Editorial by Juan Carlos Lopez

One thing that makes your work easier when photographing an event are great promoters. I start this editorial saying this because Brad and Elaine Craig promoters of the Emerald Cup made everyone's job much easier again. What I am talking about is giving press a first class treatment. I'll talk more about this below. For now let's take a look at the March edition of MuscleMag Mexico... First off is contest coverage from the 2005 Sacramento Show, lots of pages! Then IFBB Pro Tara Scotti and then IFBB Pro Tonia Williams.

The Power of the Press and the Internet

What most people in a bodybuilding show take for granted is how the news gets diffused thru the internet and magazines. If any of you buy bodybuilding magazines in the newsstands what do you get? Usually a thick set of papers with lots of ads about selling supplements. There are some sections of training, nutrition, news and contest coverage. The contest coverage section given the large amount of shows in a year is only 3 or 4 pages and includes probably the most important shows. The reason this section has to be small and succinct is because advertisers need space the keep the magazine running. You can't have a magazine without the ads and therefore the amount of info is limited, unless you have an online magazine or an internet site. Back before the internet existed our source for news was radio, TV and magazines. You could also call a competitor and ask them where they placed and who won the show. Seeing the results in the magazine is useless now because they come out about 1 month after the show, sometimes even two months. TV and radio currently are not interested in knowing anything about Mr. Olympia. Wish we could see highlights of Mr. Olympia on ESPN's Sportcenter rather than golf. Radio has become obsolete and only a handful of people listen to it. Now everyone logs into certain website including this one and want to look at photos and results as soon as possible and in the best manner possible. The Emerald Cup is one of the most important shows in the country both because it usually tells you the winners of pro cards at National shows and because of it's organization. The other big show in the east is the Monica Brant Body Rock that gets a good amount of competitors. The importance of getting internet a press passes is that the more diffusion your show gets the more popular it becomes.

Say you are a competitor, why would you care? First of all without the press where would you see those professional looking photos? And where would you see them so fast? The other reason is what person would see them who could perhaps be able to spot you and perhaps sponsor you? Even a hair salon when seeing photos of you and you attend their facilities perhaps they would be proud to help. If you can cut down on any expense becomes an advantage. The huge problem is that more commercial venues such as TV and Radio won't pickup bodybuilding as a sport. So we have to rely on the internet as our #1 source of news and media power. The funny thing is that movie stars for example on the women's side Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Aniston are more popular than real fitness athletes such as Mindi O'Brien or Jenny Hendershott. Is dieting and training easier than acting? Probably not, but the larger audiences prefer their taco and donuts than boiled chicken and yams.

In other countries such as Mexico the bodybuilding press is very limited but most promoters will understand the power of the internet and how it makes your show grow. In Canada things are similar as in the United States but will also depend on the organization you are watching. We asked expert photographer JP Erickson (www.athleticwomenmagazine.com) from Vancouver, Canada regarding his experience regarding this.

"One of the fastest growing federations in the world of fitness and bodybuilding is the Canadian-based WNSO, or World Natural Sports Organization (www.worldnaturalsports.com). One of the best physique shows around is the Emerald Cup (www.craigproductions.com) run by promoters Brad and Elaine Craig.

What do both have in common?  

They are very accommodating to media and both embrace the power of the Internet and welcome the coverage provided to them by Internet media outlets. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both enjoy success and I tend to believe that part of this success comes via Internet publicity and media attention.

In Canada, the WNSO is very easy to deal with from the perspective of media covering one of their events. They welcome the coverage provided to them via publicity on the Net and they understand the power of the web to provide valuable PR to their shows and organization.

Contrast the WNSO policy with some of the US shows that have essentially banned Internet media from providing coverage of their events and it’s not hard to see why the WNSO is growing much quicker than many other organizations.

When you have the US government allowing Internet media to cover White House affairs yet at the same time, some physique shows ban the Net media, it’s not hard to see that some promoters seem to be stuck in a time warp. In the end, the organizations and promoters that embrace new technologies such as the Internet will ultimately move ahead of those that do not."

So summarizing things, the Craig's have done an incredible job that is beyond the call of duty. As promoters they really excel in their job and as human beings they also get high grades. We hope the Emerald Cup is even bigger in 2007.

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