Glad to have you as a new member!
Being a new member you may not be familiar with the process for Projected Image and Print Nights. The specifications for your entries, for either of these nights, can be found on the BPS website under the FYI link.
You can find out what is happening for any week throughout the year on the "Events" page. You will find additional information about any of the events by clicking on the link that is shown for the date, a popup will appear with all the particulars about that evening.
Projected Image Nights
In the first part of the evening there will be a themed slideshow. For this slideshow you can submit up to 4 images that match the evening's theme, check on the calendar for information regarding the theme and where to email your files as this is subject to change. Make sure you send these images in by Friday before the scheduled meeting.
The second portion of the evening consists projected images which will be the subjects for discussion by the members present at the meeting. There is no theme for this portion of the evening. This is intended to give positive and constructive feedback about the images. You can submit up to 2 images for this portion of the evening and they should be emailed to the Projected Image Chair by the Sunday before to the meeting.
Print Nights
For the Print Nights you can bring two prints for showing. Print nights generally do not have a theme associated with them. You must be there a few minutes early so that your prints can be displayed on the walls prior to the start of the meeting. After an initial few minutes allowed for viewing the prints at the start of the meeting, one or both of your two prints will be selected for display and discussion depending upon the number of prints being shown.
The Annual BPS Christmas Party
The annual BPS Christmas Party is held in early December (check the Calendar link) and it is a pot luck dinner. For the past couple of years it has been held in the community centre at Greentree Village which is just a short distance from Shadbolt. There is a fun exchange of small gifts that are selected by a random draw. A map and other details are included in the information on the Calendar page.
The Annual Year-End Picnic
The annual Year-End Picnic is held on the last Monday of the season (early to mid-June) and for the past few years has been at Queen's Park in New Westminster (rain or shine). Information will be given out at a meeting near the end of the year and also in an email.
The McGillivary Award
The McGillivary Award is an event held at the end of May or early June. Members create a slide show with a story or theme set to music and approximately one to three minutes long. The winner is selected by popular vote by the members that are present. Very informal. The slideshows can be put together with Proshow, or other slideshow software, including a movie format.
There will be a Special Interest Group (SIG) setup in the very near future to introduce you to using Proshow, if you should wish to learn the software. The club does receive a discount code that members can use to purchase the software, for more information send me an email.
Showcase - currently on-hold
Showcase is the main event of our year and includes:
An exhibition of about 50 printed Images for the week of Showcase
An evening of slideshows usually to an audience of over 200 people at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby
For the Showcase event to happen it requires a group of volunteers to come forward. None of the tasks are overly strenuous they just take a small amount of your time and the more volunteers we have to help the less time each has to put in. So don't be shy, when the requests come out don't forget to put your hand up and offer to assist.
The Annual General Meeting
And last but not least is the Annual General Meeting which takes place in late May or early June (check the events page). This is where you get an opportunity to help keep the club keep moving forward by putting your name on the slate as ... - well, for whatever job you would like to take on.
Enjoy your membership in BPS!
That's about it for now. I hope this answers some questions that you may have had and didn't know who to ask or if this note has created some questions that you didn't even know you had, please feel free to send us an email and we will do our best to answer it or forward it to somebody who may be able to help.