September 2013
This Quarter 2013 Proved to be another busy and successful year for Event Photography Group. Before we knew it we ended up at the end of the 3rd quarter so we thought that it was about time to publish another newsletter. We hope you enjoy!
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A Message from our CEO Employee Spotlight FSU Recognizes Bob Knight Education Division Race Division Holiday Division Lab Division Snapshots! Did You Know?
Volume 2 | Issue 1
Mission Statement Event Photography Group captures compelling professional images of individuals and groups at meaningful events in their lives. We efficiently present those images to all potential consumers and offer multiple. pertinent end products and services to help our customers share, present, and preserve their memories.
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Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
A Message from our CEO Paul Rassmussen CEO Event Photography Group
The past fiscal year has been one of great change, challenges and success for EPG, and I thank all of you for your continued hard work and dedication to make EPG a stronger company and a great overall work environment.
done an excellent job of operating all EPG executed events under the MarathonFoto umbrella, expanding the backprint photographer and event base, and building a world class fulfillment center in Ft. Worth.
We started the year off on a sprint with the acquisition of brightroom, Inc., a deal that we had both been working on for nearly 5 years. Thanks to Sol Kanthack and Rich Snipes for their patience and integrity through a long, arduous process. The combined Ft. Worth and Fairfield teams have
On November 30, 2012, we finalized our deal with WorldWide Photography, bringing an new market segment, Holiday Mall Photography, into the EPG family. Once again, the two principles of that business, Steve Hardin and Jeff Angelo, built a great business, and together, we’re already
seeing ways to accelerate the strong market position held by WWP. This Christmas we’ll be instituting some major new initiatives into the market that will have a positive impact on both our revenue collection and overall customer satisfaction. This summer, we announced the formation of the Education Business, incorporating GradImages and University Composites. Bringing these two businesses together will enable us to grow more quickly into some new service offerings to our educational clients, especially related to capturing professional portraits of underclassmen during Career Fairs and other opportunities for “pop-up” professional studios. We’re fortunate to have four strong, profitable and
Volume 2, Issue 1 > Event Photography Group Newsletter
growing business units in our portfolio. Each one has solid plans to continue to thrive, and some great opportunities to drive major shifts in their business. And with the strong leadership of Anne Munson, Steve Hardin, Bruce Franke and Sol Kanthack, we’re poised to deliver that growth. Our support and infrastructure teams have also made great progress with some strong new hires in both IT and Finance, as well as some investments to centralize our proof printing operations and solidify our Internal Operations services. I’m confident that with all of your help, fiscal 2014 will prove to be another exciting and successful year for EPG. September, 2013 3
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT on Bob Knight
Bob Knight- I have never told this story in public before. It is the story, however unlikely, of a kid from Miami who comes to FSU in 1975 and along with his eventual partner, seizes on a long shot opportunity at age 19 and somehow takes the idea and company nationwide 30 years later. Gail and I have been very fortunate and perhaps more importantly we have been lucky…Lucky enough to take advantage of opportunities when they came along. Surrounding ourselves with a great staff, now over 1400 including part time photographers, a killer support team of professionals and dedicated suppliers which in the early years, mostly just tolerated me as a brash upstart who liked to talk a lot. In 2007 after years of carefully building the Bob Knight Photo brand into a large and profitable firm, Gail and I partnered with Two Private Equity firms and recapitalized, with the idea of consolidating a good bit of the school picture segment of our industry. BKP was sold and we established Event Photography Group, with Gail and I as the largest individual stock holders. Since then we have acquired and integrated 11 other firms in our niche and now operate our specialty in 46 states plus Canada and Europe. We photograph about 1.7 million high school and college graduates per year at about 3500 events
