I am just curious how many people here have joined weva, how many people think it was a worthy investment and how many think it was a waste of time.

I can only speak for myself. I looked it over when I first started out, and couldn't really see the benefit-to-cost being worthwhile for me. I never joined, and don't feel it has really hurt me. The biggest thing is that my brides could care less, and the money I spend on WEVA could go towards advertising or equipment instead.

I've been a member for years, and unless you're a seminar attendee, its of questionable value. As they say; your mileage may vary. I'm reconsidering my next year with them. At first, the forum was a good enough reason to join. But many other (better) forums have sprouted up recently...this one included.

I have to agree with Oren, unless you plan on going to the yearly conference (which is in August - prime wedding season for us northerners) I'm not sure if its worth the cost anymore. I was a member for two years, and just dropped them in the spring (though they still send me the magazine).

I was able to join a local wedding videographer's association which I have found to be incredible. For me, its much better to build a network with local colleagues and being able to see what my local competition is doing. If your in an area with other videographers, you might just think about starting a local group of your own. We have about 15-20 members in our group and meet once every other month.

Ryan

NOT worth it. most of the stuff you can learn by going through all the resources available online. I have found most of the seminars remedial and geared towards beginners. I will never attend another WEVA. Brides I book don't know WTF WEVA is, and dont care.

All Valid points. I joined last year and I really can't see a benefit and trying to decide weather to keep it. The magazine they send does not include that much information and the occasional tutorial they have on "the next best thing" usually is cheesy and something that I already know how to do but wouldn't think twice about actually trying it, its simply not quality.

But what really made me re-think about continuing my membership is the forum. Its not a nice forum, its disorganized, there is no "new post" option, or any easy way to see the newest posts. Generally the organization is pretty horrible. But not only the organization, but the people, 90% of them are people who think paying the $180 automatically makes them better then everybody else, they are constantly arguing, bickering, and generally bein rude to each other. It doesn't seam like a organization of professionals like it should.

I don't know, I felt like I needed to rant, but didn't want my initial views to guide the thread, I wanted to hear the opinions of other people first.

I would also love to hear any opinions on the topic from anybody from stillmotion since I have a lot of respect for you guys.

Well, that'd do it for me... no need for more arguing, bickering and bein rude in my universe... already have three small children to deal with!

A little spirited discussion once and a while like here on DVinfo is cool, but respect for each others opinions, genuine interest in raising the bar for everyone, and being helpful first and foremost make this a fine place to hang out, and the price is right too!

THANKS CHRIS!!! For creating and maintaining a good healthy place for pros and those who are trying to be!

I am new to the industry and find an infinite value of being a WEVA member.

No people aren't going to knock on your door offering help, showering you with money, but for me I have leveraged my membership to networking with the BEST in the world.
Because of my effort I have successful videographers offering to help, and mentor myself and my business.

I did not find any of this:
Generally the organization is pretty horrible. But not only the organization, but the people, 90% of them are people who think paying the $180 automatically makes them better then everybody else, they are constantly arguing, bickering, and generally bein rude to each other. It doesn't seam like a organization of professionals like it should.

I'm sorry Louis, that you had this experience with WEVA, but I have found just the opposite.

Before considering a membership to any organization:
It is only as helpful as you want it to be. You must be proactive. And actively seek out for your needs to be met.

I didnt' mean the organization as a whole I meant the organization of the forum and the site as a whole. The people who run WEVA and WEVA itself is very organized.

But the childish attitude of the people on the forums is definitely there. The other day somebody put a video up on the forums for the members to watch. I watched the video and offered a critique, generally very nice but let him know some of the things he may want to look into changing. I was immediately responded to by another member of WEVA informing me that we were not allowed to critique this particular members videos because he is not willing to learn, something to do with a previous thread where I guess he didn't agree with the critique. But it was almost to say "we're not allowed to play with that kid because last time he stole my ball" kind of attitude.

