ppa vs tppa or swppa

[krodgers]

okay I am dumbfounded about which one I should join. This might be a question for Don Barns. I was told joining the PPa would get me(Copyright & Legal Advocacy is provided). Will joining the TPPA get me same benifits of the ppa? Do I get any discount for joining another if I am already a member of one of the divisions? I guess explain to me the differences and benifits to selective joining any of the organizations. If I could only choose one atm which is best for me?

[brad]

From what I understand... joining TPPA is joining PPA... though I could be wrong.

I joined TPPA (literally the day before the convention), but I was very confused by all the options as well.

[Howard Barlow]

PPA and TPPA are two separate organizations. Joining one does not make you a member, or offer you any benefits, of the other. If you belong to Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Louisiana state orgs, you are part of SWPA.

See Don's pretty face here.

[JohnT]

TPPA needs a new web site. That thing dates back to the nineties.

[Howard Barlow]

That recent? I thought I saw a spout for pouring the kerosene in.

[carrbowl]

The advantage of TPPA is there are lots of local advantages...the advantage to PPA is insurance, I belive they are the ones giving free shipping for B & H, free magazine, free DVD's from PhotoVision...

And you tell you all of this like I know what I'm talking about!!! I just joined both this month!!!!!

And you think TPPA is old...check out Houston's PPA..!! Their last advertisement was for Jan 2007

[bondarnes]

Kendall, let me see if I can shed some light on the subject for you.

Texas PPA is a state affiliate under PPA. The five states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas make up the Southwest PPA which is a regional affiliate of PPA. If you are a member of any of the five state PPA affiliates, you are automatically a member of SWPPA at no additional charge. The annual dues to be an active member of TPPA is only $85.00. As a member you will receive six TPPA magazines a year, free registration to the Annual Convention, and reduced member registration at our Summer Seminar.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the umbrella organization over the state and regional affiliates. The annual dues for a PPA active member is $323.00 and for an aspiring member is $194.00. These dues include indemnification insurance which means that PPA will come to your defense if you screw up a job, or your hard drive crashes with the only copy of a wedding's files, or many others instances of contract fulfillment disputes. It is similar to medical malpractice insurance. For other PPA benefits click this link: http://www.ppa.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=665

PPA holds one national convention each year and there is an additional charge to attend the convention. The 2009 convention will be in Phoenix, AZ., 2010 will be in Nashville, TN., and 2011 will return to San Antonio, TX.

There is one other level of PPA affiliates and that would be the local guilds. Most of them meet once a month and have dinner and a program. This is a great place to network and build relationships with photographers in your area. There are local guilds in Tyler, Waco, Houston, Austin, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Ft. Worth, Richardson, San Antonio, Texarkana, McAllen, and College Station. The TPPA website: http://www.tppa.org has links to most of these local guilds.

I am a member of all these organizations and I advise new photographers to start by joining their local guilds if they have one near them. If you can afford it you should also join your state affiliate. However if you do weddings you really need to be a member of PPA.

TPPA has only one paid employee to oversee almost 2,000 members so most of our work is done by volunteers. Our website was created by a volunteer back when websites were still a novelty and you had to be able to write html code to create one. It has served us well and we are looking at an update in the near future.

Thanks for all the input and I hope I was able to give you some useful information.

[krodgers]

so if I understand correctly joining a local guild will be joining the ppa

[Ahh!]

Originally Posted by krodgers

so if I understand correctly joining a local guild will be joining the ppa

No, membership in each entity is separate.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by krodgers

so if I understand correctly joining a local guild will be joining the ppa

Sorry if I mislead you. Joining a local guild or the TPPA is not the same as joining PPA. Each organization is affiliated with PPA, but each organization has their own annual dues and joining one does not make you a member of the other. The only exception to this would be if you join TPPA you are automatically a member of the five state regional affiliate SWPPA. You can join just one, or join two, or go all the way and join all three. I actually am a member of DPPA (Dallas), MPP (Ft. Worth), TPPA (Texas), SWPPA, and PPA (National).

I am also a member of the International Professional Photographers Guild which is in no way affiliated with PPA and the International Photographers Hall of Fame and Museum located in OK City.

[CaptainTom]

And here I've been thinking that my Sam's Club membership included all these other organizations. Go Figure !! Now I guess I've got to join some more things.

[J Eddington]

Geez, now I find out. I joined TPPA, then SWPPA. AND now I find out that with the TPPA, I am already in SWPPA?! This is really confusing.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by J Eddington

Geez, now I find out. I joined TPPA, then SWPPA. AND now I find out that with the TPPA, I am already in SWPPA?! This is really confusing.

Actually there is no way to join SWPPA other than by joining one of the five state organizations that make up SWPPA. You may be confusing that with registering for the SWPPA convention that began last week end. It's a long story, but SWPPA has no membership form and collects no dues. Their primary source of income is the convention they hold every even numbered year. This year SWPPA is moving from a winter convention to a fall convention so there will be two SWPPA conventions this year only. Since you are a member of TPPA both conventions are FREE. I hope that is not too confusing.

[adirty1]

the guild in austin won't let you join unless you are member of the ppa.

[krodgers]

Don thanks alot for explaining