Sharon,

I won't be able to make it on Tuesday night but I'll throw an outline of what we need on here.

Basically, here is what we need:

-People to shoot: Some charity would be nice to work with.
-"Organizers": Basically, we need people to just heard everyone in the right direction, get contact info, talk to the peoples, etc.
-Photographers: I think we have plenty of those laying around.
-Someone to make prints: I'll see what I can do. I think we will be happy with Costco. Sharon, I don't quite understand, so Costco in ATL gave a price of $1.70 for a 5x7 photo?
-Distribution: Getting the photos back to the peoples. This job will be similar to the "organizers"

On Tuesday, decide what kind of portrait setup ya'lls. Want. Outside? Inside? If it is inside, then I would recommend rounding up every strobe possible. I mean, it is a portrait inside, we will be using lights.

Need tables and chairs. Well, always need tables and chairs. If we do this kinda work at a church, they've probably got plenty.

Changing rooms. Peoples might need to get changed. Consider this during location choosing. Once again, a church would be good because usually they've got a ton of rooms and/or big bathrooms.

Kid Control. Last thing we need is a bunch of whipper snappers running around, knocking over stuff and being little...well...you get the idea.

Grand Pooba. We need someone who will be in charge, settle disputes on the spot, etc. If Grand Pooba is not an acceptable name, then Fotomiester or El Capitane is acceptable.

Scheduling. It would be great if we could rotate out our crew around lunch time. That way there won't be any "going to get lunch" gaps/problems. Oh yes, and I don't know about anyone else but I need lunch. So appropriate time for peoples to do that need to be factored in. We can do half day or 3 hour shifts. Whatevs.

Just a few things to think about.

Should I come to the meeting Tuesday to talk with you about what being planned for Concord or are you guys already heading in a different direction?

I have a portrait session this evening so I can't be at the meeting. I'll just post the information that I have here. Hopefully, someone will print it and bring it to the meeting for the group's consideration.

Date: 12/12
Time: 8am-4pm (shooting 9-3)
Location: Baptist Sharing House, Concord (web)

Project: Holiday family portraits for approximately 90 needy families.

The Baptist Sharing House has been assisting needy families and individuals with food and clothing since 1982. Every year they have a toy drive to provide 2 toys for every child in the families they serve. The parents come and pick up the toys during two distribution days. They give the toys to children on Christmas morning. This year they hope to provide toys for 700 children.

This event isn't going to be a public "free for all." these are families that are in real need and are already being served by the Sharing House. It is highly unlikely that they are able to afford professional family portraits. The first distribution day is 12/12 which also happens to be the Help-Portrait day. 90 families are scheduled to pick up toys on that day. I don't expect 100% participation from those families but all of the families (180 total) will be notified of the portrait opportunity on the 12th.

The Baptist Association will provide space for portraits in a building adjacent to the Sharing House. They will also provide childcare so that the kids will be entertained while their parents are picking out the Christmas toys.

90 families in 6 hours is one every 4 minutes. I have lights and backdrops to set up one "studio" but I think we might need to have 2 going at the same time. We'll probably need to shoot in shifts and put together some kind of workflow for processing and printing. I'd like to send them out the door with a nice 8x10 but, logistically, I don't know how to make it happen.

Rev. Robert Leonard with the Cabarrus Baptist Association is willing to meet with us one evening to look at the facilities and work out the details.

I'm not trying to push an event on the group. I do think it's a worthwhile project with lots of room for other people to roll up their sleeves and dive in. I need other shooters, I need people to process files, I need people who can work out the print delivery, I need a Spanish language speaker, I need crowd control... I'll readily admit that I could be getting in over my head here and any help is appreciated.

I have a portrait session this evening so I can't be at the meeting. I'll just post the information that I have here. Hopefully, someone will print it and bring it to the meeting for the group's consideration.

Will print and give over to the interested parties. Thanks Greg.

From the looks of this thread I think we are going to end up with several different venues. I think as the events unfold we need to have the organizer of each event start a separate thread for that event. We can still use this thread for general event communication. I am going to start a new thread for the "Help-Portrait Seniors" event.

Hi guy's if you are planing a shoot and have the facility to brew coffee let me know. I should be able to supply freshly roasted un-brewed coffee caf and decaf for your event. I can probably supply cups too. I will need to know how many coffee drinkers you plan to have at your event.

You can contact me on my Cell Phone 704-737-8053.

I have a PDF of a "Donation Letter" to give to companies who want to help w/ printing? If anyone would like to use just send me an e-mail and I willl forward you a PDF.

I have more details from my end. If you plan to participate, please join the Charlotte page of Help Portrait so I can keep information in one place. Help Portrait

• We will be shooting from 11-4 at the McColl Center for Visual Arts. If I get enough shooters I'd like to add another venue.
  
• We will be working with the Battered Women's Shelter, Wish Foundation (housing for the homeless initiative), and Catholic Social Services. There may be others as well. United Family Services suggested that we photograph the Salvation Army bell ringers because it's an honor for them to get chosen and they'd like to have photos to send to their families. I plan to do that throughout December.
  
• I have about $250 in donations lined up for printing and expenses as well as volunteer helpers and people to make sandwiches for volunteers.
  
• I've contacted friends at the Aveda institute to see about hair and makeup people.
  
• Max is working on getting free or discounted prints.
  
• I need shooters to confirm their availability and and in which location they want to work. 13 people have RSVP'd but I don't want to snare any of George or Greg's people or vice versa. I have also contacted MPS and they may have more shooters.
  
• I need a list of what equipment we have at the McColl location.
  
• I could use at least one more post production person. I'd like to either upload from the venue or find a nearby hot spot and upload from there to minimize turnaround time.
  
• You don't have to be an expert shooter to participate. Just join in. We'll find a place for you!
  
  

I will continue to furnish details as they become available.

Sharon
704-846-0328 (h)
704-562-0334 (c)

I don't want to take away anything from what Sharon and George are planning. However, I did get a "meetup message" today inquiring about the Help-Portrait event in Concord. If Concord is more convenient for you then we'd love to have you. I'm using the Help-Portrait site to get information out. All the information that I have right now is here...

Help-Portrait: Concord, NC

No problem, Greg. The more people we can reach, the better and if we can coordinate resources we can get more done. Whatever location works best for someone who wants to help is fine. I have a friend who' trained as a makeup artist who has to be in Kannapolis that day so she was hoping to help you instead of me.