The four best online and multimedia professional journalism groups — Sports Shooter

Sports Shooter
http://www.sportsshooter.com/

Organization background and purpose:
Started as a newsletter among some (sports) photojournalism nerds, this site has evolved into one of the most active communities for all flavors of photojournalism. (Don’t let the name deceive you. Yes, there’s lots of sports shooters on there but everyone and everything is welcome. Even video!)

Organization vibe:
An exclusive club of many diverse interests in photojournalism. Kinda like an Elks Club, but more high-school-photoclub-ish…and without the wood paneling and mothball smell.

Benefits / “What you get”:
The message board is obviously the core of this organization but “The Guide” can be very useful too. Also, one benefit they don’t mention here is the site sponsors will really hook you up if you mention you’re a Sports Shooter member. I’ve bought most of my stuff from Samy’s and saved a bundle for having that $25 membership. Read their official schpeal

The conference experience:
There’s not exactly an official conference anymore. There used to be an annual epic “Luau” workshop event that I never got the chance to attend before it dispersed, but I’ve heard so many great stories about it I’m working on inventing a time machine so I can go back and experience it myself. I have a stock of Hawaiian shirts packed already.

Other events, workshops:
Sports Shooter does workshops called “Sports Shooter Academy” that are intense, hands on training. I haven’t participated but have heard they’re great. Sport Shooter members also sometimes organize local meet-ups. They’re not officially sanctioned by the site, but it’s cool to meet other local members.

My favorite things about being a member:
+ The message board is the best old school place to get information on anything photojournalism, technically or business related. It’s a living, breathing being!
+ This is an awesome place for students to network and learn. It helped me so much back in the day.
+ The monthly online newsletter usually has great stuff and they occasionally offer great video tutorials
+ You Sports Shooter page has crazy Google juice (it’s a ‘high value’ link) and it’s a great site to showcase your work in front of the best in the profession.
+ You will get job leads if you’re a member of Sports Shooter. I’ve had probably two dozen since I’ve been a member.
+ Free classifieds to sell your gear to the targeted audience is cool too.

My least favorite thing about being a member:
- Just as with any social media outlet, sometimes there can be negative trolls in the message board. But the comment rating system has really helped clean up that problem, so it’s not as bad as it used to be.

The most exciting thing to look forward to from this organization:
(I hope) They bring back the Luau! RSS feeds and more video tutorials would be cool too.

Read more reviews of the four best online and multimedia journalism professional organizations.