With our six, jam-packed programs, attendees were newly inspired by thought leaders, story-tellers, and community service activists. Brian Storm, Saturday’s keynote speaker, also joined a panel to discuss thought-provoking insights into the new paradigms for our industry. Hot topics such as using social media and the latest web tools for promoting business were front and center.

photographs © Dayna Bealy, Cecilia de Querol, Townsend P. Dickinson, Steve Dunwell & Mike Kahn

ASPP National President, Michael Masterson writes:

The ASPP/PACA Reinvention Conference was extraordinary. I've worked in the photography world for a long time now and attended countless industry conferences here and abroad. And rarely, if ever, have I left one as inspired and inspiring as this one was. There was an amazing sense of community among all the attendees and speakers, several of whom told me that they'd never been to an event where people shared so much.

Photographer Lou Jones kicked everything off with an fascinating overview of his work, and how he has adapted it over time. He was followed by "Click, Tweet, Repeat," a panel covering SEO, social media and brand management. Allen Murabayashi, CEO and founder of PhotoShelter, Ilise Benun of Marketing Mentor and Caitlin Jewell of Silverscape gave us tips on pushing ourselves up in search results, self-promotion and direct outreach.

Keynote speaker Brian Storm from MediaStorm showed us how utilizing multimedia in photojournalism produces compelling social documentaries. His inspiring presentation took us into unfamiliar worlds and situations and moved everyone, some to tears. The closing panel on the future of the visual industry was equally engrossing. Lead by Jose Azel of Aurora Photos, panelists Nancy Andrews of the Detroit Free Press, Rick Smolan of Against All Odds and Dane Howard, user experience designer from eBay, gave us more food for thought than a Sunday sermon.

Nancy showed us how, in a time of cutbacks and shrinking staff, her paper has reshaped local news by relying on simple technologies like cell phone cameras. Dane's mantra, "collaborate or die," resonated with all of us. And Rick showed us the future of truly personal publishing through The Obama Time Capsule, a custom print-on-demand book that literally inserts you into the Obama campaign and election by taking your photos and integrating them into the book.

As impressive as all of these sessions were, one stood out above all the others for me: the open forum on the future of content licensing. It was extraordinary to see a roomful of agents, photographers, researchers, editors and publishers with differing perspectives and genuinely challenging issues exchanging views and opinions without raising their voices. Townsend Dickinson, the moderator, called it "positive networking in a safe environment." I thought that neatly summed up both the session and the ASPP itself. We are indeed the only organization that is so inclusive in its membership. Our motto says it all: Building Community among Image Professionals.

Highlights from Saturday's panel discussion, Predicting the Unpredictable, moderated by José Azel of Aurora:

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Read what some of the attendees had to say:

The speakers were top-notch, the attendees were really engaged and the organisation was, of course, brilliant. It was great to be at an event with participants from so many different parts of the industry, all sharing ideas and discussing problems openly.
David Price-Hughes, akg-images

The program was wonderful and you and the crew that put this event together are amazing. Kip and I had a great time. Not only did we get some new ideas for our work, we were able to connect with some of our current clients as well as finding new ones.
Richard Megna, Fundamental Photographs

Thank you again for putting together a great event. I picked up a lot of great information and rubbed elbows with a lot of accomplished professionals. I've been busy following up with everyone that I've met.
Matthew Hakola, Lux Umbra, photographer

I wanted to tell you that you did an absolutely splendid job putting this all together. ASPP meetings have always been useful, informative and fun, but I think that this was the best one yet. It was much more than simply fun – it was really really valuable The venue of Boston was a great choice as it made it easy for many of our publishing and freelance clients to attend. Veronique and I returned to NYC exhilarated and reinvented! The speakers were superb and the break out sessions invaluable – so Bravissimo! Well done! And many MANY thanks for your efforts.
Peter Rohowsky, The Picture Desk

Thanks so much for the opportunity to be able learn so much! Not only did it help with my business skills and inspire me as a new photo person, I am applying it to my music as well (not to mention all the great people I met).
Steve Senisi, photographer

Inspiration! That was the overpowering feeling that people walked away with at the Reinvention Weekend in Boston this spring. Sponsored by the American Society of Picture Professionals (aspp.com) and the Picture Archive Council of America (pacaoffice.org), the event offered top industry leaders as keynote speakers, allowing everyone to acquire new ways to run their businesses and new goals for success in this constantly changing digital world. The age of ‘crowdsourcing” has forever changed the industry, but change brings opportunities. These opportunities require the professionals to differentiate themselves from the crowd and perform on an “epic” scale. Now the demand for quality and uniqueness is scaled up and media producers must meet the challenge.
Pat Hunt, Huntstock, Inc.