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every year. We also photograph about 150 large Marathons and other endurance races for athletes all over the world. Now that’s not bad for a tiny business which started in a one bedroom apartment with a single camera and flash, on the corner of Conradi and Call, just west of campus. The story really begins for me in High School. Photography was a hobby for me. I had learned my way around an SLR camera at a fairly young age, but never thought for a moment that I would end up using photography as a vehicle for a career. After all I was in Speech and Debate and student government, so my plan was go to FSU, find a means to pay my way through school and graduate with a strong Liberal Arts degree and head to Law School. But as you know now, it didn’t work out that way and I ruined a very nice hobby. So I rumbled up to Tallahassee in my 9 year old 1966 Impala SS. By the time I arrived I had already arranged for a parttime job working for an old friend from my High School, he was a senior and ready to graduate and move on and I was a freshman. The job was party pic photography for fraternities and sororities. Going out and shooting hundreds of semi- posed pictures of friends having fun on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and it paid by the roll of film, about $5.00 for every 36 pictures taken. That was a good deal for me, because I could shoot pictures really fast back then, really work the room. Party pics were becoming wildly popular around the country, just getting started in Tallahassee. We only had a handful of sororities under contract in 1975, but I thought I saw the beginning of a cultural phenomenon which would last until about 2000 or the outset of the digital revolution. I decided that this was just the vehicle I needed to pay my way through school and in the summer of 1976; I offered to buy the business for $1000 of Good Will and a non-compete. It was all good will, because there were no assets and the contracts had
expired. But I didn’t have $1000, so they took a promise from me that I’d pay some day, hopefully before Christmas that year. I’m sure he never expected to see a dime. So to get ready for the fall season and the coming Rush and Bid Day for Sororities at FSU, I went to every house and offered enhanced services for photography, covering each day’s events and establishing a new tradition of group pictures for each pledge class. Just about every house signed
I was just 19, had no credit cards and no real access to more cash. So what was my plan? Write bad checks and cover them with receivables before the checks clear. But I had to be creative and it would all be about timing. up. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had no means of fulfilling what I had just sold. Lesson one, before selling something; make sure you have capacity to pull it off. I thought OMG; I am going to be out of business before I even start. I had no photographers, no equipment, no retainer fees (it was all on speculation) no marketing system, no packaging or delivery system on that scale. The first thing I had to do was get supplies and equipment. So I went home for a long talk with my dad, whom I’m sure was relatively horrified with what I had just done and what I was about to do. What about school? Oh, don’t worry, I’m still a student. But it would take me 6 years to graduate and my mother, wondered if I would ever get a real job. Somehow Dad agreed to loan me $5000 to get started, a sizable chunk of his savings I’m sure. Well, by the time Rush rolled around, I was ready to execute, hired a bunch of people, bought hundreds of rolls of film and as many used cameras I could find. And the $5000 was gone. I was
Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
Bob Knight on stage at his last school photo shoot, FSU’s Summer Commencement, Saturday August 3rd, 2013. broke again. So how was I going to be able to fulfill orders, print and pay for the final pictures? I was just 19, had no credit cards and no real access to more cash. So what was my plan? Write bad checks and cover them with receivables before the checks clear. But I had to be creative and it would all be about timing. My supplier, my photofinishing house was smart enough not to accept my check. So I decided I would have it all shipped COD through the post office and write the Federal Government the bad checks. I figured, if I was going to kite bad checks, I was going to do it with style points. But the government would only take a business check for COD shipments. So I convinced my bank to allow me to put my licensed
business name at the top of the check and list a local PO Box. Then I ordered the checks in a really large size. These were enormous checks that came in a big book and looked like they would be attached to a going concern. So the execution of the first bid day was a smashing success. Beyond my expectation in terms of pictures taken and tens of thousands of pictures ordered the following week. All I had to do was print the pictures, deliver and collect the money and make a deposit. So on the day the pictures arrived COD, I went down to the Post Office and wrote a 15K worthless check to the Feds and was actually somewhat surprised when they handed 6 large boxes, full of bid day pictures. There was no money in that account, just pennies really.
