Hi All,

 Okay, This has to be considered rumor at this point because I wasn't personally there and I do not have absolute proof. So let's start from there and let's see if anyone can fill in the holes for me.

 I was told ( from a very reliable source ) that just a short while ago Istock had rented an office location in Seattle to do a gang shoot. This was not one of those Istocolypse party shoots this was a shoot paid for by Istock and had some of their Exclusive shooters there producing content. I was told Istock covered the costs of the entire shoot. If this is true I can only imagine where they will place these images on their site, do you think they might go straight to the head of the line.

 The part of this puzzle that doesn't jibe for me is that Getty is very well known for placing their content that they get the largest return from at the top of their search engines. Why do you suppose that Istock places the work that they get the smallest percentage back at the top of their search engines. I wonder if Getty will let this go on for very long. It seems to go completely against their business model.

 Any helpful advice out there?

Thanks,
AVAVA

Yep, that's all it was.  You can see my pics in my port.  Tix were $500, iirc.

Hi SJ,

 Thanks for the feedback. That is a tough game to play against but that is part of all business. I just need to find a way to compete in a company that offers those opportunities to their exclusives. I bet you had a lot of fun. I have never done a gang shoot but I have friends that do it that love it.

 Is this something they offer regularly to exclusives and are they open to any exclusive that wants to pony up $ 500 dollars or is it by invitation only to a select group of Exclusives.

 Others that live close to one another should maybe think about doing this on a smaller scale. You can learn a lot from each other and it really drops costs and allows you production higher quality images than youcould afford on your own. I doubt you will get quite as good an image placement as the ones Istock puts together but add a case of beer and it couldn't be a total loss of your time. 

Best,
AVAVA

You really ought to read more on the istock forums!

That was the first "exclusive" get together.  There is another one in Berlin: www.istockalypse.com .  There are all kinds of member led meets under the Meetups forum.

They're much better now, that people in your "team" back off when it's your turn, so you can come up with something that isn't shot over your shoulder by everyone.

IMO, they're more about meeting people, not as much shooting stuff that sells a ton.

Hi PenelopeB,

 Great feedback! Thanks for sharing. It must be a blast. I am glad to hear about the educational part of it we can always improve our craft.

Best,
J

Others that live close to one another should maybe think about doing this on a smaller scale. You can learn a lot from each other and it really drops costs and allows you production higher quality images than youcould afford on your own.

In addition to the big events that istock puts on, they also sponsor contributor-organized events. There are certain guidelines of course, but they have been cool about helping out with $$$ and goodies to support the people who have put these together on their own, as well as helped with the admin part afterwards (distribution of model releases, etc). You can see a whole bunch of them here: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_threads.php?forumid=79&page=1

It stands to reason that if they are helping defer costs, that you only upload the shots to IS. Thats only fair and reasonable plus you agree to that prior. Other sites allow you to have "exclusive" images.

The minilypses in Toronto were quite large (limited to 20 photographers) and there is never "any" question at the time of registration whether you are exclusive or not.

The larger lypses ie for Diamond and up, is understandable too. If I were diamond, I would like an event where I could concentrate on what I was doing instead of helping a bunch of newbs.

No Sean... I meant mere mortals heading for silver newbs like me, not diamond newbs.

And yes, I've had a good time at all the iStock events too. I hope they don't ever exclude Non-exclusives. These are a fabulous learning opportunity and a great way to meet fellow iStocker. (if you get to know them, people won't be so quick to judge)

Hi SJ or anyone that can answer,

 If you go to these as a non exclusive do you put that content in Istock Exclusive and do you get paid more from those exclusive images if you are not exclusive. Did that make any sense? I would like to attend one but just wonder what happens to the content after you shoot if you aren't exclusive.

Thanks,
AVAVA

Hi SJ or anyone that can answer,

 If you go to these as a non exclusive do you put that content in Istock Exclusive and do you get paid more from those exclusive images if you are not exclusive. Did that make any sense? I would like to attend one but just wonder what happens to the content after you shoot if you aren't exclusive.

Thanks,
AVAVA

Anyway, almost all istockalypses are just for exclusive members.

Weren't Marseilles and Buenos Aires exclusive only events?

The istockalypes didn't start excluding independents until about a year ago.
I went on one as a non exclusive and was treated wonderfully by Bruce and company and was seriously considering becoming exclusive at the time but  now I'm so glad that Dt restrictions stopped me doing it straight away as IS now account for only about 10 - 15% of earnings when at the time it was over 50%. 
So far this month I have made 3 times more on FT than on IS.

Weren't Marseilles and Buenos Aires exclusive only events?

Yes, they were. Actually, last year, all except Malta, that was a kind of 'Lypse and vacation combined.