the [b] school

FAQ's about the [ b ] School

This page is dedicated to helping you navigate your way around the [ b ] School and help you get the most out of your online experience.

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

Q: WHAT IS IT?
A: What is it you ask? It's only the coolest new social referal network for photographers on the web. Imagine Facebook, YouTube and a photography forum walk into a bar, get drunk, start foolin' around, then 9 months later, out pops the [ b ] School.

Q: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
A: We have 3 options, the introductory rate is only $10 per month. If you want a discount, pay for year in advance and it's only $100/yr. and save $20. If you'd like unlimited access to the [ b ] School and access to Becker's Exclusive Private School, that'll set you back a cool G but it's well worth it I promise.

Q: IS THERE A FREE TRIAL?
A: Nope.

Q: WHY NOT?
A: The free videos on the blog are your free trial. Plus it's only $10 per month... how much cheaper can we make it? If you can't afford the $10, I suggest you need this site more than you think! Plus... anything worth while is worth paying for... a lot of hard work went into this site and I am very proud of it. I certainly think I deserve my $10 and will continue to earn it by providing this cool platform and resource for y'all! Think of it as the drug dealer sales pitch, the first hit is free, then you gotta pay. But in this case, the first 160+ videos are free, now you just have to pay for membership.

Q: HOW DOES THE SIGN UP PROCESS WORK?
A: Go to the APPLY NOW page, fill out the info, wait patiently so a reply while we check your website and verify that you are using your real name or business name. You should get a reply within 24 hours and in most cases, long before then. Once approved, just follow the instructions on the welcome email and you'll be good to go.

Q: WEBSITE, DO I NEED A WEBSITE? WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE ONE?
A: We are requiring everyone to have a web presence to obtain membership. If you haven't gotten around to building that fancy website, or can't afford one yet, head on over to blogger.com and sign up for a free one. A pro member page on Flickr will suffice too. The bottom line is the site has to show us that you are actively trying to make money with you camera and have your contact information for clients to get ahold of you.

Q: IS THIS SITE ONLY FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS?
A: While Professor Becker is a wedding photographer, and created this community with wedding photographers in mind, most of the principals are universal to professional photographers in all fields and anyone trying to make money with their cameras are welcome at the [ b ] School.

Q: OH, SO DOES THAT MEAN AMATEURS & HOBBYISTS AREN"T ALLOWED?
A: The [ b ] in [ b ] School does not stand for Becker, it stands for business. This site is dedicated to helping people make a living with their camera so we are only allowing professionals and aspiring professionals to join at this time. Amateurs and Hobbyists should really check out the Flickr Community... it is awesome!

Q: WHY DO I HAVE TO USE MY REAL NAME?
A: This is a place for professionals... We are trying to change the way photographers connect and help build real mutually beneficial relationships. Screen names like pixelguy29 and LAphotochick ain't gonna cut it. If you are concerned about privacy, use your business name and be sure to check that box on the enroll page.

Q: DO I HAVE TO HAVE AN AVATAR?
A: Yes please. Again, we are trying to make this a friendlier, more social place. We designed the system to not let you access the site unless you upload a jpg, gif of png file to your profile that will act as your avatar. We are encouraging everyone to show their mug, but if you are painfully shy or hideously ugly, your business logo will suffice. If you choose to upload a shot you've taken, or a picture of your kid or a pet, we're not really going to do anything about it except encourage other members to shun your existence.

Q: CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MODERATION POLICY?
A: Yes, we trust that you are all adults and will act with respect and professionalism with other members. And since your name, photo and website is attached to everything you post on the site, we hope people will be kind and courteous and if they disagree about an issue, they will do it in a respectful manner. I trust that you don't need babysitters or people telling you what you can and can't talk about. We have no official moderators and we also respect the fact that if you say something, and are willing to stand by it, you are entitled to your opinions. After all, this site is based in the US of A and we sure value our freedom of speech here. That is not to say that you can come in here and act like an ass, it will be tolerated. We may not moderate your comments, but we may restrict your access by giving your detention, suspension or expulsion. If you want more on the what the expect behavior is, click here and read the paragraph on the bottom right. We are going to let the community police itself for now and I pray it stays that way. I have a business to run and I don't want to babysit you people. [ b ] cool!

Q: IS THE SITE 100% DONE YET?
A: Not so much. I like to think of it as a work in progress and that we will never be done with it. Once our initial plans are finished, I told my designer that he can take one week off for a little vacation then we are hiring him to start working on version 2.0. Most of the major functionality is working... there still may be a bug or two, but we're on it. The Classroom and Campus Store are still in the works.

Q: IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON THEBSCHOOL.COM FOR A LONG TIME, WHY IS IT STILL NOT COMPLETE?
A: Ah, very good question. Here's the deal... we originally found a nice little social network template and planned on customizing it to look a little more interesting and it was originally going to launch around WPPI 2008. But when i saw the site, it was okay I guess, but I though this community deserved something better, so we scrapped it and started over from scratch and built a 100% custom site. Which I think is cool, but certainly has it's challenges. There was no framework, template or starting point, which is cool because we had a blank slate to work with, but on the other hand, it was hard to develop as we had to build everything with from thin air. And guess what, our Private School members came up with some very good suggestions and we are trying to implement them right away. (I think my programmer is going to have me killed).

Q: IS THAT IT?
A: Doubtful. Check back often as this site will be updated as needed. Check out some video tutorials below:

HOW TO TUTORIALS:

Getting Started with your profile:

Friend Requests:

Create Student Union Discussion:

Replying to Student Union Discussions:

Uploading Photos and Videos:

Adding Events:

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