I am glad to find somebody who finds it valuable. But I felt compelled know if having that weva logo on my website really is worth the $180, or if the brides really don't care. The other members are nice and respectful to me, but they tend not to be nice and respectful to everybody and that is one of the reasons why I do not want to rejoin again next year. I will ride this year out and see what happens.

Louis, I would agree with what you've said about the forums. the main reason I had dropped WEVA ( and I was a member for 5 yrs., was when their Insurance carrier changed to St.Paul's, they dropped my coverage because I do more local commercials and industrial type videos than weddings and I was told that wasn't what the coverage was designed for.
But yet I was told at the time about a person who was doing some stringer work...in the Middle East... and was still covered under their policy. Also I found a better merchant services processor through WeDJ.

what is WeDJ?

DJs - Disc Jockeys - Photographers - Videographers - WeDJ.com (http://www.wedj.com)
was created as a internet lead source for DJs and has expanded to photo/video. In addition they offer web hosting, merchant credit, insurance and my favorite: the lead managment web program. (like ACT)

I met the creator at the WEVA convention on tuesday and will be purchasing either the silver or gold program, mostly beacuse of the lead program.

They also boast that they alwasy rank very high on google and yahoo, therefore your weblisting will rank high.

Hi Louis,

I know what you mean about the attitudes of some of the posters on the WEVA forums. It's amazing how some people will act when they can hide behind a keyboard. For me, the biggest benefit of being a WEVA member is going to the WEVA Expo. If you have not gone to the Expo, then you are missing out on the biggest benefit, in my opinion.

The internet is great, but there is just something about talking to people face to face. We just returned from the WEVA Expo and I came away with some great ideas. If I ever get to the point that I can't learn from others, then I'm in really big trouble.

I've never been able to go to to the EXPO but I hope to get there at some point. I just wish you could learn a little bit more from being a member with out having to go the the expo.

For me, the biggest benefit of being a WEVA member is going to the WEVA Expo. If you have not gone to the Expo, then you are missing out on the biggest benefit, in my opinion.

You wouldn't happen to be biased in WEVA's favor at all since you and your wife have programs on the WEVA Expo schedule now would you? ;-)

I have to say that although I have recieved a LOT of business through Wedj...I have recently found that it ws getting a LOT of spam from that site. In one day alone I recieved over 400 phony leads.

Eventually I had to cancel my ad because I couldn't weed through all the crap. After a month or so (just recently in fact) I relisted and have not had any problems with spam....YET!

Hopefully it's been resolved on thier end.

You wouldn't happen to be biased in WEVA's favor at all since you and your wife have programs on the WEVA Expo schedule now would you? ;-)

Hi Travis,

I saw your wink and a smile, but you do bring up a very valid point. We have been to 9 WEVA Expos, but we have only been a speaker at the last 5. The reason that our work and profits dramatically increased is because we applied what we learned at the first 4 Expos we attended.

It was after attending the first 4 Expos that we felt like we had something to contribute to the videography community and WEVA agreed.

I do not have a film school background. I do not have any type of formal education in the visual arts. The skills I have came from going to the Expo, buying training videos, working with a mentor and then working hard at applying everything I learned. That is why I am pro WEVA.

There are some very talented videographers on this board who have never been to the WEVA Expo, so I'm not saying that the WEVA Expo is the answer for everyone. If a videographer is not happy with his skills, both in the product he produces and with the profits from his business, then look into the WEVA Expo.

I would totally agree that WEVA seems to have the most benefit for those who are just starting out. That's not to say there's no benefit for everyone else, but I really think it helps people new to the game more than others.

As for my earlier comment, I hope you didn't take any offense to that. It didn't seem like you did. I was just having some fun since editing yesterday was making me crazy.

...As for my earlier comment, I hope you didn't take any offense to that. It didn't seem like you did. I was just having some fun since editing yesterday was making me crazy.

Hi Travis,

No, I did not take offense at all, which is why I mentioned your wink and smile. I'm glad that you did bring up that topic because there was a lot of relevance to your comment.

