Speaker Submission

Thank you for your interest in being a speaker for ShutterFest! We love business topics, we love lighting and posing topics. The truth is, we LOVE UNIQUE AND HANDS-ON TOPICS of all kinds. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  •  Submit UNIQUE class topics! Low-effort topics and descriptions will get you rejected as a speaker fast. We want something that is going to get people excited and something that is not a free Youtube video. There are 50 people along with you submitting “OCF for Beginners.” What spin can you put on it that will make it stand out? Think outside the box and challenge yourself to be a better instructor.
  • Categorize your courses correctly. This has a HUGE impact on class placement, expectations and attendee ratings. If students will be shooting, select hands-on. If you are demonstrating concepts with a model, choose live demonstration. If you will have slides or need access to a traditional classroom, select lecture.
  • Consider teaching intermediate or advanced only classes. This is requested every year!
  • NEW first-time speaker program: with the idea of “promoting from within,” this year a group of first-time speakers will be accepted with one topic ONLY as part of a trial program to help give new speakers a foot in the door and a platform. First-time speakers will not be paid. 
  • Veteran speakers are required to teach three classes, as usual.
  • JUST BECAUSE YOU APPLY DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED. We only have 50 total slots for speakers this year. Every year, we receive more than 150 applications. This means that even though you might be a good speaker, great person, etc. you might get rejected. This doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with your application or you as a person, it just means we had a lot of options and you were not selected this time. We encourage you to try again in the future.

Good luck. We look forward to hearing all your ideas for an incredible ShutterFest.

Sal Cincotta

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SKILL LEVELS

Beginner: Just starting out or relatively new to a given subject matter. Basics will be covered and the course will move at a slower pace. The instructor will spend a little more time trying to explain concepts to ensure everyone is following. On a scale of 1-10 consider this level a 1-3 on the given topic.

Intermediate: Has a grasp of some basic concepts. This course level will move at a faster pace and assume you have basic knowledge covered on the given subject matter. On a scale of 1-10 consider this level a 4-6 on the given topic.

Advanced: You have working knowledge of the given subject matter, but are looking for more fine-tuning and some advanced topics to take your work to that next level. DO NOT expect instructors to explain basic concepts in this course. On a scale of 1-10 consider this level a 7-10 on the given topic.

Class Types

Hands-On

These are shooting courses. You will be shooting and working. Bring your camera, gear, or whatever you need for the course and to create create images. Expect to have some level of shooting.

Live Demonstration

These are instructor-led courses where you will see a live demonstration of what the instructor is teaching. You can still bring your camera to these courses and you can photograph, but the goal of the course is NOT for you to shoot or to ensure you get a shot. The goal is for you to see how and why the instructor does what he/she does in order to get the final result.

Lecture

These are non-shooting courses. Typically classroom-based, bring your laptop and notepad and focus on learning!