PPA announces subsidies for photography exhibitors

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) announced the creation of an Investment Performance Rebate which will significantly reduce the cost for exhibitors at Imaging USA, the association’s premier event, to be held Jan. 16-18, 2022. According to the plan, PPA will subsidize 43% of exhibitors’ typical trade show booth space costs for the upcoming conference in National Harbor, Washington D.C. An additional benefit for all PPA members is also in the works and will likely be announced this fall.

“We are all in this together,” says Mary Fisk-Taylor, president, PPA. “As photographers, we can’t succeed without healthy industry partners to provide us with quality products and services. And they can’t survive without photographers running healthy businesses. It is all one big ecosystem, and PPA is constantly working to keep all of it strong.”

For decades, PPA has maintained a reserve fund to protect the association from economic downturns and potential disasters. Those funds are invested and have regularly created an annual return most years. According to the plan approved by the PPA Board of Directors last week, all future investment returns will be applied directly to PPA members and Imaging USA exhibitors.

“This is what it means to be a not-for-profit,” says David Trust, CEO, PPA. “It is what differentiates us from all other organizations in the photographic industry. Some would say creating this rebate is insanity. We say it is our job as the industry’s protector.”

Earlier in the year, PPA announced two additional subsidies for anyone who attends Imaging USA next January. By setting the price for attendance at just $59, the association effectively agreed to subsidize every registration by upwards of 70% of the actual cost to produce the event, as well as subsidize hotel stays at Gaylord National Harbor by $40 a night during the conference.