Volume 2, Issue 1 > Event Photography Group Newsletter
When I got home to my one bedroom apartment, I stacked up all the pictures on top of every piece of furniture I owned or rented actually and contemplated how to deliver all that product in time to make a deposit before the check would clear. It occurred to me then that I had really screwed up. Looking at the volume, I couldn’t get it all done. Started to panic a little bit. So I had to calm down and come up with another plan. I had to think. I hadn’t eaten all day, so I decided to take a break and eat my last can of my favorite, Chef Boyardee Ravioli. So I sat there on the floor with a spoon in the can in front of my coffee table and reconciled to myself that tomorrow, I am going to jail for perhaps multiple crimes. But I turned it around. Next thing I know, my friends,
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new employees and neighbors are in there, staying up all night with me, to get the orders organized and packaged for individual delivery. Over the next 36 hours all pictures were delivered, deposits made and low and behold the check cleared the post office. I still feel some regret for the extent of real tenacity from my accounts receivables department that day. I still didn’t have a healthy business at that point, but at least I stayed out of jail. It would be another two years before I reach a positive cash flow. Well with party pics going along consistently, and my grades suffering, and wanting to strike while the iron was hot, I immediately expanded the party pic business to 5 other Florida Universities which had active Greek systems. Then just 6 months later, I had another great idea. I had heard of a photography firm in Missouri with a similar business model as mine, photographing graduates as they receive their diploma. What a great idea. Doesn’t everyone want to record the moment of walking across the stage to receive the hard earned diploma? But you just can’t get that picture from the bleachers and it wasn’t being done anywhere in Florida by anyone. And for good reason. It wasn’t easy, a real logistical nightmare. I thought that if I could develop and lock down some workflow systems, devise a sequence for names and images and could convince someone to give me a shot, I could pull this off. Then if it worked, I could in theory, bring this service to all Florida Schools, both high schools and colleges. Find just one client in each of Florida’s largest
Gail & Bob Knight
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counties and expand from there. So In January of 1977, I put on my suit, and made my way to Leon High School, asked for an appointment with the principal, Mike Conley. A gracious and cordial man who immediately met with me without reservation, even though I was just 20 years old and he knew I was there to pitch a business opportunity. Although I probably wasn’t going to take no for an answer, I guess I was convincing enough and he quickly agreed the service was needed and that he’d like to be my first customer. I remember him saying, “Let’s do it”, coming out of his chair. Leaving Leon that day, I had a brief moment of sales euphoria, but then standing there on those great front steps of the main building, I had one of those queasy feelings. It occurred to me that I had done it again. I had no idea of how in the world I was going to photograph Leons’s graduation ceremony. Taking a picture of all 400 seniors in intervals of 2 seconds each, identifying each individual, the real trick and I needed a another new marketing plan. The cameras were a little delicate for that volume and the flash units could not recycle fast enough to keep up with the pace. I would have to get all that figured out. In the mean time, I melted a few Flash units by plugging them into the wall, trying to improve electric capacity and recycle time. My intrepid young team and I finally figured it out and Leon’s graduation couldn’t have gone better for us. A real success and extremely popular among the parents. Mr. Conley wrote me a letter of recommendation and a whole new
photography segment was born. In the next year we booked, Mosley high, Godby plus St Augustine, Seabreeze in Daytona, Chamberlain in Tampa. Within 2 years, right about the time I met Gail, she was actually the Treasurer at AGD, we had 166 client schools under contract and photographing over 50,000 Florida graduates each year, including UCF, FIU and FSU in 1979, our first three University Clients. By 2005 that number would rise to 350,000 graduates in 6 states. And that’s how it happened. As I said, we’ve been very fortunate that enough balls bounced in our direction, but through slow and steady growth, good internal controls and compelling images, BKP eventually morphed into one of the largest event photography firms in America that positioned us perfectly for making a run at consolidation of our photography niche, all based here in Tallahassee. In conclusion, I just want to say that Tallahassee, FAMU and especially FSU have been very good to us. It is where our business began and remains today. Thank you Tallahassee for all the purchases you’ve made over the last 35 years and the thousands of employees—mostly part-time students--who even from the very beginning gave us innovative ideas, pay attention to great detail and gave us a young, progressive, competent image. November 2011 Florida State University Remarks to Sunrise Rotary Club
Bob Knight at FSU’s August 3rd Summer Commencement.
Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
FSU Recognizes Bob on his Retirement from EPG “After 37 years of working in the commencement business this day marks FSU alumnus Bob Knight’s last school photo assignment. It is fitting that his career ends at the institution where his international business started back in 1976, with Florida State University. Bob, we know that your company has been left in good hands, and we want to thank you for your many years of service during our commencement ceremonies. We wish you all the best.” FSU President Eric Barron Saturday August 3rd, 2013 FSU Summer Commencement
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Education Division & Stronger focus on Education Growth Markets: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pleased to announce the formation of the Education Markets Division within EPG, combining the resources of GradImages and University Composites. In conjunction with this move, Bud Stagg, President of University Composites, will now report to Anne Munson , President, Education Markets and GradImages. As we look to rapidly expand our position in the portrait business in universities, it became quickly apparent that having more resources available to help drive that business would benefit both
University Composites and EPG as a whole. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re already in the university portrait business with our positions in Grad Fairs and fraternity, sorority and professional school composites, and are positioning to enter into the underclass portrait business across our entire existing customer base. At the recent Education Market national meeting, the systems, and overall opportunity to expand this marketplace was launched, with great enthusiasm across the entire team. Not only does it provide a new, dynamic growth opportunity, but it provides another avenue for our photographers to continue to build their base of income with EPG. Anne, Bud and the entire team are excited to grow this business, and share their successes as we move forward. -Paul Rasmussen
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Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
Race Division
NOTES FROM THE EQUIPMENT DEPARTMENT by Mark Crane
LONDON MARATHON 2013 by Ale Facipieri
DANIEL BURNSTEIN featured photographer
Visit www.marathonfoto.com/newsletter for the inside scoop on the Marathon Foto Division! Volume 2, Issue 1 > Event Photography Group Newsletter
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Holiday Division
Who is WWP and what do we do? Event Photography Group acquired WorldWide Photography in November of 2012. WWP works in malls all across the US to fulfill the holiday traditions of Santa and Easter Bunny Memories. WWP services over 350 malls under 6 major developers and many independent malls. WWP provides onsite fulfillment and online opportunities at www.myalbumpics.com for additional revenue. WWP operates from Houston, TX; Toledo, OH; Phoenix, AZ; Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Fallon, MO ; and several satellite offices including CA, FL, OK, PA, IL. With our greatest assets (people) all over the nation, maintaining a dedication to operating as a united front is a top priority we continue to strive for. Worldwide Photography Corporate Offices
Chandler, Arizona
Hockley, Texas
Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Fallon, Missouri
Toledo, Ohio
Together as one, Miles Apart 12
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Please visit us on the web at www.wwponline.com
Annually we hold a training event to infuse our common purpose in each member of our team: “Creating Joyful Experiences, with Magical Memories, for Everyone.” This extended to EPG as our online management group (MyAlbumPics.com) went to Fort Worth, TX to find better ways to unite the EPG brand by converting our fulfillment to Backprint. While there we found more than just fulfillment partners, we found friends! We have invited EPG’s senior management to join us in Houston at our training in October to find more ways to unite this great EPG family.
Operation News
Chandler, AZ Office John Kiffer, a 7 year veteran with WWP and Logistics Manager for the West operations, relocated to Phoenix in June to take on the management role over the new Arizona facility. In addition, Andrea Clark was named Office
Manager and Assistant to John, in addition to her role as District Manager to the Phoenix market. John’s move to Phoenix was instrumental in ramping up the facility and transitioning stock and equipment to be ready in time for the Holiday launch this sea-
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son. Aside from the obvious that you can eat off the floor, the new facility is now stocked to the roof, is nicely organized, and ready to support over 89 mall locations this year. Nice work John and Andrea!
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Operational News, continued Toledo, OH Office NEW EMPLOYEE! Kevin Lindsey joins the team as HR Manager for East Operations of WWP. Kevin is from the Toledo area and studied Psychology and Human Resources at the University of Toledo. Welcome Kevin! Outside of work Kevin enjoys volleyball and basketball leagues year-round, snowboarding, various 5K & half-marathon events, and loves traveling.
O’Fallon, MO Office
Kevin completed the Michigan Tough Mudder in June of this year. He’s pictured to the right, photographed by EPG’s own MarathonFoto. A big thanks to the photographers for this great shot!
Regional Managers Ted and Lisa Kauffmann have moved to St. Louis to head the O’Fallon, MO office! Ted & Lisa serviced malls in Wisconsin, Illinois as well as parts of Indiana and Iowa for ten and a half years after two years in our Toledo office. Congratulations Ted and Lisa!
Hockley, TX Office Meet Jason Edberg…. Jason started with the company at an early age of 14, where he worked as a bunny on one of the photo sets in Alabama. His love for his work and the interaction with the guests brought him back every season year after year. In August of 2011 Jason joined the corporate team at WWP full time. Currently he serves the WWP Division as the Corporate Trainer and GGP Account Manager. Shown below, Jason and his girlfriend Allison, at a soccer game in Houston. Way to grow Jason!
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Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
Charity News What is AIM? Adventures In Movement (AIM) for the Handicapped is a non-profit organization that never charges for their services and never turns a child away. All funding is derived from donations, memberships, and fund raising. The national office is located in Dayton, OH and was founded by Dr. Jo Geiger who currently serves as the National Executive Director. The National Ambassadors include Nancy Lopez and Joe Morgan.
In Memory
an Administrative Assistant was instrumental to the success that WWP is experiencing today. Outside of work Kathy enjoyed traveling, playing bingo, and most of all spending time with her neices and nephews. Our thoughts are withi her family and husband Bill. Kathy is and will continue to be dearly missed by all!
