
Current Projects – Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation
Ongoing need for seasonal shots of flowers, landscapes, wildlife, both urban and rural.
Contact Cheryl Tarr at cons_kgbf@gnpa.org to submit photos and for more information.
Ongoing need for seasonal shots of flowers, landscapes, wildlife, both urban and rural.
Contact Cheryl Tarr at cons_kgbf@gnpa.org to submit photos and for more information.
Plantlanta, the annual tree planting event sponsored by Trees Atlanta, took place over three days, November 6, 7, and 8. Marcia Brandes and Cheryl Tarr covered several venues of the event and contributed 52 photos to Trees Atlanta. Trees is a great partner because they not only credit the photographer but also include a link to the GNPA website!
Trees Atlanta has a tree care event somewhere in the city every Saturday. We encourage all volunteers to sign up for their newsletter, attend an event (masked, of course) and snap some photos. Send them to cons_chair@gnpa.org with your name, event date, and location.
Conservation photography is defined more by the way it is used than by what it contains. Conservation photography inspires action to protect and conserve the natural world. Within that broad category, almost any kind of photograph can be used for conservation purposes, including the following:
Please log in to the members only site. Complete the short contact form for the Conservation Committee Volunteer program. We’ll be in touch soon to discuss your interests and how you can help!
By Stewart Woodard
In GNPA, we have nine different Membership Types and three different Member Status conditions. To participate in any GNPA activities, you must be a “current member in good standing.”
Those categories are important, so here is what you need to know to make the most of your membership. And remember, you can change your Membership Type at any time, or change to a Lifetime Membership.
Most of the Membership Types are fairly straightforward and need little if any explanation. With the exception of Lifetime Memberships, they all require annual renewals. Family Memberships are a little bit more complicated for our system, so if you choose this path, please contact me at Membership@GNPA.org and I will help get you set up.
If more than one member of a family belongs to GNPA, the Family Membership offers annual dues savings and the ability to make just one annual payment. This category allows up to four family members in a single membership. One of the major benefits is that any family member can participate individually in any of the GNPA activities, such as the annual EXPO. In the past, registering for EXPO required a great deal of effort and assistance. Now, each family member can sign up to attend EXPO and register for all the same field trips and workshops if they want, or pick and choose as each family member desires.
Family Memberships are listed in the Member Profile Attributes as “Organization.” This identifier needs to be unique, so we also use the last name, i.e. “Anderson Family.” If we have more than one Anderson Family (and we do), then we include the first-name initial, such as “L Anderson Family” or “T Anderson Family.”
Each family member, however, will have his or her own unique Member Profile, like all other GNPA members. Each of these is linked back to the Master Family Profile. One member of the family needs to be identified as the Key Member. At the time of membership renewal, a single renewal invoice is generated and sent to this Key Member only. No one else in the family unit will receive a renewal invoice.
Two Important Items About Renewals
Membership Status
Membership Status has three different levels – Active, Graced and Lapsed. Only Active and Graced are considered Current Members in Good Standing. They are described in this way:
Active: A current member who has either paid their annual renewal or is a Lifetime Member (Lifetime Memberships never generate a renewal invoice).
Graced: A current member with an outstanding renewal invoice. Every GNPA member is extended a grace period of 20 days after their renewal due date to pay their dues.
Lapsed: For whatever reason, no attempt has been made by these members to renew their GNPA membership. These Member Profiles will be made inactive and moved out of the member database.
Member Profile Attributes & Their Importance
We now feature Basic (6) and Custom (15) Attributes for all members. Considerable thought was put into creating the Custom Attributes, and while most are optional, they are important to our organization. Here are a few:
Contact information: Important basic contact information includes member name, email address, home address and phone numbers.
Chapter Affiliation Primary & Secondary: This identifies the local chapter you will identify with and attend. It’s typically the chapter closest to your home, but not necessarily. If you live outside the state of Georgia or live more than an hour’s drive from a chapter, then you probably should select “Out of Area” as your Primary Chapter. A Secondary Chapter is quite common, as many of our members attend multiple chapter meetings and activities.
Emergency Contacts: This is very important (and sometimes critical) information. Whenever you are attending any GNPA outing, EXPO, field trips, workshops, etc., we always need to know who to contact in case of an emergency situation. It is in everyone’s best interest to make sure this information is complete and accurate.
Camera Type & Photographic Interests: This data is very helpful for planning purposes. Having this information allows us to put together workshops, webinars and field trips that are relevant to our members.
Speaker Bureau: One of the biggest challenges for our chapters is finding speakers to address GNPA chapter meetings and other events. Please opt in to this attribute only if you feel qualified to be a speaker.
Over time, we may add more attributes that we feel will help us serve our members. Please make every effort to include this information in your profile. Rest assured that our members’ information is for GNPA use only.
So please complete as much of your online Member Profile as possible. The more information we have, the better we’ll be able to serve you and all of our members.
Thank you for your help!
Eric Bowles, GNPA President
It’s been about six months since Covid-19 forced our organization to shut down chapter meetings and most in-person events. During that time, we’ve been working to reinvent GNPA in ways that will help it thrive in this new world.
First, we’re updating and improving the GNPA website. When you visit our website (www.GNPA.org), you’ll find a new home page featuring some terrific images from GNPA members. You’ll also discover a new Blog page, which offers the ability to view current and archived posts from our blogs and newsletters. To make it even more useful, you can search this content by topic or keyword.
In place of chapter meetings, we’ve launched a webinar program using the Zoom platform. At this point we’ve delivered more than a dozen webinars, and those recordings are posted on the Member Home page. One great aspect of this approach is that it allows our members to virtually attend meetings from any chapter in the state, so you never have to miss an interesting speaker or topic. If you can’t watch the live webinar, you can always catch the recorded version at your convenience.
Meanwhile, we see a lot of members who are eager to get outside and make photographs with other members. Jamie Anderson’s Jekyll Island astrophotography program sold out in just four days and had a waiting list. The Fall Smokies event (November 5-8) already has 50 people registered, but don’t worry, there is plenty of space available. The program has been revised this year to support social distancing and safe travel. Even more trips and programs are in the works, with the emphasis on regional travel.
Don’t miss these opportunities. To register for events, sign up for webinars, listen to recordings or find out about other member activities, just click on the Member Login on the top right corner of the GNPA home page. After you log in, you’ll see your Member Home page with a list of member-only activities and programs at the bottom of the page.
Thanks for your continued support of GNPA.
— Eric Bowles