Betsy Bird Elected Vice President of Professional Photographers of East Tennessee

Apparently, my first year on the board didn't scare them off.

I'm excited to share that I've been elected Vice President of the Professional Photographers of East Tennessee (PPETN). This will be my second year serving on the PPETN Board of Directors and another opportunity to support a photography community that has become very important to me.

Why Photography Organizations Matter

Photography can be a pretty solitary profession.

We spend a lot of time behind a camera or sitting in front of a computer, and running a photography business requires us to wear approximately 47 different hats on any given day.

Organizations like PPETN give photographers something that's hard to create on your own: community.

Through education, hands-on learning, image competition, networking, and simply spending time with other photographers, PPETN gives photographers opportunities to improve both their craft and their businesses.

And I think we need both.

Creating beautiful photographs is one skill. Building a business that allows you to continue creating them is another.

Stepping Into the Vice President Role

I'm looking forward to helping PPETN continue to grow and evolve as the needs of professional photographers change.

Liz Salem, President of PPETN, shared this about my election:

“We are delighted to have Betsy as our Vice President. Her passion for photography, business skills, and previous board experience make Betsy an invaluable asset to the organization. Betsy’s willingness to share her knowledge and her dedication to elevating the photography community of East Tennessee is something to be admired.”

That's a pretty nice thing to have someone say about you. I'm keeping it.

More importantly, I'm looking forward to another year of working with photographers who want to learn, improve, share what they know, and help strengthen our photography community.

My work with PPETN also connects closely with what I believe about photography education: none of us has to figure everything out alone.

There will always be another technique to learn, another business problem to solve, another idea to try, and probably another piece of software determined to test our patience.

Having other photographers around for that journey makes a difference.

I'm excited to see what we can accomplish together.