Former President of Hasselblad and WPPI to Oversee Magazine's Wedding Guide for Wedding/Portrait Community

New York, NY – July 30, 2009– Photo District News, the leading source of information, technology, business applications, and techniques for professional photographers, art buyers, and ad creatives, has announced that Skip Cohen will join the organization as editor of its annual Wedding, Portrait and Event guide (WPE).  An industry veteran with 40 years of building brands and expanding market reach for companies such as Polaroid, Hasselblad USA, Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI, Cohen will provide rare insight to the wedding/portrait market to help expand the PDN brand including Photo District News, PDN Wedding Guide, and PDN PhotoPlus Expo.

Skip Cohen is president of Marketing Essentials International, a marketing consulting firm specializing in projects dedicated to photography, and founder of Skip's Summer School workshop program.  He served for the past 7 years as President of Rangefinder Publishing, which included Rangefinder, AfterCapture magazines, the WPPI association and WPPI’s premiere convention and trade show for wedding and portrait photographers.  Credited with the growth and popularity of WPPI, Cohen believes that Photo District News and other branded properties, including PhotoPlus Expo and PDN's Virtual Trade Show, offer unique opportunities and benefits for wedding and portrait photographers.

"Photo District News set the standard long ago for being a reliable, centralized source of information for photographers from every genre," commented Cohen.  “PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo has always been the leader in tradeshows and education, along with an incredible on-line presence.  As an industry veteran with a passion for wedding and portrait photography, PDN, the Wedding Guide, and PhotoPlus Expo are invaluable resources every photographer needs to take advantage of in order to grow their business, stay on top of trends in marketing and keep up with the latest changes in technology,” Cohen added.

"Skip Cohen has an impeccable reputation for excellence and dedication to the photographic industry and has, in essence, created and nurtured his own brand within the industry, especially among wedding and portrait photographers," says Lauren Wendle, Vice President and Group Publisher of Photo District News.

"Our goal has always been to provide the photographic community with a single source for accessing up-to-date information about technology, proper business practices, and continuing education opportunities in all genres of visual communications.  As editor of our Wedding Guide and offering ways of improving how we communicate to our audience, I have no doubt Skip will help build and strengthen our relationship within the wedding and portrait photography community."

In addition to becoming the editor of PDN's Wedding Guide, Skip Cohen will use his new company, Marketing Essentials International (MEI), and its website -- http://mei500.com -- to promote updates and news regarding PDN's Wedding guide and PhotoPlus Expo.  Since May, when Cohen incorporated MEI, the traffic to his Web site has been overwhelming and his blog has become one of the fastest growing personal blogs in the photographic industry.

About Photo District News
Photo District News (PDN), the award-winning monthly magazine for the professional photographer, has been covering the professional photographic industry for over two decades. Every month, PDN delivers unbiased news and analysis, interviews, and portfolios of the latest photographic work, PDN delivers the information photographers need to survive in a competitive business - from marketing and business advice to legal issues, photographic techniques, new technologies, and more.

PDN online covers breaking news stories and delivers in-depth features on the photo industry, including interviews and profiles, reports on new products both analog and digital, and information on useful sources for professional photographers. PDN online's photo essays and galleries explore the work of photography's masters and today's emerging talent.  The PDN family of Web sites—including Photoserve, Photosource and PDNedu-is an unparalleled source of information and inspiration for professional photographers, photo buyers, visual creatives, photo students and their instructors.

About PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo
Designed for professionals in the photographic and imaging industries, PDN PhotoPlus showcases the latest advances in photography, both traditional and digital.  Held annually at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, attendees have the opportunity to explore an inspiring array of photography and imaging products and services - everything from image capture and color management to retouching and storage - all from the industry's leading manufacturers.  The show also offers over 100 photography and imaging seminars and hands-on workshops taught by world-renowned experts with a focus on cutting-edge innovations in digital imaging products and techniques.


About Skip Cohen
Skip Cohen is President of Marketing Essentials International (www.mei500.com), a marketing consulting firm specializing in projects dedicated to photography.  Officially incorporated on May 1, the company launched its website, kicked off Skip’s Summer School with 15 different speakers and established one of the fastest growing individual blogs in professional photography, all within the first 60 days.

He is past President/Chief Operating Officer of Rangefinder Publishing Inc. and previously had responsibility for Rangefinder and AfterCapture magazines, the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Association and the WPPI Convention and Trade Show.  He was also a regular contributor to Rangefinder magazine, writing a monthly feature on marketing and business for almost two years. 

His career in the photographic industry started at Polaroid.  Over 17½ years he held positions in research, personnel, customer service, both overseas and domestic, and was the US Marketing Manager for Polaroid’s photo-specialty dealers in 1987, when he left to take over Hasselblad USA as President/CEO for the next 12 years.   He has written five books on photography, The Art of Wedding Photography, The Art of the Digital Wedding and The Art of People Photography with Bambi Cantrell and Don Blair’s Guide to Posing and Lighting Body Parts.   Book number five, co-authored with Joe Buissink, Wedding Photography from the Heart, will be released this Fall.


Media Contacts:
Lou Desiderio
Synergy Communications, Inc.
917-627-0912
lou@pr-synergy.com

Scott Heath
Synergy Communications, Inc.
951-735-3686
scottheath@pr-synergy.com