Activities

Another exceptional NBCC Field Trip to the United States Capitol

• NBCC Calendar (sync with your own calendar)
• Newsletter, The Lens and Eye
• Meetings (monthly meetings)
• Programs (monthly meetings)
• Workshops (monthly meetings)
• Exhibits of our photographs in public
• Photo Essay (annual presentation)
• Field Trips sharing exceptional photo opportunities
• Education and Training for members
• Hospitality for our meetings
• Community Outreach (monthly meetings)
• Communications among NBCC members
• NBCC Merchandise: logo apparel and other items for sale

Competition Meetings

Club competition meetings are held typically on the first Wednesday of each month (please check the Calendar). We start promptly at 7:30, so please arrive up to 30 minutes early and get settled in. The competition is elimination judging of electronic images (projected digitally), black and white prints, and color prints. Only members may enter the competitions, but visitors are very welcome at the competition meetings. Be sure to check the schedule, as holidays and other conflicts sometimes rearrange the meetings.

Most club meetings are held at the Faith United Methodist Church, 6810 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD, 20852. Click the map below, or view click to view larger map.

Board Meetings

Board meetings are held usually on the third Wednesday of each month for the purpose of discussing and planning the activities of the Club. All officers and chairpersons of standing committees are expected to attend. Any member in good standing may attend and make a suggestion, voice an opinion, etc, but only board members may vote.

Education and Training

A large part of NBCC's mission is helping members improve as photographers. An expanded Education Program has been developed to support this goal. Courses are also intended to support upcoming competition assignments (topics, techniques, locations). Courses are for NBCC members only, except where noted otherwise.

Hospitality - Volunteers Needed

NBCC is a social club as well as photographic, and hospitality plays an important role in all our club meetings. Please volunteer to help by contacting our hospitality committee chairperson, Maricia Loeb, at regular club meetings, and check for the dates you've signed up at Hospitality Sign-ups (PDF).

Members (men and ladies) can also volunteer to help with room setup on a regular basis. No formal sign up is needed: just show up to meetings a few minutes early. Many hands make quick work of setting up the tables, especially at Print Night when many tables are needed. We really appreciate help putting away tables at the end of the night.

Community Outreach - PCR

NBCC Outreach Committee offers opportunities for members to use their photographic skills in broader community service, with the goal of providing support and experiences to individuals and community organizations through teaching, displaying, and assisting.

In one ongoing outreach program, NBCC works with Potomac Community Resources, Inc. (PCR) to teach basic photographic techniques to PCR's members. PCR is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian organization that encourages and supports the integration of persons with developmental differences into the life of the community. The "Phabulous Photographers" currently meet at Lone Oak Center, 1010 Grandin Ave, Rockville on the first Tuesday of each month from 7:00pm-8:00pm. Contact a committee member for more information about this enjoyable and worthwhile activity.

NBCC also sponsors the Rockville High School Photography Program in which Club members make photo presentations to classes, assist in field trips, judge photo contests, and give awards to deserving students. As with other NBCC committees, additional programs will be developed throughout the Program Year.

Communications among NBCC Members

In addition to our normal activities (club meetings, field trips, educational offerings, etc.), there are two global methods for communicating among club members, both using the Internet: GordieGrams and the NBCC Yahoo Group. Of course, you can call or send an email to other members; contact information is listed in the Membership Booklet.

GordieGrams

Gordie Corbin provides a club-wide email distribution service. Messages distributed this way are affectionately nicknamed GordieGrams. Send one anytime you need to reach the entire club membership, such as official announcements and reminders, notice of a member who is hospitalized, invitation to the opening of a photo exhibit by NBCC members, or any urgent message. If you have photographic items for sale, a (one-time) offer can be broadcast. It is courteous NOT to send GordieGrams for things listed under Yahoo Group (below).

To send a GordieGram, compose your message to the members and list your contact information (email address or phone) prominently. Send the message to Gordie (see your Membership Booklet for her email address). To prevent flooding members with extraneous messages, the Board of Directors requested that Gordie use her judgment as to whether the submitted message is appropriate for broadcast to the entire club. If deemed appropriate, she will then forward it to the members.

To respond to a GordieGram, do not hit Reply. This would send your response back to Gordie. Instead, use the contact information provided by the originator within the email.

Yahoo Group

Another communication method is our Yahoo Group. This is the place to conduct most other NBCC on-line communications. It's an ideal forum to initiate discussions on any photography-related topic, especially to ask for (and share) knowledge and advice. Also use our Yahoo Group to announce your photo activites outside NBCC, such as having some photos in an exhibit, winning a photo contest, or having a photo placed prominently (e.g., magazine cover). The messages are retained indefinitely, but are accessible only to NBCC members.

The Yahoo Group is an easy to use and valuable resource. Presently it is underutilized, but those who do use it get excellent advice, feedback and information from many club members. Members are encouraged to sign up and join the conversation.

This group is private (to lock out spammers) and limited to current NBCC members. The procedure for joining is to submit an email request to Nancy Garwood, administrator. Include your name, Yahoo account ID, and email address. (If you don't have a Yahoo account, sign up for free.) Nancy will verify your NBCC membership, then add you to the group. You can then access the discussion boards through your normal Yahoo sign-in. Or follow this link:

You can also elect to have new messages sent to your email (recommended), so you don't have to log into Yahoo to check whether there are new messages.

When replying to a Yahoo Group message, the editor may embed the original message as a "quote" in your new posting. Unless you need to directly include part of the previous post, it is good practice to delete the quoted message. That keeps the messages clear and avoids repeating the original post over and over.

NBCC Merchandise

Proclaim your NBCC affiliation with merchandise from Cafe Press. You can order a variety of items: shirts, mats, bags, mouse pads, and bumper stickers - all featuring the latest NBCC silhouette logo. There is no minimum quantity, and each item is made to your order. Visit this link: http://www.cafepress.com/nbcc. All items are sold at vendor prices - NBCC gets no profit or fees from the sales. This is just a service to our proud members and other NBCC fans.