Last year, everyone lined up and was waiting for it to begin, and when it did, they all RAN in to check it all out!

The kids LOVE it!

The grown ups have been known to have some fun too…

And it’s always fun to see people walking away with things they really NEED!!

This year we’ve got about THREE TIMES MORE stuff to giveaway than we did last year!!!!  Check out more photos of what we’ve got in store on the Facebook invite here.

The Great Giveaway is TOMORROW, Saturday May 19th from 10am – 12pm at GENESIS church (16 Wheeling Ave, Woburn)

I hope you can stop by and check it out!!!  Be sure to say HI –  I’ll be the one walking around with a camera ;)

You can see more of the fun from last year’s Great Giveaway here.  And check out my post about the first Great Giveaway here.

It started out as an idea… What if there was a conference that felt more like a community?  What if instead of flying around the country to hear people from California talk about running their businesses, we gathered photographers from right here in New England and asked them instead?  What if we did it ourselves?  These are the questions that Matt & Enna Grazier asked a few of us, as we all looked at them as if they were nuts.  Brilliant.  But nuts…  If it had been my idea, it probably would have stayed an idea, but the Grazier’s are people of action, and thank God for that!

What began as an idea, a question, grew into a real life conference we called Inspire Boston.  What was an incredible and inspiring two days in Concord with 100 photographers, grew to something more the next year… Inspire Boston 2011.  We added mentoring sessions, shooting workshops, and a vendor lounge and this time 125 people came from all over New England and beyond!

So, here we are, 3 years later, and it’s just 12 days until Inspire 2012 kicks off!  This year, we’ve changed the name from Inspire Boston to Inspire Photo Seminars – since it’s really not just about Boston anymore.  We’ve moved it to the Sturbridge Host so we could have a bit more space and be a little more centralized for our primarily MA/CT attendees.  We’ve got 18 Speaking Sessions, 8 Special Classes (shooting session, portfolio reviews, etc.), a special pre-conference all-day Pictage + ShootQ Bootcamp, an even bigger Vendor Lounge, a mid-conference party with KARAOKE (clearly that was my idea!), one-on-one and roundtable mentoring sessions with the speakers and sponsors, and a killer Wrap-Party at the end!  It is going to be a JAM-PACKED couple of days!!!

I’ll be speaking at Inspire this year on Facebook Marketing Strategies.  If you follow my blog, you’ve probably liked my Facebook page as well (and if not, what’s stopping you?!).  And if you follow both, you’ve probably noticed that I post on Facebook WAY more often than on here.  Facebook just makes it so EASY for me!  It has dramatically changed and grown my business over the last 3 years.  Last year my weddings doubled from the year before, and this year I’m almost entirely booked up for the year already!  I give most of that credit to how I share images and communicate via Facebook – but I guess I’ll give a little of the credit to my photographs too, yeah? ;)  I’ve been super excited to share my Facebook strategies and theories with the Inspire community, and wouldn’t you know it, Facebook went and changed everything about their business pages three weeks before the conference!  So, I’m reworking my talk and trying to learn as much about all the changes as possible, and now I’m even more excited :)  I mean, what better time to talk about how to set up and use a Facebook page than right when everything about them has changed and everyone’s wondering what to do?!  OK, so I’m excited and also a little overwhelmed, but I do think it’s an exciting time to be sharing about this and I’m hoping that it will be really beneficial to everyone to comes to my talk!

If you’re a photographer, and you aren’t signed up for Inspire yet, what are you waiting for?! It’s going to be FUN!  You’re going to meet a TON of awesome local photographers who may just become your nearest and dearest friends (I’ve gone on vacation with ladies I met at Inspire, and don’t get me started on how much I love the Planning Team).  You’re going to LEARN something new!  You’re going to leave feeling INSPIRED and EMPOWERED to make some great changes in your business and maybe even in your life.  It’s not too late to sign up and come be a part of it all!!  I’ve got a $50 off discount code that is good for the first 3 people who use it!  Go HERE and use the code KRISTAPHOTO2012 to get $50 off your registration!  I hope you can come!!!

Portrait Days will include consecutive mini portrait sessions at a set location on a specified day (see schedule below).  All sessions will be about 45 minutes long and may include any number of people.  Sessions are only $150 (plus tax for MA residents) and will include all images posted online for proofing.  There are a limited number of sessions per day, so please call or email to schedule your session today!  For cities where a location has not yet been determined, the first person to sign up will get to help decide :)

2010 Portrait Days

Wednesday, July 7th  –  INDIANAPOLIS, IN –  The Indianapolis Art Museum

Tuesday, July 13th  –  CHICAGO, IL –  Location TBD

Thursday, July 15th  –  COLUMBUS, OH –  Location TBD

Friday, July 16th  –  NEW YORK, NY –  Location TBD

Saturday, July 24th  –  BOSTON, MA –  Mystic River Reservation

*full portrait sessions may also be available in your city on or around these dates, so contact me if you’d like to schedule a full shoot!

This week has been pretty busy though because I’ve been preparing for a huge event we’re putting on at my church, GENESIS.  It’s called The Great Giveaway, and basically it’s a huge yard sale where everything is FREE!  That’s right, FREE!  GENESIS was planted in Woburn last September as a brand new church and our mission is simply to love God and to love people.  This is our way of introducing ourselves to the community, and just one way we’re hoping to live out our mission.   If you live in the Boston area, I hope you can come!!

The Great Giveaway

GENESIS Community Church – 16 Wheeling Avenue, Woburn, MA

Saturday, May 22nd (that’s tomorrow!)

