This post is a continuation of a conversation started at LOOKBetween.  The introductory post can be viewed here:http://luceoimages.com/2010/06/legal-left-meet-creative-right-lookbetween-1/

I’m going to deviate slightly from my initial outline for today’s post and jump to discussing how our partner program works and why it’s something that we believe is important as an organization.  During the breakout sessions at LOOKBetween, the idea of photographers partnering with organizations that provide auxiliary services drove a large part of the overall discussion.  Personally, I think these kinds of partnerships are great and are symptomatic of an industry that is trying to regain its health.  New methods of delivery and consumption require a new kind of expertise to produce and package that content.  The fact that photographers are thinking in this direction really says something about an industry trying to heal itself from the bottom up.

Our own system tends to follow a ‘devil-you-know’ type of philosophy –except that we believe that the proper noun should be ‘angel.’  Over the last couple of years, LUCEO has had the pleasure of interacting with several different individuals and organizations in various capacities.  Good group projects tend to go that way because of a combination of personality and talent.  I think the buzzword, is ’synergy,’ but its really a matter of finding people common and complimentary visions.  

The interesting thing about these kinds of loose associations is that it provides a fairly direct answer for a common problem that our clients face: trying to piecemeal together a team of people for a project comes with a lot of uncertainty.  This uncertainty relates to how the group will work, how they will arrive at a common vision, and the basic difficulties of diverse personalities.  By establishing a network of partners, we are able to help our clients vault this hurdle because we are already familiar with each others’ product and workflow.   Essentially, through our partner network, we are able to quickly put together a group of people that will guarantee our clients a quality product, efficient workflow, and a higher degree of consistency from project to project. 

Beyond building a list of partners, we believe that a good group of associates have a long-term benefit to each other as well as to the client.  From the client’s perspective, a team that has worked together for a long time is more efficient and that efficiency translates to savings.  From the perspective of a photographer, these relationships help retain a degree of creative control by providing for better communication between the photographer and the partner organization.  For us, it’s a win-win scenario.  The client gets a quality product without sacrificing photography.  

A detailed description of our partner network, as well as a listing of our partners, can be found here: http://luceoimages.com/about/our-partners/

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Matt Slaby is a Colorado-based attorney (and photographer). Matt attended the University of Denver College of Law on a full public interest scholarship. His experiences in law school include a PILG clerkship for ongoing civil work with El Centro Humanitario’s legal clinic as well as handling wage claims and contract issues for DU’s Civil Litigation Clinic. He is a founding member of Luceo and, in addition to his photography, brings his legal background to the organization. Questions, comments, and ideas for future posts are welcome. Please add them to the comments section or reach me here: mattslaby@luceoimages.com

**DISCLAIMER: Luceo Images LLC and Matt Slaby assume no liability for the information provided above. This information may not be correct when applied to your specific situation. Moreover, the information provided is not intended to create an attorney/client relationship and shall not be construed as legal advice.