I am currently attending the 75th Annual Insurance & Financial Communications Association (IFCA) at the Fairmont Copley in Boston, MA. I have to say it has been a wonderful experience so far and has proven to be a wealth of information and networking opportunities.

There are also some very great sponsors that I would encourage anyone in the Communications field to consider adding to there arsenal of communicational tools.

Denise Waggoner from Getty images Inc. who also owns one of my favorite sources for stock imagery IStockPhoto was showcasing some of the most fantastic images to come out of the Beijing Olympics, as they had over 40 Photographers covering the Olympics.

Irwin Hipsman, from Brainshark was also another sponsor that stood out and I believe that Brainshark brings a very impressive communication tool to the table that should be a standard must have in any communications department, weather your a small company or large corporation. I have found that they provide very useful presentational tools that are seamlessly used with everyones beloved presentation software Powerpoint and the best part is it's all handled on their servers so you can say bye bye to your Firewall Paranoid IT guy who will do noting but bog down your communication efforts. Although, I am an avid fan of Mac products and use a Mac every day for my design and communication needs, I would like to see them support Keynote in the future, but they do however support the Mac version of Powerpoint so compatibility is not such an issue really.

I am also happy to announce that today I was approached by one of the IFCA volunteers about doing some volunteer design work on the IFCA website and to help provide Web Hosting Services for the organization in the future so I am very excited to report the outcome of that upcoming meeting as soon as I know more.

Overall I am enjoying the city of Boston and the chance to rub elbows with some of my design peers in the Insurance & Financial sector of design. I want to thank IFCA and all it's members and volunteers for making me feel so welcomed and part of the Organization. I encourage any designer or communications specialist who does do work for insurance or financial institutions to really consider becoming a member of IFCA.

Labels: Boston, Brainshark, Getty Images, IFCA, istockphoto.com

iStockphoto.com has a massive collection of royalty-free images and is the world's fastest growing independent library. They feature Photographs, vector Illustrations, Flash files, and Video clips. Becoming a member is free, and there are never subscription fees or hidden costs.

It's easy to find anything in their library. Simply enter a keyword in the search box at the top, like business, icons or family for example. Use the advanced search options to specify your search results, or browse their categories to see related images. You can zoom in to images to see up-close details and preview video clips before you download them.

When you are ready to download some images, just visit the store and purchase some credits. Credits start as low as $1 each, with a minimum purchase of $12. Buy as many credits as you need; they become less expensive when you buy in bulk. Credits are valid for one full year from the date of purchase.

Then download the image you want for 1, 2, 4, or 6 credits, for xsmall, small, medium, and large files. Even larger resolution images are available, for 10 to 15 credits. Video clips are available for 5 to 50 credits. Every file has been inspected for quality and legal integrity.

Anyone can apply to contribute images to our collection. Click on the "Upload" link in the left hand navigation for a quick tutorial on iStockphoto's expectations and requirements. Then apply to become a photographer, illustrator, or videographer. When you are accepted, start uploading files, and earn royalties when your images are downloaded.

iStockphoto is fun and easy to use. Explore the community to meet new and veteran contributors and designers from all over the world.

Labels: Adobe Photoshop, image library, istockphoto.com, vector, video