How to Organize a Meet

Because of the popularity of the Florida Strobist Meet, a lot of folks have contacted me asking how I put together such a successful meet. So, I figured I would tell you guys how I organized it. Hopefully this will serve as a guide to those who are brave enough to undertake such an endeavor.

Blind Leading the Blind
You absolutely must have an experienced shooter as the organizer. If you take on this role, everyone will look to you for answers. It is therefore your responsibility to make sure that things stay in order and run smoothly.

Location, location, location!
Its pretty much imperative to find a recreation hall of sorts. Something that has the following amenities;
1. AC
2. Mens and womens restrooms
3. Kitchen
4. Tables
5. Chairs
6. BBQ Pit

The best place for all of this, is any group shelter in any STATE park. These shelters have all of the above, and usually are about the same price; $100-$150 to reserve.

Its also best to find a place that has several different areas to shoot inside the park...preferably a river...just in case a girl falls in a white dress...would provide for awesome shots!

Food and Drink
This is really important. People drink A LOT of water when its hot outside. We cleared through 200 bottles of water!

Hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and everything else that goes with that. Mustard, Ketchup, and Mayo (Miracle Whip...whatever), are also essential. Make sure you have someone dedicated to cook. Luckily, my friend Paul stepped up and cooked everything while I was running a group!

Oh...and the majority of folks don't like flavored water..just FYI.

Models
Its a good idea to have a photographer on Model Mayhem. Thats where the bulk of the models will come from. You will need at least 1 model per 10 photographers. Oh, and this reminds me...along with the event organizer/leader, you will need to have at least 1 person in each group who can teach the others. Basically, if you have 50 people, you need 5 experienced, and good, photographers to lead each group.

There should be one model release, that the photographers and models both sign. Its then scanned, and send to everyone at the meet via email.

We then promised each model, at least 2 photos from each photographer, within 2 weeks.

Cost
All the information needs to be in one central place. This will make it easy for folks to sign up and pay. I used paypal, and had no problems. Just be sure to pull the money out at least 7 days in advance, as it took about 4 days for the money to reach my bank account.

I would advise at least $15 a person, or more. Parking for each vehicle was $4. Its best to prepay everyones parking. This $15 will cover each persons parking, food, drinks, and model releases.

So, after reading all of this, and you still wish to pursue such and endeavor, I wish you luck.

I of course, would be more than happy to host another event ANYTIME, and ANYWHERE.