findings and policy recommendations to inform the arts, technology, legal, and business communities, as well as The Assembly's traditional constituents of public and private sector leaders, institutions, and interested citizens. The report will also be available on this website along with the report from the two mini-Assemblies. Much of the commissioned research for the project will also be made available. The Assembly will use new technologies to circulate the findings and recommendations emerging from this project.
(please see website for results of this meeting)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE CULTURAL BARGAIN:
ARTS, COPYRIGHT AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST
Michael S. Shapiro
Need
The arts are flourishing in America, but there is a growing crisis in confidence regarding U.S. copyright law's historic role in fostering creativity, rewarding authors, and benefiting the public. Individual creators are worried that the copyright system may no longer be able to ensure their livelihood as creative works are readily copied and distributed over the Internet. Some authors and artists are concerned that creative production will decline or end entirely if copyright's bundle of rights continues to expand, fair use and other limitations on rights further contracts, and creative works are placed under technological lock and key.

+ ATIP--National Assembly
+ ATIP--Project
+ Arts Disciplines--Mini Assembly
+ Business Models and Technology--Mini Assembly
   Deals and Ideals: For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Arts Connections 1998
+ The Arts and Public Purpose 1997
+ The Arts and Government: Questions for the Nineties 1990
+ The Arts and Public Policy in the U.S. 1984
+ The Future of the Performing Arts 1977
+ Art Museums in America 1974
+ Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations 1962

------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROJECT INTRODUCTION
 
EMBRACING A CLIMATE OF TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION
In the new millennium, an industrialized society, a manufacturing and service-based economy, and a Cold War-driven international relations system have given way to an information society and global economy in which intellectual property is a key resource. Much has been written and thought and predicted about the technological developments that are driving this transformation. Various sectors of American society, including business, communications, government, entertainment, science, medicine, and education are racing to accommodate these changes and to anticipate their consequences. However, the nonprofit part of the arts and culture sector, although it encompasses significant technological resources and content, is seldom more than an afterthought in this transformation or in discussions of intellectual property, of the national information infrastructure, or of the increasingly technological global economy.

INNOVATION AS A CATALYST FOR CONTENT AND ECONOMICS
The arts and cultural sector has great potential to prompt further technological innovations, to provide meaningful content as well as economic assets through technology, and to disseminate creative and intellectual products. None of this can be appropriately achieved without the close examination of intellectual property issues.

SHARED CONCERNS AND SHARED CREATIVE ASSETS
Attention to this subject by nonprofits has been piecemeal and scattered within the existing legal, technological, and policy frameworks. Though individual cultural organizations, some discipline and trade organizations, as well as ad hoc groups have taken up specific issues, these have been relatively isolated from each other, reactive to external developments, and unguided by a sectoral vision of the place and function of the arts and culture in an information society or a technologically driven economy. In contrast, various for-profit cultural industries have actively pursued their intellectual property interests and technological opportunities. Certainly, both the not-for-profit and the for-profit parts of the arts and cultural sector share concerns about issues at the intersection of art, technology, and intellectual property, but they often bring different perspectives, priorities, interests, values, and resources to bear in policy debates and development deals. Understanding both common causes and varying interests is essential to the wise and productive development of America's creative assets in the twenty-first century.
 
The American Assembly
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 456
New York, NY 10115-0456
phone: 212 870 3500/fax: 212 870 3555
http://www.americanassembly.org/ac/
Also visit
***See (ASMP) American Society of Media Photographers ***
Free Online - Guidelines and Checklists: Copyright Guide For Photographers

* Part 1 Success is not earned, It’s created - EXAMINING YOUR WORK ETHIC
ARCHIVE #8, October - December 2001
* Part 2 The way we see the world - DEFINING YOUR VISUAL INTEGRITY and MAKING A COMMITMENT
ARCHIVE #9, January - March, 2002

© 2001 Selina Oppenheim

These article are a wonderful reference and reminder of helpful steps to achieve success.
Worth reading over and over