Back from camping, I quickly (sort of) looked through the photos posted

[ConsAreLiars]

in the last couple weeks, and was WOW'd by the quality of work being displayed here. It occurred to me that eventually, as the group evolves, there might be some way for this rich pool of talent to contribute to the common good. The idea I had was themed notecard collections of a dozen or so, presented free for copying by those who wish to print them out for personal use, and also produced and sold via some sort of low volume, on-demand publisher, with proceeds going somewhere worthy.

I think it is premature to try to start such a project at this point, but I'd be interested in how others see this.

By looking thru so many photos I had the impression that they could be grouped together in collections based more on aesthetic style than content, since peoples tastes vary. Because the images in such groups convey a variety of sentiments, they could be used in many circumstances. Collections might also be created by individuals who want to donate, or assembled via some discussion process.

Anyway, thanks for sharing these photos. Seeing so many great images in such a short time was quite nice.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Cons, I'd be up for that. n/t

[intheflow]

2. Maybe cards sold to assist hurricane victims?

DUers are already starting to organize relief efforts for Katrina, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4506764

I like the idea of using our photography for the good of humanity.

It's nice to have you back, Cons. :hi:

[alfredo]

3. Or a general fund to distribute to any charity, or org

that needs our help.

[ConsAreLiars]

4. Choosing worthy causes should be easy. Figuring out the

mechanism for production and distribution is the hard part. Smugmug seems oriented toward individual prints, but otherwise looks like the kind of service needed. Maybe there are similar operations that could handle collections and notecard format, or maybe Smugmug would add this service. Working out the "how" seems to be the hard part.

[alfredo]

5. Will there even be a market for them when it is easy just to

go to pay pal, donate, then go about your merry way.

[F.Gordon]

6. Good point

I guess the difference would be that someone would have a work of art in exchange for their goodwill.

There are a couple of things most people don't know about the photogroup smugmug site. All I have to do is click a little button and will have a ton of traffic driven to it. I've just been waiting till there is some kind of group consensus on how to handle selling stuff.

[alfredo]

10. Group consensus? DU?

Oh come on.

just kidding. Give it a try.

[F.Gordon]

11. LOL How true

The only "possible" consensus might be if we direct all profits back to DU.
:shrug:

Besides the Dems.... we (the F' troop) donate to a few different orgs and I'm sure everyone has an org of choice. Getting everyone to agree on one or two would probably be next to impossible.
:eyes:

[alfredo]

12. Amnesty internation is a favorite for me. Oxfam is good too.

If we were voting, those would be on my list.

[ConsAreLiars]

13. I was thinking more of a changing list,

as a way to respond to events as they happen.

But my first thought was just to get them "out there" for others to enjoy, then thought of the notecard format because that is a good way to get the images to a third tier. This also allows for crediting/linking to DU and copyright stuff. Since some people might prefer to order cards rather than print their own. The fundraising aspect seemed like a good way to handle whatever income was generated if things get so far.

[alfredo]

14. That sounds good. I was thinking of a general fund too.

I guess Oxfam and Amnesty came to mind because those are my charities.

[F.Gordon]

7. Glad to see ya' back

:hi:

The "how" may be pretty easy. Smugmug does prints, cards, and "gifts". If the group could agree on a worthy cause I could contact smugmug and arrange to have them forward all profits to that cause. I'd actually prefer that.... it would take ME out of the loop and I wouldn't have to deal with accounting stuff.

[ConsAreLiars]

8. That seems pretty simple then.

I didn't know they did all that. Do you have any idea if we could easily redirect funds from, say from Camp Casey or Vets for Peace one month to maybe transportation on 9/24 and later to some other thing? It would require some coordinator, but I guess any account has to have some authorized overseer. I like the prospect of being able to make a small difference on selected actions, rather than picking some single entity.

I may be wrong about whether people would want cards but I assume some people would relate to the photos being shown here and card packages seems a good way for the ordinary person to receive and share a variety of these images and at the same time know that the profits go to some cause they support. If the images were freely available for copying people with less income, but enough to run a color printer, such a gallery would at least give the images a wider distributiuon, and the pleasure they bring, or the awareness they raise, would be a nice gift to be making even if the money side turns out to be a fantasy.

[F.Gordon]

9. Would have to keep it simple

The smugmug staff are incredible.... but I don't know how receptive they'd be to dividing money and constantly changing where the money goes. Can still to it.... just means more work for me... which I don't mind.

I like the free idea. Just not sure how many people would come along with it. Could setup a password protected gallery that we could post in the Lounge..... or just here. I don't know how to handle that. I'd just like to keep the "free" for the benefit of DU and not the random visitor.