Cutcaster not experienced enough yet for ASPP

Just got this email in reference to applying for my membership into ASPP. Who else is a member here?


ASPP membership
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:25 PM
From:
"Cathy Sachs"
To:
john@cutcaster.com
Cc:
'Silver, Christie'
Dear John,

I am sorry to tell you that your application for membership in ASPP has not been approved. The membership director does not feel that you have enough experience in our profession to qualify you for our peer network.

We wish you well with your new business, however, and invite you to perhaps re apply for membership once you have had a few more years in the industry.


Cathy D-P Sachs
Executive Director
American Society of Picture Professionals
Building Community Among Image Professionals


My thoughts:
Let me start off by saying I respect their decision and understand they can choose who they want to let into their association and who they want to keep out. I appreciate the well wishes for Cutcaster. I thought they would want new members but from the last line "Building Community Among Image Professionals," it doesn't look like they want any younger members in their community. When I first went to their website, I saw this message, “We are a community of image experts committed to sharing our experience and knowledge throughout the industry. We provide professional networking and educational opportunities. If you create, edit, research, license, manage or publish pictures, ASPP is the place for you. Join us.”

Too bad they didn't let us "Join them." I am not an expert and never claimed to be one. I never read on their site that I needed a certain number of years in the industry. If they can show me that I think that would help. I am learning like the rest of us and wanted to use the Association to help educate me and put me in an environment around people who are smart in the field so I could learn and also share my own experience of building a company in the space I have worked in. I do work in the stock agency world which it says 20% of its' members do. It's funny because the ASPP's homepage message says if you create, edit, research, license, manage or publish pictures, ASPP is the place for you. Well I do all of the above. Maybe I don't "create" pictures as well as some of the other experts. I can live with that. I definitely research, license and manage a large amount of photos and see first hand the licensing field. Plus, I think Cutcaster brings a new fresh approach to image licensing. I guess Christie Silver dissed us for being too wet behind the ears. I wonder if she can point out the rule in the membership requirements that spells out the correct number of years experience needed?

Maybe next year ;-) or the year after.