Networking, Forums and Clubs, OH MY!

Hello everyone! I am your new Thursday Ambassador.    It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I am honored to be here.  I am going to share some of my photos, though this post is geared toward networking and meeting other photographers.

Joining groups and getting involved in your field of study can be one of the best moves a photography student can make.  Networking, clubs, online forums are just a few of the ways you can really make your presence known, and get your name out.  You can also gain valuable inside information into the market, and learn about new and old techniques (and maybe share your own).  Getting involved in your career and meeting like-minded people will be very important for your photography career.

Google+ is a great place to start, especially with the Photography Student Professional Network.  In fact I highly recommend that you start here, since this online community is specifically for the Art Institutes online students. Here we can connect with faculty and other students, and post our work, if we care to.  There is a wealth of information specifically geared toward AI students, and everyone is very welcoming (I found from experience).

Connections is another AI-based platform to connect with other students and faculty.  Connections has chat rooms, and groups to join, based on your career path, be it graphics design or photography, or one of the many other majors AI offers.  

PhotographyTalk is a great place to meet photographers from all over the world.   This is another social-networking platform, with the exception that this one is solely for photographers.  There are different groups, and blogs, and if you don't see a blog or forum you are looking for, you can create your own.

The Photography Forum by SLR Lounge has contests photographers can enter, tutorials for different programs, and threads where you can post your work and have it critiqued by other photographers, outside of school.  The articles are awesome and very informative (especially for college students who are still learning).

Nothing beats joining a local photography club in your area for getting connected with local photographers.  Running a search using your preferred search engine should lead you in their direction, if there are any where you are.  I was surprised to find that there is a club in Carson City, NV, a few miles from where I live.

Below I have included links to all the websites I mentioned above, aside from a search engine. (This is my first post, so I am not certain I submitted the links correctly.  If they don't work, you can copy and paste them.)

http://www.photographytalk.com/

https://plus.google.com/

http://www.slrlounge.com/forums/forum.php

*http://aiconnect.thecampuscommon.com/

*I am not certain if the link to Connections will work. You have to be signed into the Campus Common to access it.  If the link doesn’t work, simply sign into the Common, hover over the tab that says “Campus Life”. In the drop-down menu click on “Get Connected”, and when the screen refreshes, click the button that says “Get Connected”.   If you have any problems opening Connections from there, you will probably need to disable your pop-up blocker. 

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I hope everyone has a great day!