First, hi to all our new members! Great to have you with us, you're going to quickly make friends and we'll have you taking better pics before long as you join us at our events.

For those who were present at the Breakfast Brainstorm, thank you for your time and presence. There was some great input - highlights of which are:

• We need beginner training classes.
    This is overdue, we'll get something done soon.
• Put together a welcome pack for new members.
    This will take some work, but definitely worth it
• Let's arrange the Studio Lighting class with Kumar
     Hana, let's get in touch with him this week
• Please post closing dates for competitions, people are unclear about those.
• Let's host an exhibition in February, based on the 12 best pics of 2011.
     We'll create an album where members can post their 2 BEST images. A panel will decide.

Franco, it was great to see you again! Manal, Barry, Anu and Sophia, great to see you their and thank you for the involvement.

EPyC Rules!

A new Rules page has gone up: http://www.meetup.com/EmiratesPhotoClub/pages/EPyC_-_A_Few_Club_Rules

There are only 5 rules.

The max number of pics per event rule is being revised. Expect something like a top 5 or top 3 decision soon, based on the feedback we've been getting. An improved critical eye and higher quality postings will be the end result.

Logo

We're nearly there with the new club logo. Thanks go to Ralph and his designer who have done a fantastic job! Ralph owns a company that specialises in events, exhibitions, graphics and printing. And he's a friendly guy!

His company web sites are:
http://www.tru-colour.com/      http://www.colourbyte.biz/

For a look at the designs, check out the first couple of images in the Proposed Club Logos album.

Thank you Ralph! We owe you one.

I also want to thank Moina for arranging to do the T-Shirts and Caps for us. We'll have screen printing and embroidery on a cotton polo shirt once we wrap up the design. We'll make an announcement soon.

No Shows at Limited-Seating events

Sadly, there was a family emergency involving one of our members, preventing them from attending. This leads me to the flip side of my discussion: No Shows at limited-seating events.

Failing to show up at a limited-seating event is poor form. You've denied someone else a seat, and may disrupt arrangements that are made due to confirmed numbers.

There are meetup groups that are random, inactive, or have their own off-topic agendas. We're not that group.

For most events it doesn't really matter, but for some events I expect a commitment. This was one of them.

I will send another email soon, there are a few more announcements.

To end off, I really want to highlight the work of one of our members, Ajay Goel. He's a great guy, we're lucky to have him as a member, he takes wonderful pictures and I think he will prove an inspiration to you all!

Please have a look at his portfolio here in the meantime, until I send more info in an email:
http://openframe.photoshelter.com/gallery-list

Regards

Lloyd