SWPP - Keeping Up With The Jones’s

Phil points out: “We are set to stage the biggest photographic convention Europe has ever seen. We’ll be setting new benchmarks for ‘one-stop-shop’ conventions in the UK.
Despite the recession, interest in the 2010 Convention is keener than ever.

Over 12,000 visitors attended this year but all the signs are that figure will be easily overtaken next January. Over 60% of our trade stand allocation had already been booked by March.”

He adds: “We are finding that increasing numbers of photographers are treating The Societies Convention as a ‘must-do’ event. They know the choice of seminars and workshops by world-acclaimed speakers is simply unmatchable – and they also know that all the key players in the industry will be on hand to demonstrate their latest products.”

Our planners will lay on over 350 Masterclasses over four days; over 12 hours of exclusive Business School workshops and over forty hours of free seminars and demonstrations.
And the Trade Show element of the Convention (Jan 15-17) is free as long as visitors pre-register online before January 8, 2010.

The Convention has grown from a one day event, held at a small hotel in Liverpool, with a smattering of visitors and a handful of exhibitors eight years ago, to the pioneering seven day showcase it will be in 2010.

‘I could never have done this on my own’
But Phil knows he could never have achieved this amazing growth over the past decade, single-handedly.
For the past ten years the SWPP has been the pure embodiment of a family-run business.
Phil was sinking in a quicksand of administration challenges when Juliet joined.

“I started soon after Phil bought the business. I was hired initially as a part-time secretary and admin assistant” she says. “But soon I was working full-time. Then one day, on the way to a seminar, he told me he was in love with me.

I had had two failed relationships but Phil and I are soul mates and we help each other. We hold each other up. We’ve taken big risks to build this business but the whole family is behind us on this journey. We’ve got six kids between us and most of them work with us, either full or part-time. We are growing this together.”

She admits: “Running something of this size and complexity can’t be done by one or two people. It needs a team. And in our case - a truly supportive family structure.
Of course we do row and let off steam from time to time but we have a common goal – and that is to grow this Society year on year. To us The Societies is just one big family.”

In 1999 when Juliet started working full-time with Phil she asked him: ‘What do you want to achieve?’
“I really wanted to understand his ambition for the SWPP”, she says.
Phil replied: “I want to help achieve a better standard of photography worldwide.”
Juliet adds: “I hope some may think that has been achieved”.

The quest for greater knowledge; burgeoning links with key photographers keen to impart their experience with others; a strong desire to work closely with the imaging industry and a restless imperative to move forward, have been key drivers in The Societies’ development.

Notes Juliet: “We strive constantly to stimulate, innovate and encourage our members. Five years ago we hired a well-known American photographer to come to our Convention and deliver a workshop on pregnancy photography. At that time it was relatively unheard of over here in the UK. Now ‘Bump Photography’ is booming.

We think it is vital to facilitate an environment in which our members can engage with other photographers as much as possible in order to enhance their own skills. We want to encourage them to work to the highest standards. Now it’s wonderful to see people who joined us years ago as novices, winning competitions and speaking at our Conventions.”

The staff complement at the Rhyl HQ now numbers 15 – and six of that number are Jones’s.
Enthuses Phil: “Over time we have built a highly efficient office structure with specialist members of staff embracing designated responsibilities. This highly professional team has transformed the society into a multi-million pound turnover organisation.”

August 2009

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