But the childish attitude of the people on the forums is definitely there. The other day somebody put a video up on the forums for the members to watch. I watched the video and offered a critique, generally very nice but let him know some of the things he may want to look into changing. I was immediately responded to by another member of WEVA informing me that we were not allowed to critique this particular members videos because he is not willing to learn, something to do with a previous thread where I guess he didn't agree with the critique. But it was almost to say "we're not allowed to play with that kid because last time he stole my ball" kind of attitude.

Louis, as the originator of the thread in question, please don't let the attitude of a few ruin all of the association for you. There is a long backstory to what was going on there, but let it suffice it to say, I tend to post what I believe without a sugar coating applied, especially critiques of videos. This has lead to butting heads with a select group of individuals. They took the opportunity of me posting some of my own work to attack. Nothing they said bothered me but it was childish enough the original thread was nuked by the moderators. I'm stubborn enough that I ddin't want them to win with the nuking so I reposted with a 'no comment welcome header'. Thus the assertion that I didn't want to learn.

I welcome your comments and thank you for them.

I am a 13 year member of WEVA and have found it invaluable to my business. Nothing is handed to you on a silver platter, you must go mine it yourself. But nowhere are you going to find a greater grouping of talent to learn from. Yes you can find the technical explanations of how to do something on the internet, but you won't find the insight to the next level.

It is just a fact that on the internet, for the most part, those who are market leaders aren't sharing that knowledge. They are either not active, because they have a successful business to run. If they are active, many don't say anything of any substance because they want something for their knowledge like sell you a dvd or attend their workshops, or don't want to offend people and get in a pissing match. In WEVA and at the Expo, you can make contact with them and actually learn from them.

If you haven't attended Expo, then save your pennies and get down there! Yes much of it is geared to beginners but what people who have been around a while tend to forget, the majority of this industry have been in business under three years and half of the attendees are attending for the first time. ON top of that, the majority of seminar people are NOT teachers. They are you and me who have carved out some success or have found a unique niche. So while there is a lot to gain you have to work through some noise.

However this year we had a documentarian in who has nothing to do with weddings but educated people on finding the story in anything. Excellent seminar. Also an oldtimer who has moved on Art Kade returned, another excellent seminar. In 1994 he was using techniques that today even some of the best in this industry haven't mastered and others claim to just be introducing. Now shooting movies and million dollar commercials he returned, and I must say it was inspiring and very informative. My personal opinion I believe there are only a small handful of people anywhere close to challenging the creativity, techniques or integration of solid story telling this guy was doing 14 years ago!

Local associations are a needed and good source of information, but markets tend to stagnate and competitors start to look like one another in "closed" in markets without outside influences. WEVA gives you exposure not only to influences in other markets but to the world. A large percentage of CEAs crossed the ocean and went to the Philippines this year. If I was still being influenced only by my market, then I wouldn't be doing Same Day Edits, short form videos, trailers, love stories and contemplating finding a bride to shoot a bridal elegance, I would be producing a badly framed, hardly edited three hour monster that was boring as all get out, like the majority of my competitors and be happy charging $900 for it.

A $180 a year is pocket change. I bet many of us blow that much money every year on equipment that we barely unbox but sounded cool at the time. I know I have a basment stacked with just that type of crap. If you can't find some idea at WEVA that doesn't add $5000 to your bottom line every year, then you aren't trying very hard!

Brian Peterson

I have to say that although I have recieved a LOT of business through Wedj...I have recently found that it ws getting a LOT of spam from that site. In one day alone I recieved over 400 phony leads.

Eventually I had to cancel my ad because I couldn't weed through all the crap. After a month or so (just recently in fact) I relisted and have not had any problems with spam....YET!

Hopefully it's been resolved on thier end.

Kelsey, were they actually phony leads or the " someone just clicked through to your website" messages. there is a setting to turn that off ( probably should be off by default)

There was an issue a while back and a number of people ( myself included) were getting bogus requests out of the same IP address in Asia.