Southern comedian Jeff Foxworthy built his career saying things like "You might just be a redneck if . . ."

So with regards to Jeff, let's turn it around, with a little help from Roger Christian of University Camera.

You may not need a buying group if your store/lab has a negotiating team working 'round the clock getting you the best deals to be had. Notice we're not saying "absolutely the lowest price on every product every time," because even PRO and IPI can't say that. As Roger says "I don't care how big your store is, it is probable that you still aren't getting "THE BEST PRICE" on most things you buy. As an individual owner, you don't have time, resources or energy to fight every vendor for "THE BEST PRICE" on everything. IPI and PRO do have those resources."

PRO's larger members have north of $50,000,000 in annual sales and hundreds of employees and they still find great benefit from belonging!

You may not need a buying group if you already know all the answers to all the questions about the processing hardware that is your bread and butter. When you get into a REAL bind with equipment malfunctions, the IPI Forum is a mouse click away. Of the HUNDREDS of members out there, somebody has already had your problem, and probably solved it. And that's true whether you've got an Agfa D-lab or a Noritsu or a Konica or a stack cutter or an HP kiosk. Somebody else has already solved the problem and will share the results with you.

You may not need a buying group if you never need an odd part to keep an old piece of equipment vital to your operation functioning. The IPI forum is the place to go to see what's out there. This one item alone has saved IPI members hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. Makes the membership investment pale by comparison

You may not need a buying group if you can do every service your customers want under your own roof. Canvases, restorations, video transfers, slide-to-DVD shows, camera repairs, laser cutouts, gift products. Buying groups find and test partners (vendors) and work out programs that benefit the store owner.

You may not need a buying group if you haven't seen your core business changing and eroding in recent years. Still got enough customers dropping off rolls of film for 2 sets of 4x6 prints that you have all the money you need? It's the members of IPI and PRO who first found out about Kodak's fast scanning technology, HP's Creative Photo Suite, and other products that have changed the face of photo finishing. And it's members of IPI and PRO who got the best deals on those products.

If you DO need to improve your margins, understand your options, and effectively execute your options - here's what you can do right away

This year IPI members can attend the full 2008 Members' Meeting at the Four Diamond ◊◊◊◊ Golden Nugget Hotel in historic and revitalized Downtown Las Vegas for under $62 per person per day!!

As one new member said after last fall's meeting, "it was my first convention and everyone made me feel so welcome - such a warm group - it wasn't at all closed off like so many groups"

There is still time to join IPI and get to the August convention, and there probably isn't time to become a PRO member for July's convention of that group.

And right now IPI has a pre-convention membership program that lets you enjoy all the benefits without any major upfront cash!

More about IPI membership

DIMA announces a membership contest.

Basically, the DIMA member who gets the most new DIMA members will win a shiny new MacBook Pro. The second prize is an iPod Classic and third prize is a Nano. So tell all your non-DIMA friends to sign up now and refer you. BTW - all new DIMA members that refer you will be eligible for a prize drawing for a Nano as well."

You can point them to this URL for more details: www.pmai.org/dima/referafriend

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What is DIMA anyway? - The initials stand for Digital Imaging Marketing Association but it's really PMA's cutting edge tech group.
• What does it cost to belong to DIMA? - Nothing! If you're already a PMA member, adding DIMA membership is FREE!
• What are the benefits? For one thing, you'll get a discount on registration for the annual DIMA conference. You'll have access to more news and great Photoshop tech tips you won't find anywhere else.
• Why haven't I joined before? Good question!

If you yourself are not a member of DIMA -

why not sign up today at www.pmai.org/dima/referafriend

You can always list me, Chris Lydle, as the friend who referred you.

They laugh at me when I sit down at the DIMA Board meetings with my old Windows-based notebook.

Download the .pdf file from the new DIMAcast that goes live Monday morning.

Bill's still editing it, but his interim progress report says ". . . have over 1:40 of interviews - have 300+ images . . . pictures of company parties, partially clad woman in chains . . . hope this one can gets by the censor . . . will be unique DIMAcast . . . entertaining and educational - can't beat that . . . ."

July 16, 2008 - July 17, 2008 - PMA Latin America Imaging Conferences Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino

July 19 -21, 2008 - PRO 50th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

August 10-14 - IPI Convention, Las Vegas, NV, USA

August 12, 2008 - August 13, 2008 - PMA Latin America Imaging Conference Lima, Peru Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Center

August 18, 2008 - Annual Golf Outing of the NY/NJ Metro Division of PMA. Cherry Valley Club, Garden City NY. Contact Joel Paymer for details 212-753-5128

September 11, 2008 - September 13, 2008 - PMA Canada Exposition 2008 Palais des Congres de Montreal Montreal, Quebec Canada

September 13-14, 2008 PMA Northern California Division Annual Meeting and Tabletop Show "Veni, Vidi, Visa" (I Came, I Saw, I Shopped!) Cache Creek Casino Resort, Brooks, CA

October 3-4, 2008 PMA North Central Division Annual Meeting Riverwood Inn, Otsego, MN

October 10-11, 2008 PMA Pacific Northwest Division Annual Meeting Seattle, WA

March 1 - March 4, 2009 - DIMA 2009 Las Vegas, NV, USA

March 3 - March 5, 2009 - PMA 2009 Las Vegas, NV, USA