The following is a description given by Jean Parboosingh (President of the Canmore Camera Club). The description explains what happens at club meetings, every meeting is held on the third Thursday of the month at the Ha Ling Conference Room at 7pm in the Canmore Recreation Centre.

The 2009/2010 year has started off with a revamped format of the Camera Club and invitations to open meetings to what the Club had to offer and to see whether the guests are interested in becoming members of the Club. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for the new format which encompasses the following:
 
  •     Silent Show of members’ images based on a particular theme and submitted in advance
  •     My Learning Curve – tips learnt by individual members with general discussion by the group
  •     Show and Tell – members submit 5 images in advance and talk about where, why and how they took the photos
  •     Ask the Expert based on topics requested by the membership
  •     Critiquing Session
  •     Feedback on meeting

We will alternate “My Learning Curve” with “Ask the Expert” and also alternate “Show and Tell” with a “Critiquing Session”. The hope is that members will volunteer to submit images for the “Silent Slideshow” and be willing to share their knowledge through “My Learning Curve” and talk about their photography in the “Show and Tell”. The intent is that these sessions are opportunities for all members to actively participate in the meetings regardless of their level of expertise.

The two recent meetings were very well received by a number of guests at the two meetings, of whom at least eight became new members. Ratings of 4.4 and 4.3 on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being high) were given for the meetings. Topics were suggested for “Ask the Expert” and for themes for the “Silent Slideshow” and “Show and Tell” and these will guide the planning of subsequent meetings. Interest in getting together between meetings and in more in depth workshops was also expressed by those attending the meetings.

We encourage those of you who have been members in the past to continue to participate and come out and experience our new format. We also hope that the new members will benefit by their involvement in the Club.