Who do you serve and what problem do you solve for them?
The best ideas come from a place of love and service
or, at least that’s what I think, :)
A couple weeks ago, I was watching a virtual program put on by the NYC Chapter of the National Speakers Association.
Normally, I’m in the same room as these folks, running around the space like a chicken without a head, snapping photos from a variety of angles with a clear sense of urgency.
Clearly, that’s not happening any time soon.
While feeling completely sapped of any energy due to the dreaded symptoms related to the C-Word - rhymes with Jovid - I felt pretty defeated and useless.
About 5 minutes into the program, I decided to not feel completely like dogshit and do something, ANYTHING, in an attempt to lift my spirits.
I picked up my camera and did what comes naturally…in a very unnatural way.
While virtual emcee and speaker extraordinaire, Jill Shiefelbein, was still delivering her opening remarks to those tuned in, I snapped a couple photos of her speaking off my laptop screen.
It felt completely odd and unnatural, to be sure.
I took a peek at the LCD screen on the back of my camera and thought, “hmm, these actually don’t look like total pieces of shit…”
Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical of photographing a speaker on a laptop screen, :)
After those initial photos of Jill, I decided to stick with it and capture a couple candids of speakers featured throughout the entire program, including a talk from Chad Hymas, and a panel involving several prominent keynote speakers.
To be honest, I really wasn’t at an energy level to get too creative, but I felt energized enough at the prospect of doing something useful for those I serve.
After all, I haven’t missed one chapter meeting since I became involved with the group in June 2018.
I felt obligated to at least give it a go, because right now, other than getting my health back to where it needs to be, I need to shift my purpose since photographing human beings in person isn’t exactly going to happen anytime soon.
It’s important to have purpose at all times, especially now when everything is upside down. As a result, it’s easy to lose your sense of direction.
But, I found a sense of direction the moment I saw the reaction to my post on social regarding these photos. I couldn’t believe how much the speakers enjoyed these photos.
Despite my lingering health issues, It was the first time I felt really good in a month.
It was the boot in the ass that I needed.
On the heels of that victory, I decided that offering these type of photos as a one-off service would be a valuable way for me to serve the speaker, trainer and expert-based business owner communities during this time where the shift to virtual is ubiquitous.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been quietly spreading the word amongst friends, clients and colleagues, who have, in turned, shared the word with their communities.
As a result, I’ve been shooting like a madman recently, covering a variety of meetings, webinars and other types of virtual presentations.
While nothing rivals the electricity of capturing photos of an event space packed with people whose attention is glued to the front of the room as a speaker is passionately delivering a message of hope and inspiration, remembering who you serve and solving the problems that exist for them is still the paramount objective.
And that’s where these magical virtual event photos come in, :)
If you’re interested in learning more about my virtual event photo services, you can check it out here.