We need to have a chat. There is a lot of nonsense going on in the workshop world, and it needs to stop. Taking someone’s money and promising that you can help their business, is no joke, and it needs to be taken seriously! Every week we hear a story of yet another workshop filled with damaging business advice, dishonest marketing, or physical safety issues, and with each new story we hear, we start to feel a personal responsibility to say something. To use our voice, our platform, and our community to try and help put an end to bad workshops, and to encourage the photography industry to demand higher standards and better workshop experiences.

In preparation for this article, we asked the community to anonymously share some of their experiences. Based on what we heard, we created a short list addressing the most common workshop complaints, and included a handful of real comments we received. So, let’s dive right in.

Act like a professional

Seems obvious right, well apparently it’s not. The following are just a few examples of some extreme unprofessionalism we heard complaints about. Instructors showing up hungover or doing drugs, total disorganization and chaos during the workshop, lying or stealing, and harassment or physical violence of any kind. Guys, really, if these things are going on at your workshops, you should be ashamed. Unprofessionalism is absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone.

Have something to teach

Just because you’re famous on Instagram, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready to teach a workshop. If you’re truly passionate about education, and have something awesome to share, then go for it, but if you’ve decided to start teaching just because you want to make a quick buck, then you need to stop right now. Putting together an awesome workshop takes LOTS of time, money, and love. They are not “easy money”, and if they are, then you’re definitely doing it wrong.

Don’t be a jerk

Listen, I don’t care how big of an industry rock star you are, stop the social ladder climbing for ten seconds, and spend time with the people who paid good money to meet you and learn from you. You are not “better than them” or “cooler than them” so drop the diva act and be a decent human being.

Sleeping and lodging

Hands down the most popular complaint we heard was about sleeping and lodging arrangements, so I want to make this part very clear. If you promise your attendees a bed, you better give them a damn bed. Do not, under any circumstances, make adults sleep co-ed or share a bed with a stranger. If you do plan to do this at your workshop, it better be made crystal freaking clear to them BEFORE they sign up, and not just thrown at them when they arrive. Comfort is everything, and where people sleep matters.

Food

Good quality food is expensive, but hungry people are not happy people. So, if you’ve promised meals, suck it up and spend some money on real food, don’t skimp just to save a buck. Frozen Costco pizzas won’t cut it if you’ve advertised nice catered meals. Also, provide realistic alternatives for people with dietary restrictions, because vegans get hungry too.

I don’t care how badly you want to sell tickets, advertising dishonestly is disgusting. Your workshop is not “intimate” if there are 30 people. Advertising styled shoots as “portfolio building” and then not letting the photographers use the images they took, so you can get featured, is awful. Be honest so people know what to expect, and then deliver what you’ve promised, and be respectful of the time, effort and money people are spending to learn from us.

Ask for feedback, and then don’t complain about it

If you care at all, you should welcome feedback from your attendees. No matter how hard you try, you won’t please everyone, and so some feedback might be hard to hear, but check your pride for a second, and remember that all feedback is important, and absolutely necessary if you have any desire to improve. Everyone makes mistakes, but refusing to learn from them is not OK. We should always be striving to do better, because “good enough” is not good enough.

For those who have attended a bad workshop

We have a few pieces of advice for you. After you’ve had a minute to process your experience, try reaching out to the coordinators, and see if you can reach a solution. If it is beyond that, then I encourage you to share your experience publicly, both with the instructor, and the photography community. If the photographer who ran the workshop has a profile on Wedding Wire, The Knot, Facebook, or Yelp, you should seriously consider leaving them a review. Design Aglow also created a public forum for workshop reviews that you can submit to HERE. As consumers, we have every right to review the things we’ve spent our hard-earned money on. We also have a responsibility to the community to demand higher standards, and the only way this will happen is if people are honest and make their experiences public. This might seem scary, and I know people may fear backlash from popular photographers, but myself, and so many others are on your side.

For all future workshop attendees

Phew!! I know that was a lot, but as workshop and conference organizers, we owe it to the community to do better, and as students and attendees spending lots of money, we definitely deserve as much.

About the Author

Grace and Jaden are a husband and wife team of wedding and travel photographers based in Oregon. You can find out more about them on their website and follow their work on Facebook or Instagram. This article was also published here and shared with permission.