One of the most insightful and fun segments at PMA Convention’s is the Hot Picks phenomena. It is a presentation by volunteer retailer reporters who find their personal ‘Hot Picks’ after combing the exhibition floor for two days. These retailers provide a snapshot of those items that will be new, exciting and profitable for their business in 2010.
An item that impressed many was the Photoframes by Hoodman. A pair of eye glasses with hinged frames, allowing the photographer to keep their glasses on and flip the lens from the eye when shooting photos, selected by Brian Ainsworth (Photos AR’ Nice, Gainesville, Florida) and Mark Comon, (Paul’s Photo, Torrance, California).
Two reporters also selected the potential of pearlescent finish paper by Mitsubishi. Reporters were told it was to be referred to as “metallic-like” paper. It was the pick of DIMA Past President Steve Olock, (Dan’s Camera City, Allentown, Pennsylvania) and International TVP of the Year Alan Logue (Hutt Street Photos, Adelaide, Australia)
Another double pick was the ‘Frame Wizard’ by Facecake which makes photos in a digital frame come to life. It was picked by Jochen Strasser (Foto Partner Strasser, Hamberg, Germany) and also USA TVP of the Year Margaret Remy (Quick Prints, Meridian, Mississippi)
The option to turn photos into wallpaper by HP was selected by Caroll Ross from Fotosource (Reid’s), White Rock, British Columbia. Caroll envisioned some of her customers that are artists using the wall paper to show their works of art in homes.
Beautiful silver photo jewelry by Planetjill was selected by Gabe Cano (Specialty Color Services, Santa Barbara, California). Gabe felt his female shoppers would embrace the ability to make images of their loved ones “shine”.
An environmental approach by PIXO was their universal charger, selected by Catharina Schorcht, (Foto Schorcht, Guttersloh, Germany). This charger is slated for May 2010 delivery and will support camera charging, phones and even laptops.
The Dakis Web Design and On-line Camera Store offering a high quality and easy to maintain retailer website was the Hot Pick of Catherine Logue’s (Hutt Street Photos, Adelaide, Australia).
Tracking, selling and delivering digital orders can be painful for professional or event photographers. Snapizzi, for its online ordering and cost effectiveness was the Hot Pick of Mark Oliver (Adanac Images, St Mary’s, Ontario)
FotoFusion by Lumapix, software applications for Portrait work, Pro Albums and building collages was selected by Brian Noble (Noble’s Camera, Hingham, Massachusetts).
Different software, Ecce Terram, for book design, collages, and even business software to stream line work flow was picked by Paul Atkins (Atkins Technicolour, Adelaide Australia
The “Unleashed Barcode Edition” from Foolography makes it possible to directly store barcodes in the photos’ metadata with Nikon DSLRs. Unleashed refers to its wireless capabilities. It was selected by Martin Skoda (Foto Skoda, Prague, Czech Republic).
Alan Logue (Hutt Street Photos, Adelaide, Australia) gave his Hot Picks to Noritsu’s minilab software dubbed Easy Controller that takes care of everything from print order management to color correction of the individual images. Alan liked its ease of use and economical productivity improvement.
Tim Jones (Perfect Prints, Hobart, Australia) liked Cameron Products’ “SteadePod” which uses a foot restrained wire to act as a camera steadying product for those longer exposures including sunsets or high zoom shots.
Lowepro’s Sling Bag for its adaptability, comfort and versatility was chosen by Mark Comon (Paul’s Photo, Torrance, California).
California Sunbounce Sun Sniper ‘Steel’ camera strap was selected by Martin Wagner, (Ringfoto, Furth, Germany). The camera strap is steel reinforced inhibiting the tourist robbers from slicing through your camera strap with a knife.
Some 30 items were selected by the retailers attending the event, providing a great opportunity to share knowledge and potential profit lines with their fellow business operators. The ‘Hot Picks’ program provides attendees a chance to review the prime selections toward the end of the PMA show. Those wanting to capitalize on their investment at the PMA Convention have made Hot Picks a “must attend” part of their PMA experience.
— Catherine Logue, Training for Learning Co. All photos, Alan Logue, Hutt Street Photo, Adelaide, South Australia
