The panel was effectively moderated by Christina Vaughan, Founder and CEO of Image Source, known world wide as a royalty free producer and distributor of high quality imagery. Image Source has offices in London, Cologne, New York and Los Angeles. Christina brings more than 18 years of experience in the creation, distribution and marketing of commercial imagery.

THE BUYERS
The very informative panel included Scott Lien, Creative Director for Greenspun Media Group, Nevada’s largest publisher of magazines and weekly newspapers. He oversees advertising and marketing and consults with editorial art directors. Mike Disbennett is Associate Creative Director for DRBM Advertising, with offices in Las Vegas and Reno. At his office the Art Directors purchase imagery themselves and there is no Art Buyer.

Alexandra Kopp is Art Producer and Buyer for R&R Partners, making her responsible for booking photo shoots and licensing stock imagery. Tory Kooyman, Art Buyer and Producer for SK+G Advertising in Las Vegas, handles all stock photography that goes through the agency. He has experienced about a 50% increase in his clients investing in stock this year. Mike Lawrence is the highly respected Creative Director of Brown and Partners Advertising, Media and Public Relations.

These busy and talented people offered a lot of informative answers to some of the ongoing and prevailing questions for creators and distributors in the stock industry. When queried about their favorites places to source stock photography, a few names floated to the top: Corbis, Getty, Jupiter, Alamy and Veer. What would entice these people to explore further was a key question for the industry. However, it’s said that “once a pattern is set, it’s hard to break out of that pattern.” Working on deadlines, setting up accounts, and old buying patterns hinder a creative’s very busy schedule. Time efficiency is very important They also note that there is not much originality in the industry, and distinctive images need to be the draw for their attention. However, they do admit to being lured by promotional items and lunches with agency reps.

THE IMAGES
The consistent complaint about stock imagery is not that there is too much imagery to wade through, but rather that there is too much poor imagery and redundant content, with over saturation of imagery that no one seems to need. The creative’s would prefer that agents hold more exclusive contracts with their artists for new image content, instead of offering the same images on ten different sites. They are searching for better quality control.

What makes a Art Buyer passionate about imagery? It comes back around to sourcing new and unique imagery and edgy material which is uncommon. With this in mind what can artists and agents do to command their attention and get an audience for new and unique imagery? The standard marketing procedures still hold true, as some will briefly read email promotions, while others prefer mailers. Occasional phone calls are also effective, even with busy schedules. And, personal visits are very effective if time allows.

THE BUDGETS
There is a strong consensus in the panel that budgets are part of the image purchasing process, but not the only consideration. Creatives want to be proud of the work they produce. Rights managed images can get pricy and royalty free is popular. Many of the buyers have tried subscription and microstock but there are concerns about the quality and legal clearance of many of these images. A comfortable standard for royalty free pricing ranges from $200 to $600, and custom shoots run from $500 to $40,000. Budgets vary widely depending on the client and their needs. There seems to be a trend in the expectation to get more for less, and often the clients of art buyers are not as concerned with quality. The ability to come through in a pinch with the right images at flexible, negotiated pricing is most important when buyers are in a bind or against a time constraint.

THE WEBSITES
Image buyers do not appear to be deterred by large numbers of images and multiple pages to sort through online. They are looking for just the right images. They claim to search through 50 images or 5000 images, and will even “search till the very end” in order to find the right image for the need. Bells and whistles on websites don’t impress anyone, but well functioning lightboxes are very important. The ability to narrow a large search according to specific criteria is necessary. Roll over previews and pop ups prove to be distracting and cumbersome.

Adequate metadata embedded in each image is important. By today’s standards, full metadata includes, the image number, the copyrighted photographer, the distributor, the type of licensing rights and the keywords. For news and editorial, the date, location are also a necessity.

The latest trend in Web 2.0 interactive site use is most popular with only the younger of the image researchers. Having time to blog and respond to forums is enjoyable but somewhat of a time luxury. It is, however, a popular feature on some of the new micro sites.

PACA Purposes and Goals:
- To develop useful business standards, and promote ethical business practices.
- To actively advocate copyright protection and copyright education.
- To collect and disseminate accurate information relevant to the members, their contributing artists and clients.
- T0 take an active role in the development affecting the picture archive community.
- To build and maintain relationships with other professional organizations and related industries.