The Image Maker

• Meeting dates
  • O3C Rep meetings: Oct. 21, 2023; Feb. 10, 2024 and May 25, 2024 (& AGM)
  • O3C Member Clubs' Program Directors Meeting: November 18 at 9 AM
  • Executive Round Table Meeting: Dec. 2, 2023
  • All meetings will be on Zoom and are scheduled from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
  • If any other meetings are scheduled, they will be communicated via The Image Maker

This time of year is always one of mixed emotions for me: summer, and all of the

outdoor activity that comes with it, is coming to an end; fall is beginning to show up, and

that's great as long as it's a reasonably dry, warm and long season; winter and it’s

challenges are just around the corner (personal philosophy: snow is useless unless you

can ski in it, which I plan to do this year after many years of not); and, for us, the

camera club season is under way once again.

The O3C made progress last season, but we still have much that the Executive Board

wants to accomplish.

First on the list is filling the role of Vice President for the coming season, someone who

will be prepared to take over as President at the end of August 2024, when my 2-year

term is up.

Through the summer, I have spoken directly with, and sent emails to, 30 club

members who we felt were solid candidates for this role. Unfortunately, all declined.

There are approximately 3,000 individual club members under the O3C umbrella.

Surely there is someone who would qualify and be interested in taking on this

responsibility. Since the clubs distribute this newsletter to all of their members, this is

the best way to get the message out. If you would consider this opportunity, please

contact me directly at 905-447-7784 or by email at president@o3c.ca.

Another Executive Board position we are trying to fill is that of Membership Director

responsible for communication with potential new club members as we continue to

expand the O3C and, of course, communicating with current clubs regarding all

membership issues, including annual club renewals. If you are interested, please

contact me.

One of the roles we recently filled is the Social Media Manager. We welcome Carol

Baptista to the O3C management group. She will be working to increase our presence

and exposure on Facebook and Instagram.

One of our main goals for last season was to educate ourselves and, in the process,

educate the clubs, on the topics of non-profit incorporation and overall governance. That

activity falls under the VP so, until such time as we fill that role, there will be no progress

in that area.

We will continue to hold round-table meetings with the member club executive teams. A

schedule will be sent out within the next couple of weeks.

Planning for the 2023-24 Open Challenge is underway, lead by Randy Nickerson.

We plan to follow up on last season’s very successful ‘Travel Day’ by offering at least

one 1-day event. Various topics are being considered; we are open to suggestions.

As I was writing this and thinking about all of the planned and potential activities we’ll be

involved in, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s too much to go into in this message.

We’ll continue doing all we can to share our progress with you and will keep you up-to-

date in the coming months. Read all about it in ‘The Image Maker’, the O3C Facebook

Group and Instagram.

All the best,

Leif Petersen

How many of you remember the GTCCC - the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs - the predecessor of the O3C? The name was officially changed back in June 2018, when we began accepting club membership applications outside the GTA. Then, in the fall of 2018, we began a membership drive to invite other camera clubs across Ontario to join the “new” Ontario Council of Camera Clubs.

In some ways, those were simpler days, if you can call driving to face-to-face meetings simple. We also reported our financials on a simple cash basis, but that quickly changed: increasing our membership meant more revenue from annual dues; attracting sponsors brought in cash; offering ‘education days’, banquets weekend retreats also increased our profit, and loss, opportunities. We had to step up our game!

Enter Dave Peel, from the London Camera Club. Dave joined us late in the 2018-19 season bringing us the accounting experience needed to end the era of cash basis reporting and began preparing complete Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements and meaningful Budgets. Over a period of several weeks, he spent countless hours building a solid foundation to ensure that the O3C and the member clubs could trust the accuracy of what he reported.

Dave officially began his 2-year stint as the O3C Treasurer in the 2019-20 season, but continued into a 3rd year, with a definite plan to ‘retire’ and turn the job over to the next volunteer at the end of the 2021-22 season. We had a volunteer and the plan was going well, that is until our new volunteer had to back away before he got started. Enter Dave Peel…again! Fortunately for us, Dave offered to continue as Treasurer until the end of the 2022-23 season. As of August 31st, the Dave Peel era ended the way it began, with a complete set of fiscal year-end financial statements.

Dave, the O3C Executive Board and all member clubs thank you for devoting your time to the Ontario photographic community. Your devotion and diligence to the Treasurer role came at a time when it was most needed and staying with us through this last season helped us tremendously. Your experience and wise council during our Board meetings will be missed.

We wish you all the best as you continue to enjoy this great hobby as a long-time member of the London Camera Club. Safe travels.

Leif Petersen

President

Reps, could you double check that your membership in O3C has been renewed?

