Join/Renew   Currents Newsletter   Regional Resources   Document Library   Speaker's Bureau   President's Page   Member Survey   Membership Info	President's Message September/October 2004 Determining NANPA's Direction by Steve Maka, President In my last Currents message, I mentioned the great response to the Member’s Survey and how important your input is for planning NANPA’s future. Every board member reviewed the survey material and then used it in a longrange planning session following the Board of Directors semi-annual meeting this past July. Your voices were heard. Knowing your needs, wants, and concerns was the key point of the planning strategy. Thank you again for taking the time to complete the survey. I made it clear in my address to the Summit attendees that the most significant question to be answered in order to plan our future is “Who are we?” Once we know this, “Where do we want to go?” and “How do we get there?” will be apparent. An association is a group of people who voluntarily come together to meet common needs, solve common problems, and accomplish common goals. But consider the diversity of our membership. It ranges from beginners to aspiring pros to top-level professionals. Although mostly photographers, our members also include photo buyers, writers, editors, reps, agents, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, photo labs, conservationists, fish and wildlife types, and more. And the various venues for marketing nature photography are too numerous to list here. NANPA’s common bond is nature photography. The results of the survey overwhelmingly indicate one of the highest priorities and perceived member benefits is networking. As it turns out, the diverse cross-section of our membership is our strongest asset. All of the various constituencies are brought together in NANPA. We have evolved to become the hub of the nature photography industry. NANPA is the connection point for the nature photography community. As a result of the planning session, board members agreed that we will create opportunities for beginners to meet experts, aspiring pros to obtain information on sound business practices, pros to meet photo buyers, retailers and manufacturers to reach their targeted audiences, and editors and publishers to discover new talent. We will provide a venue for the nature photography community to come together to exchange common ideas, satisfy common needs, and voice common concerns. But most of all, we will come together to celebrate and share our passion and respect for our magnificent natural world. Back to President's Page         Site Index       Search       Disclaimers       Contact Us   North American Nature Photography Association 10200 West 44th Avenue, Suite 304 Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-2840, USA Phone: 303-422-8527 Fax: 303-422-8894 E-mail: info@nanpa.org   © 2001 All Rights Reserved