Congratulations Jason and Ania!

attachment-1

Congratulations to Jason Williams, Snapshots Photography, Salisbury, North Carolina, who was the big winner of the amazing Imaging USA Speakers Basket raffle held at PPA’s annual IUSA convention in Atlanta in January. Valued at over $8,000, these educational items were donated by speakers at IUSA 2012.

392978_10151344307222044_23338189_n

Congratulations also to Ania Mikolajewski, who was the lucky winner of an opportunity to document an Operation Smile Mission. Ania’s name was drawn from all those who donated $240 or more in support of Operation Smile in 2012.

Ania, who is a Certified Professional Photographer, is the owner of Denver-area Ania Mikol Photography. Last year she participated in PPA Charities’ first Celebration of Smiles promotion.

PPA Charities Celebration and Gala Auction Provide a Great Start for IUSA in Atlanta

219_ppacharities_iusaevent2013

017_ppacharities_iusaevent2013

Once again PPA Charities’ Celebration Gala and Auction, held this year on January 19, proved to be a great kickoff for PPA’s Imaging USA convention in Atlanta. PPA members from around the country packed the convention hotel ballroom ready to have a good time, bid on great auction bargains, and celebrate PPA Charities’ 2012 fundraising efforts on behalf of its charitable partner Operation Smile. On hand for the check presentation ceremony with members of the PPA Board of Directors and PPA Charities Trustees was Dr. Bill Magee, who, together with his wife, Kathy, founded Operation Smile. Dr. Magee, shown holding the check at left, was accompanied by his sister-in-law, Beth Marshall, director of Operation Smile’s Southeast Region and Senior Executive Advisor for Latin America, shown holding the check at right.

_mg_4025
The $70,000 check means that PPA members have now contributed over $570,000 to Operation Smile, which translates into saving some 2.385 smiles of children around the world.

IUSA to Feature Celebration of Smiles Panel

britney.small david_small meggan_small ann_small clark_small tina_small

Learn how your studio can benefit from participating in PPA Charities’ 2013 Celebration of Smiles Day scheduled for April 6, 2013. This panel presentation will feature organizers and top donors of the 2012 Smiles Day promotion. They’ll highlight the strategies that helped to make their events successful and reveal how their businesses benefited by standing together with photographers throughout the country to raise funds that support the work of Operation Smile and earn recognition through the promotion’s Portrait Awards contest. Panelists will include Meggan Harper (Florida), Clark Sanders (Arkansas) David Grupa (Minnesota) and Tina Timmons (Michigan); moderators will be Ann Monteith (Pennsylvania) and Britney Fullgraf (Florida), co-chairs of the 2013 event.

Buckeye Professional Imaging Offers Free 5×7 Prints to Support “Celebration of Smiles” Day

buckeye_greenSteve Troup, president of Buckeye Professional Imaging, has announced his lab’s support of Celebration of Smiles Day by offering to provide participating studios with a FREE 5×7 print for each consumer who takes part in the fundraising promotion. The studio will be billed only for the shipping and handling fee of $5.00 per shipment, so Steve urges studios to consolidate their prints to limit this fee.

To take advantage of this offer, the studio must open an account with Buckeye Professional Imaging by using this link. Next, follow these directions:

  • Enter PPACH in the referral box.
  • Supply a credit card when opening the account. There are no charges made on the credit card until orders are completed.
  • You will find a category in Buckeye’s Roes ordering system, called BOSS, which will be identified as “Celebration of Smiles.” Look for this category within the Luster Print catalog. In that category, you can order the free 5x7s. Buckeye assumes you will be ordering only one 5×7 for the promotion participant.
  • Additional prints can be ordered in the other catalogs at the normal price. These additional prints can be combined with the free print, so it is all one order.
  • The Celebration of Smiles catalog will be available until May 31, 2012.

Many thanks to Buckeye Professional Imaging for their generous support of Celebration of Smiles!

Just in Time for Your “Celebration” Promotion — Download this Thank You Handout NOW!

celebrationflyer_small
You can drive home the importance of the $24 donation your Celebration of Smiles Day clients are making on April 21 by presenting each of them with a “Thank You for Making a Difference in the Life of a Child!” handout that you can download and print out in your studio. The 8.5 x 11 handout will touch the hearts of your participants when they read about the incredibly important work done by Operation Smile volunteers around the world as well as the commitment of PPA members to support them through PPA Charities. To download the flyer click here.