Daily Archives: November 2, 2015

Tony Sweet and Jack Graham share a laugh in the field at the TGSMNPS  (The Great Smoky Mountains Nature Photography Summit  – Volume I

 

Our first Summit was a smashing success and for a lot of reasons!!!

 

1.  Over 200 great, enthusiastic attendees!  We had the great pleasure of spending five days with some of the greatest folks, they were really a great group!  Below, Len Rue Jr. signs an attendee’s event poster!

 

 

(2.)  We had the most incredible team of instructors, leaders, mentors and just plain great guys!  Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, Rob Sheppard, Tony Sweet, Jack Graham, Wilson Reynolds, Len Rue Jr., Jim Begley, John “Snake” Barrett,  Bill Lea, Ken Jenkins, Brett Wells, and even the pilgrim.

 

(3.)  We hit the fall color perfectly, we got peak color and then leaves on the ground!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4.)  April Love and the Tremont Lodge and Resort Team, along with Jim and Sue Haverstock worked tirelessly to meet everyone’s needs!!!   April spent months taking care of the countless items on mine and Wilson’s lists!  She did a great job!  Wilson stepped up to the plate and invested in the infrastructure needed to make this resort ready for such a great gathering.  New screens, nice, big ones, and Canon 4500 lumens projectors graced the three big meeting room venues!  The on screen images were simply the best reproduction I’ve ever seen, not great news for me, got to have a Canon WUX450 projector now!!!!!!

 

As the co-chairman, along with Wilson, I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to see such big undertaking go off with so few issues, of course lots of little things will be fixed or enhanced for next year, but since we will only be accepting 225 attendees next year, it looks like the TGSMNPS has many years of great events, yet to come!!!!

 

Don’t take my word for it, this is just a few of many comments emailed to us after the event!!!

 

“After attending the Great Smoky Mountains Photography Summit this past week, I wanted to commend you and all involved on a great event!  it was refreshing to hear from all the educators and professionals their honest opinions and appreciated how freely they shared their knowledge, experiences and technical expertise during the event.  To me, the event proved to be more about inspiration and community than any other gathering I’ve attended.”

Karin Smith

 

 

“Bill, this was absolutely one of the best events I’ve ever taught at. So yes, I’m in for next year, pre-conference session and all. Seriously, this was a special event for me and so many people there. I think we came pretty darn close to connecting with people the way we do on a small workshop. Anyone who wanted to really get personal interactions and learn a lot could have and had plenty of chances and I think we helped a lot of people last week. The feedback I heard was over the top great.”

Matt Kloskowski

 

“I really enjoyed meeting a lot of truly great folks, and our time together as a team was a very special experience!  One of the best large events I’ve ever attended or spoken at!”

Jack Graham

 

“A triple home run, out of the park!!!!!”

Paul Travers

 

Stay tuned to both the TGMNPS website and mine to see information about when registration will start for the next event!  It will be bigger and better than ever!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim