Longtime CCS customer Scott Hanford of Moscow, ID passed away on August 5th after a long struggle with cancer. Scott was only 52 years old and had serviced the campuses at both Washington State University and the University of Idaho for about 30 years. The neighboring campuses are just seven miles apart.

From his online obituary: “Loving father, devoted husband and founder and owner of Image Studios, Scott strove for excellence in all areas of his life. A gourmet chef, he loved cooking magnificent feasts for family and friends and was renowned as a witty narrator and hilarious commentator during all of life’s happenings. A person of indomitable spirit and unwavering integrity, he was a steadfast steward for all those for whom he has cared“.

Scott is survived by his three daughters: Krissy, Cecilia (CeCe), and Candace, and his wife, Theresa. Perhaps, his daughter CeCe said it best talking of her Dad: Crafty, as many of us knew him to be, he silently filled any gap left open in my already almost-perfect life. Whether that meant being my friend, teacher, counselor, handy-man, on-star operator, spiritual guide, financial advisor, or Dad, he was always there. When such a miraculous human being passes away, for me, I feel I’ve lost an entire on-demand village. He was Superman, and Santa Claus.

If you knew Scott from CCS seminars, bid days, or if you were a business associate please visit the Web site to leave a remembrance. A memorial service was held in Moscow, ID on Saturday, September 23. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the Scott W. Hanford Memorial Fund at any U.S. Bank.

The applicability of the QP+ collages continues to grow! We know that they are offered for greek campus events and customers shooting band competitions, like Scott Happel. But after coming to the CCS workshops here in OKC this summer, Ed Kempf got up to speed on this new product, too. He has found a great use for them with his many corporate events that not only allow him to provide the company with a gift in appreciation for their business but also allows him to continue to promote his business– see Ed’s email below:

Protect yourself and your future with best business practices!
by Brian Speers

In March of 2000 a new digital photography company, Greek Yearbook, introduced themselves to the campus photography arena providing—in some cases—formidable competition for some CCS customers. Initially, they cut their digital teeth concentrating on candids and bid day group photography before easing their way into the composite market.

Currently based out of Maryland, they have operated on many campuses across the country and continue to steal bid days away right out from under the noses of several CCS customers. This bid day season has ushered in a new wave of assertive behavior on their part. During the past few months they have been successful at creating relationships with Pan-Hellenic advisors and persuading that person to sign a blanket contract for bid day representing ALL the sororities on a campus.

Frequently, this blanket contract is tied to the composite contract. For instance, they may obtain a signed composite contract, do a good job, and then let the organization know that they also do group photography at bid day, so “why don’t we tie this up into one contract encompassing both events”. This has worked successfully at a few campuses, for sure, creating less income for some CCS customers while generating a new competitor in their own backyard. Instead of trying to contact many sorority presidents or officers to get a contract signed they have streamlined this process by going to one person. Though you may think this strategy may not work on your campus, you just can’t be sure! Especially if the Panhellenic advisor believes that she is working in the best interest of all involved.

The common thread in the recent success of Greek Yearbook is that the effected CCS customers did not have signed contracts with their sororities. For years CCS has done our best to advise everyone to make sure that there are signed annual contracts, or, at the very least, signed agreements for individual or one-time events, e.g. an ROTC formal. We recently ran into a situation where a sorority claimed they had a signed contract with a competitor, which they did. However, we were able to prove that our contract pre-dated that of the competitor. Contract saved, and no revenues lost!

If you’ve always worked with a handshake or a verbal agreement, then please take note: you are exposing yourself to losing a client, a school, or a sorority or a fraternity if you have no written proof that YOU are the company that is contracted to be the exclusive photographer for an organization or an event. If you need assistance with contracts, just give me a call. CCS has several contract templates that cover nearly every type of photographic event.

On another front GreekYearbook has recently announced the following on their website:
GreekYearbook will no longer be photographing date parties, formals, and other weekly events. The company is only going to be engaging in bid day and composite photography for the future.

This certainly creates a strategic advantage for your business if you happen to encounter them on your campus. Just by offering Party Pics® you have something that they are no longer interested in doing, which should give you a leg up and secure contracts in your favor.

Competitors are everywhere these days, as you well know. Don’t give aid and comfort (and dollars) to the enemy just because you thought you didn’t need a contract. Protect yourself and your future with best business practices!

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PartyPics QPPlus is ready for an upgrade!
by Demetri Batges

Over the last three months, you have heard about the new PartyPics QPPlus upgrade, and have seen pictures of the new look; well, after eight customers have been beta testing the new site, we are ready to go live. Effective October 16th, 2006, all PartyPics QPPlus events will be automatically upgraded to the new site, the upgrade will not impact QP2 Partypic users.

For those customers using the current PartyPics QPPlus site who would like to look at a current event that our affiliate Norman Partypics is hosting; simply click on the link below:
Click Here

Advantages of the new version

    1. Easier navigation
    2. Easier to add products to the shopping cart
    3. Updated look
    4. New features like cropping and collage are part of the ordering process
    5. System will be able to support product rendering – Future enhancement

Click to enlarge

If you would like to see what your event will look like in the new version please click here then enter your event password.

For users who have implemented HTML in their event headers or product details, you will need to test one of your events in this link. While HTML headers work with the new system you still need to verify that your HTML works as desired.

We are excited about our new site, if you have any questions or comments please contact
customer service or call me at extension 309

When cropping any group images in CORE, we recommend a 1/4" margin on all sides of the visible portion of the image to allow for slight variances in paper alignment in printers. This will ensure that you do not have a subject partially cut off if you cropped them to close to the edge of the frame.

This margin will accommodate for minor inconsistencies in our printer’s paper tracking. (usually 1/16”-1/8”) It will also accommodate for larger inconsistencies between the different manufacturers of picture frames.

100 Days ‘Til Christmas
by Danette Reinbold

With only 100 days until Christmas it’s a good time to get your holiday merchandising plans in place.

Have you been good this year and collected your email addresses? This is a great way to generate more sales with minimal effort. Just after Halloween is a great time to send out holiday merchandise emails to everyone that you’ve photographed during the year, especially sports photographers who have just about finished shooting the fall sports.

Click to enlarge

Our ten styles of greeting cards are now available in QP2 and QP+

Four of the most popular styles from last year are back (Snowflake, Festive, Ornament and Lined with Color) along with 6 new designs (Giftbox, Blue Diamond, Stripes, Postcard, Holly, and Snowman). As a reminder, these are 4”x8" in size and are available in sets of 12 ($5.52) and sets of 20 ($9.20). Also new this year is the addition of Season's Greetings as a title. You now have six title options - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, Season's Greetings, Happy Hanukkah and no title. You can order samples of the greeting cards now by going to Party Pics® online, password – samplessamples.

As a reminder, as of 10/1/06 any events you currently have set up with holiday cards that are no longer offered will automatically default to the red lined with color style.

So check your list twice and make sure you’ve added holiday packages to your events. Don’t forget, statuettes make great presents and we now offer 4 different sizes, statuette magnets, 5x7, 8x10 and 10x14.