OH. The memory of Santa Glenn will live on in the hearts of many for years to come. Jamie Byrd & Cailey Sutter are shown below at one of their many visits with this beloved Santa.
Santa Glenn Williams
Kathy Perry
We deeply regret to announce the loss of Kathy Perry from our Toledo office. Kathy served as a valued member of our team for over 15 years. Her contribution as
Toledo local favorite, Santa Glenn recently passed away. Santa Glenn has been warming the hearts of children in the Northwest Ohio area for many years. Including many of the WWP employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children. He spent a number of Christimas promotions making smiles at The Shops at Fall Timbers, WWP holiday photo set in Monclova,
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Lab Division The Backprint division has been hard at work in many places. Fulfillment services for Marathon Foto and University Composite Bid Days have been successfully integrated into the lab. We are also preparing for Worldwide Photography volume by adding new process that allow us to manufacture dye sublimation products like mugs, mouse pads and ornaments.
Top, Birds eye view of the backprint lab floor. Left, Alex Lira checking University Composites bid day orders. > Top Right, Assistant Lab Manager, Tanner Brown demonstrating the mug baking process. > Bottom Right, Worldwide Photography mugs fresh from the
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Event Photography Group Newsletter < Volume 2, Issue 1
In addition to managing 100 legacy brightroom events, Backprint’s account management team has been diligently transitioning over 400 brightroom road races to its Backprint partners and supporting the growth of those accounts. The success of these transitions has resulted in significant growth for Backprint over last year. Furthermore, the remaining brightroom race events have been successfully transitioned to Marathon Foto! Finally, Backprint is very excited about the progress it’s made towards planned service upgrades. Slated for fall rollout, Backprint will be unveiling numerous new features & upgrades for its storefront users including: New Storefront Pages, Updated Storefront Customization, New E-mail Pipeline, New FTP Pipeline, New Support Materials, New Account Types, New Products and much more).
What partners are saying:
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Thank you, Backprint, you are a fantastic turn-key resource and you help me focus on business development and shooting instead of post-event operations and delivery.
The consistency with which you deliver to our exacting specifications is remarkable. You are an extremely important partner in our race / endurance event operations. Your years of industry experience combined with your extremely affordable and accurate bib-sorting is unmatched in the industry. - My Event Photography (Joe Torma)
”
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Backprint has allowed our race business to grow exponentially with highly developed online interface tools that our competitors haven’t been able to offer. - Souvenir Photograph (Marc Bryce)
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Snapshots! Megan Oswald, EPG Director of Production, traveled to Ecuador for a mission trip this summer.
Julie Sewell, EPG Customer Service, just got married to Justin Sewell this July in Florida.
Carla Beisheim recently went on a mission trip to Vina del Mar, Chile. Left, Church group in Vina del Mar. Middle, The Chilean Flag at Sand Dunes in Concon, Chile. Right, Carla and fellow travelers in front of the Reloj de Flores.
Antraneise Jackson, CS Asst. Manager, PG Tallahassee is a soon to be proud mother to a baby boy, Christian Messiah.
Isabel, Evan , Alex & Alyssa Slusher at the WWP Shops at Fallen Timbers Photos Set Christmas 2012 Promotion
Natalie & Lindsey Rekart at the WWP Briarwood Mall Photo Set Easter 2013 Promotion
Ashley Winston, EPG Customer Service, finished her first 10K this 4th of July at the Peach Tree Road Race.
Logan, Ryan, Madalyn & Reghan Baldwin
Krystal Dickison, Finance Dept, designed this chair out of recycled carboard for her interior design class this semester.
Please keep Bill, Laura & babies in your prayers as they plan for delivery this November! To be visiting a WWP Photo Set soon!
Did you know? Jason Edberg from WWP is fluent in ASL. WWP, Toledo office employees are proud parents of twins (Ron & Christine Rekart), triplets (Jenny Slusher) and soon to be quadruplets (Bill Baldwin)! Over 20 of the corporate employees with the WWP Division have been with the company 10+ years. Jose Fernandez from EPG Tallahassee just received his Masters in Accounting. Antraneise Jackson, Customer Service Asst. Manager was invited to be inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta International Business Honor Society this year. Corey Dupree, from EPG Customer Service got engaged to his fiancee Tonya Carter this April!
Have something to add? Be sure to send in your own departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s news or fun facts about you and your coworkers to be included in the next newsletter!
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