The Current fee schedule for annual membership is as follows:

• Club membership 25-50 members $ 50
• Club membership 51-100 members $ 75
• Club membership 101-200 members $ 95
• Club membership 201+ members $130
• Individual Membership $ 25
• No HST required. Fees collected in September covering September-August.

Payments can be made online via PayPal, credit card or e-transfer to treasurer@o3c.ca. PLEASE NOTE: If payment is made via personal credit card, it is very important that you advise the O3C Treasurer which club you represent via email to treasurer@o3c.ca. If you choose to pay via e-transfer from other than your club's bank account, be sure to include your club's name in the information/memo.

If you need to make alternate arrangements for payment, please contact our Treasurer at treasurer@o3c.ca or Bharat Mistry at information@o3c.ca. Deadline for renewal is September 30, 2024 after which Club access will be discontinued.

Renew your Club Membership at: https://o3c.ca/join/renew-memberships-with-occc/

The Speakers Registry has served us well for a number of years and now it should be even more useful; starting this September, it includes a simple but informative scale for new speaker endorsements.

Background: since its inception, the Registry has been based on a binary assessment of a speaker, ie. Recommend/not recommend (and the not-recommend ratings do not appear). This struck many users as somewhat limited. A more detailed rating was first proposed by Dwayne Ducommon of the Oshawa CC and the concept was endorsed by all but one of the clubs that responded to an online survey. Additional helpful suggestions were provided by Garry Weiler of the Mississauga CC and Alexa Coupland of the Sarnia Club. The version below takes some ideas from each of these sources. Like other elements of the Registry, it will be voluntary, but I hope it will be completed by everyone who adds a new speaker rating.

We owe thanks to Adam Lauzon for the programming to revise the Speakers Registry and add the scale.

The original idea was to rate a speaker on three elements: INSPIRE – EDUCATE – ENTERTAIN. The final version (below) rates ENGAGE instead of ENTERTAIN as being more in keeping with the spirit of guest presentations. (Entertain is nice but not essential: this is not Yuk-Yuk’s!)

Now Program Directors will be asked to rate each of these three dimensions from 0-3. Add a single binary question and the scale will give a total score of 0-10. This will be the case for all new speaker endorsements, but cannot be applied to existing endorsements.

Let’s try this for the coming year and see how it goes. In the meantime, I’d be happy to answer any questions.

The new rating scale:--

Please answer these questions to reflect the opinions of members as much as possible, not just your personal view.

INSPIRE: Did the speaker motivate your members to try new techniques or a different genre of photography?

3. Yes, we’re excited and want to try this.

2. There were some attractive ideas members might try.

1. We were only a little inspired.

0. No, we were not at all inspired

EDUCATE: Did the speaker show how to achieve these results?

3. Yes, and documents or links were provided.

2. Yes, but there were no documents or links.

1. Yes, but with minimal explanation.

0. No, there was no real explanation.

ENGAGE: Was the speaker well prepared, knowledgeable, had good material, and presented it well?

3. It was a great show

2. Not great, but a good show

1. Delivery needs improvement

0. Bad show OVERALL: Would your club like to have this speaker return with a different topic?

OVERALL: Would your club like to have this speaker return with a different topic?

1. Yes.

0. No

I would like to introduce myself; my name is Randy Nickerson and I am your newest competition director for the OCCC. My background is that I spent 6 years as the competition director of the Oshawa Camera Club as well as it’s president. I feel that there has been so much energy put into making the OCCC relevant that it was time to step up and help.

Well, it’s about that time of year again when the temperature cools off and camera clubs start up again. I hope you have had a great summer of capturing memorable images that you can share with your club and hopefully with all the groups within the OCCC. We will be bringing back the annual OCCC competition again and it will look the same as it has in the past. We will continue with the specialist categories and the award for Photographer of the Year.

Information on how and when to submit will come from your competition directors in the fall so stay tuned for those details.

The yearly competition is a unique opportunity to see some of the best images in the country, which always leads to learning for me. I would love it if you would consider entering. There is nothing to fear and the water is fine, I promise.

Check out our listing for your discounted tours at O3C.ca.

During September 2023 we will be adding the new 2024 Tuscany Tour information and sign up details.

If you have not gone on our African Safari Tour, the October 2024 will be available for sign by end of September.

You will also find our tours to the American South West at that time as well.

The popular Wolves shoot in Quebec is now available this coming November for sign up.

We look forward to offering an exciting 13 months of interesting tours both local and international that are unique to the O3C.

Harvey Rogers

Photo Tour Manager

Email: education@o3c.ca
Website: o3c.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/o3cfbgroup/