21 Jul 2011 STOCKinRUSSIA 2011

After an enjoyable and educational experience in Moscow last year, I’m heading back to STOCKinRUSSIA again in 2011. They have another great program lined up and I don’t want to miss it.

The 2011 Program

This year’s program includes successful microstock photographer Andres Rodriguez who will give both a presentation and a workshop, as will top microstock video producer Simon Krzic, aka SimonKr, who spoke at the CEPIC New Media Conference last year in Dublin. Robert Davies from picNiche / picWorkflow is also featured on the program, presenting on analysis techniques to improve your microstock profitability.

Many parts of the program have been split in two with sessions for those who are new to stock photography and separate sessions with advanced topics for those who are already established. This seems like a smart way to provide value to attendees of all experience levels.

Last year there was a panel featuring stock photo buyers which was very successful and valuable for all attendees. This year more buyers have been invited back to make an even bigger contribution to the program. Check out the full program here.

More About STOCKinRUSSIA

STOCKinRUSSIA is an annual event. This will be its third year. The event is extremely well produced and runs very smoothly. The conference is run in both Russian and English, meaning many of the speakers cannot speak Russian. Two-way translations through portable headphone receivers make the language divide gracefully fade to the background.

Practical workshops provide a real bonus to the conference content, allowing attendees to see stock shoots in action and ask questions while it’s going. The enthusiasm and the quantity of questions during the practical workshops last year showed they were very well appreciated. And of course, the practical workshops are back again this year.

The key motivation behind producing the event is to develop the local industry, which while healthy and growing, could easily be producing more superstar microstockers. A big part of what goes on at the STOCKinRUSSIA events is networking and socializing. It’s not often that stock photographers get the chance to come together with a lot of their peers and colleagues like this, so the conversations are always enthusiastic. For me, the social aspects were among the most valuable parts of the event last year.

Who’s Behind STOCKinRUSSIA?

The event is produced by Pressfoto, a company with a lot of business in the microstock market. They have a Russian microstock agency, Pressfoto.ru, one of the fastest growing non-exclusive contributor accounts in the market, Pressmaster, and a popular microstocker portal, StockerHelp.ru. STOCKinRUSSIA is another of their businesses. But more on the Pressfoto empire later.

My Involvement this Year

I’m not on the program this year but will be attending to cover the event and help share the discussions.   I plan to conduct some interviews, photograph the proceedings and report back on the most valuable discussions that took place. Keep an eye out for those posts during the event in September-October.

There are still seats available for the conference, so if you fancy a trip to Moscow for a great event, you can register online via the event’s information-packed website. See you in Moscow!