We zoom in on a few of Canada’s leading commercial photography experts to bring you a few image-boosting ideas to capture your events.

Appeal to new sponsors. When you need to drum up support, photos can provide a compelling picture of what went on at your event to entice new funders, exhibitors and sponsors, says Michael Marmur, president of Pinpoint National Photography. His company oversees a Canada-wide network of photographers specialized in corporate marketing, events and portraits. Be sure to include the hottest looking displays, VIP attendees or influential customers in your shot list.

Woo the media. You can’t guarantee media attendance, but you can arrange for your own best shot to share with media and bloggers. This is one occasion when it can pay to hire a pro who knows the eye of photo editors, says John Beaton, national account executive for the assignment service of  The Canadian Press Images, the commercial photography arm of Canada’s national news agency which also distributes photos online.  While it’s advised to generally steer away from “giant cheque” poses, for instance, the shot in this news release on solar energy was framed in a way to support a story visually: next to rooftop solar panels.

Share your pics. “Set up an online gallery of images: it builds  awareness of the event and encourages future donations and  participation,” says Pinpoint’s Marmur. His  company recently created this library of images for the Walk to Fight Arthritis. Participants can download print-quality photos taken by Pinpoint photographers in the 17-city event.

Don’t be shy on megapixels. Even if you only plan to use images on the web — where fast-to-load, low-resolution is the norm — professional photographers like to record in high resolution, always leaving the option to print down the line, says The Canadian Press Image’s Beaton. And with the cost of media storage so low these days, it can be a valuable archive for later years. The company was recently hired to be the official photographer for the G8 and G20 Summits.

Get in close. If you’re using a volunteer or amateur photographer (why not cast out to find out who might be eager to be an in-house paparazzi?!), direct them to get in as close as possible to the subject without being intrusive. “When it comes to a good picture, less in the frame is more,” says Marmur.

Give a meaningful gift. Framing a professionally shot image can be a memorable way to acknowledge speakers or present to special guests as a keepsake. Arrange for a few shots you can email your best suppliers to use in their own marketing materials, from speaker headshots to close-ups of table settings and décor.

Find more corporate event planning  ideas and resources at ignitemag.ca

INCENTIVES + MEETINGS
Your post-event tour of Virtual WEC conference
For anyone who could not make it to Vancouver for the Meeting Professionals International World Education Congress last month, including Ignite’s digital media editor, the virtual world was our reality: We stopped by for a visit to Virtual WEC 2010, an experimental online environment to watch live presentations, meet with participants and interview Julie McKown, Communications Strategist with Rochester, N.Y.-based Fusion Productions, the site’s moderator and virtual greeter. The event has wrapped-up, but the virtual site lives on as a demo at wec.cleverzebra.com — why not check it out to meet a colleague from across the country or around the world. (You can also catch videos of opening and closing session on the WEC homepage).

CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
Now easier to track company car for business use
Business travellers who claim car expenses are getting an administrative break from the Canada Revenue Agency, when it comes to logging use of the company vehicle. Under a new system proposed earlier this year, employers need only keep logbooks of use for a limited period. The first year’s use would be used as a baseline showing the employer’s typical business use, which can then be projected forward to future tax years, with minimal logs required. See details outlined here on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

CORPORATE GIFTS + REWARDS
Rewards programs best with employee input: study
If you want your organization’s rewards schemes to engage a loyal, motivated workforce, call on employees to get involved in the program design, suggests a recent survey of more than 730 compensation professionals released by WorldatWork, Loyola University Chicago and Hay Group last month. Only 11% of respondents indicated that their organization often or always involved employees in the design of reward programs, which was found to foster higher levels of employee engagement. Other findings were that non-financial rewards were perceived to have a greater influence than financial rewards. A PDF of the full survey can be found here at worldatwork.org.

Share your event news, case studies or story ideas with us here at ignitemag.ca.