10am – 2pm

If you would like to donate anything to The Great Giveaway, it’s not too late!  Our final drop-off time is this afternoon/evening.  Just bring your furniture, clothing, kids toys, sporting equipment, books, CDs, salad spinners, or what have you to the church between 2pm – 9pm!

Peace talks have failed once again, and Invisible Children, along with much of the international community is calling for the arrest of Joseph Kony (the leader of the LRA) and the rescue of the thousands of abducted children who make up his army. On April 25th, 2009, Invisible Children is calling on the youth of the world to abduct themselves to free the abducted by participating in an event called The Rescue. The Rescue is taking place in Boston, and dozens of cities all over the world. Go to the site to find a city near you!

A couple years ago, IC put on a similar event called DisplaceME to raise awareness about the plight of Ugandans being forced to live in IDP Camps because of the ongoing war. A group of my friends from church and I went down to New York to participate and it was a very cool experience – one that I never did share on this blog… No time like the present, huh? :)

This is Bobby Bailey, one of the filmmakers who started Invisible Children.

love this

it was a cold wet night, but people stayed and really slept in card board shelters! (except me, I’m a wimp and I slept in the car ;)

I really love this organization! I wish I could be there to participate on April 25th (though I’m not sad that I’ll be on vacation in FLORIDA). I’m happy that I can support Invisible Children by just passing on the word – and because they’re one of the organizations I support through my wedding photography GIVE program – where 10% of every wedding photography goes to charity. Maybe someday I’ll get to go to Uganda and shoot some photos for them… Hey, I can dream!!

Take a minute and go to www.invisiblechildren.com to learn more. And if you have 30 minutes to watch a powerful video on child soldiers, please click HERE. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/the-rescue/feed/ 1 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/springfest/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/springfest/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:28:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/springfest/
One of my 2008 brides, Jessica, emailed me the other day about a charity event she’s planning and asked if I would help spread the word. If you’ve visited this blog before, or visited my website, you know that I’m very much into charity work, and using my photography and my business to support organizations that are really helping people. I checked out the info on Jessica’s event and I think it sounds great!!

SpringFest is a charity fair hosted by Berkland Baptist Church to raise funds and awareness for the China Nest of Hope Orphanage in Beijing, China. The orphanage is part of the China Nest of Hope Foundation, a charitable organization that strives to help orphaned and underprivileged children in Beijing. SpringFest festivities will feature family-friendly activities like games, arts and crafts, demonstrations, music, food and more. There will also be a charity raffle with awesome prizes like airplane tickets & iPods, and winners will be drawn throughout the day.

I love that I get to work with great brides like Jessica, who do cool stuff like this! Visit www.SpringFestBoston.com for more information about SpringFest and about the China Nest of Hope Orphanage, and hopefully I’ll see you there! :)

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/springfest/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2007/11/world-aids-day/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2007/11/world-aids-day/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:36:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2007/11/world-aids-day/ In light of my recent trip to Zimbabwe, I was excited to hear about an event going on this weekend here in Boston, and around the US – World AIDS Day. Check it out below and I hope you can make it!

6000 children are orphaned each day by AIDS… so our goal is to raise 6000 dollars, and get 6000 petitions signed.


World AIDS Day
Saturday, December 1st, 2007
10:00am-3:00pm (open event)
Government Center, Boston, MA

Live music/performances from local bands supporting the cause, as well as some traditional performances by cultures impacted by the AIDS pandemic. A speaker will be there for a very informal briefing on how the AIDS pandemic has affected life today. Sign petitions at our booth to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). There’ll be boxes to give small donations, even change, and what not. There will also be a table with a Worldvision rep in case anyone feels compelled to sponsor a child. Chalk will be provided so you can chalk up Government Center with huge messages and notes to tell the world that the city of Boston cares. An aerial photo will be taken at the end of the day.

World AIDS Day is sponsored by World Vision. For more information on World AIDS Day events near you, go here.

One fun thing is that a church on the South Side of Chicago has contacted me about my photography, and is showing some of my Missions Photography from Mexico and Sri Lanka at their Artists’ Cafe this Friday night. It’s all the way down in Chicago Heights, about an hour South of the city, but I hope some of you out there will be able to come!!

I’m staying with my good best friend, Janell, and we’ll be making the most of my free time over the weekend – eating all of my favorite foods, hitting the lake shore, worshipping at Chicago Tabernacle, and who knows what else. If you can’t make it to the show on Friday, but want to hang out on Friday during the day, or on Sunday afternoon/evening – let me know!!

here’s my lovely booth (I tried to make it feel as much like home as possible):

And, this is my view of Town Day. I wish I could have walked around and checked out more of the vendors, but duty called…

I was up late every night the week prior, trying to get ready, and my roommates were right there with me being so incredibly helpful. Here they are – aren’t they cute (and working hard)? ;)

In the end, I had worried way too much because things went really well. My booth was right next to my church, Hope Christian Church, so I had friendly faces around all day – which is always good. And, I met a ton of people, which is really good! I raffled off a free portrait sitting, which got a lot of people interested, and I’ve even had a couple people contact me already to book a shoot.

The lucky winner of my raffle is…. Kathy Robinson of Winchester – who, as it turns out, was my sister’s neighbor a couple years ago! Crazy small world! I’m totally looking forward to Kathy’s shoot, so I hope she calls soon to book the date!

Thanks to everyone who helped me get ready for and pull off Town Day – it was a great day and I’m already looking forward to next year!

I’m really excited to participate in DisplaceMe this year! Invisible Children is an oragnization that I’m passionate about. Please check them out and if you feel moved, sign up to participate in DisplaceMe!

If you’re interested in traveling with me and some friend from Genesis to DisplaceMe New York, let me know!