History of Our Organization and Our Growth
IMPress is our third International Press Association online publication.
Our first website was introduced on the net in 1997. Our modest site and early beginning soon expanded as the IPA independent staff membership grew.
Prior to 9/11/01, IPA was simply an Html website who’s goal was to enable those with talent an opportunity to gain important media access. IPA wanted to offer members an opportunity to share their work online.
Soon after 9/11, we realized that we could no longer offer our Press identification to anyone that wanted it. We began to change how we did business on the internet.
One of the first things we had to do was build a new and more secure member-based website. The new site would require each member to complete an application for membership. They would provide a current address and contact information which we could verify.
We would then enable each independent staff member to have his or her own member’s profile. They could build a professional portfolio of their works on our site. They would also be able to publish their images and articles on the site. This would now appear in their profiles and published on our main site.
Through the years our site grew with these contributions from our members and as our security tightened. Our Terms of Membership required members to publish their works in order to retain their membership status. We realized we needed even more.
Our Member Support Blog – 2010
Members needed step by step instructions. How to cover an event, how to produce commercial quality work. We not only published these many informative member support articles, but also introduced our first “Not Another Photo Contest” contest.
With over $8,000 in prizes awarded and over 1500 entries, this contest proved that IPA could not only reach hundreds of thousands of photographers. Those that appreciate photography were urged to vote for their favorite photos. They could gain credibility with the media and the photographic community.
Contestants were not required to pay any entry fees. The contest was open to global photographers. The Blog was built to help our members understand the benefits of membership. More importantly, to help offer opportunities as members.
Our blog has now been replaced with the publication of our current IPA website. Our extensive support articles and videos section now helps our members to publish their works on our sites and to better their skills.
“Learn By Doing”
Today there are many intern opportunities offered by many companies. It has been proven that these non-paid internships, offer those without experience a chance to get valuable experience. This experience is what employers seek when interviewing new staff members.
They have also proved that these interns will stand a better chance of getting a job. They will also earn 20-40% more than those that have never interned or lack valuable experience.
The IPA program is often compared to these intern programs. Our members pay a small yearly fee to help support the IPA operations and then become part of our independent staff.
Members are then instructed on how to cover events, shows, concerts. They learn how to write reviews and articles. They also learn how to process their images and showcase their best works.
Our Press identification and our authorization to cover events offer them the opportunity to publish the articles and photos from the coverage of these events on our site.
This helps them understand how paid members of the media do their jobs. It enables them to build their portfolios, their experience and confidence. All submitted articles are read and approved by our editors prior to publication.
InternationalPress.Org Site Launched April 2013
We have seen a vast change in the membership and their desire to publish their works on our sites. Our main site has become a bit old by today’s standards.
Since IMPress has been such a huge success, the decision was made to model our newest site. Using the WordPress Blog back end with a custom-designed theme.
This would not only make the newest site a cleaner, easier to navigate and modern looking site. The site would also offer our publishing members an easier way to showcase their best works.
We have retired our original site because it was not secure and many of the sections and pages were no longer relevant.
Our new Membership program now offers our working members an opportunity to Earn By Doing. Each publishing member will now receive cash incentives for publishing high-quality articles on our sites.
These incentives will be used to cover part of their renewal fees each year and will help them to learn how to produce commercial quality content, It helpa them build their professional profiles on our site.
There is no easy way today of succeeding in our industry. Hard work, talent, and drive are what you need to succeed. With IPA’s commitment to our members and to our readers, we hope our efforts to help our members to learn their craft. We aid them in monetizing their efforts an important step in the right direction.
We invite all of our readers to visit our new site and see the many video tutorials there and of course our members works. Have some time? Take the narrated site tour of our newest site.
Our Member Support Team
We take our mission very seriously and have worked hard to provide one on one support for all of our IPA members. As our organization has grown and now with the additional online publication IMPress. We realized we needed to find members who have succeeded and have followed our instructions on how to succeed at IPA.
This group of skilled members who are now the nucleus of our member support team. It has proven that those that exhibit the skill, the desire to learn and the ability to do the work, are the ones, that now make up our Member Support Team.
Len Rapoport, IPA’s President, and Editor-In-Chief at IMPress. He is located in the United States in New Jersey and is available to help members with questions they may have or problems they may encounter while on assignments.
Dominique Schreckling is our Director of Member Services and resides in Switzerland and is one of our most talented staff members. You can see much of his work at IPA’s main site and of course, IMPress. He appears in our Photo Showcase and has published many wonderful articles.
He speaks French, German and English and is here to help all members especially those that do not speak English with their work at IPA. IPA does publish now in many native languages.
John Soule is our talented photojournalist and Photo Tech Editor and has many amazing images and articles for you to view and read at IMPress.
He has a wonderful understanding of the technical side of photography and is available to help our members. Not only their photographic questions but also writing articles for IMPress and for our main site.
IMPress Our Showcase Publication
IPA wanted to create a new showplace for our members’ best works. The start of IMPress our new online magazine was the logical step to accomplish these goals.
We created the name IMPress because to us it had two meanings. A publication that will impress those that visit the publication.
The second meaning is a bit of a play on that name. Since our members are part of the independent press, we felt our magazine’s name would call attention to their status. One reading our title might read it as,
“I aM Press”, which best describes who our members are.
We hope that you will visit our new publication often. You will see some of the wonderful works of our staff and will tell others to do the same.
Welcome to IMPress
You will find our articles interesting, our photographs exceptional and our staff members, unique in their abilities.
About the International Press Association
International Press Association is a professional, global, online organization made up of independent photographers, videographers, 
photojournalists, journalists, and writers.
Photographers and journalists seeking a platform that will enable them to hone their skills find the IPA platform helpful.
IPA is a 26-year-old organization that was the brainchild of the internationally published photographer, journalist, and marketer, Len Rapoport.
Originally started as a local organization in the state of New Jersey. Len ran seminar workshops to teach studio photography to local photographers in the 1990’s.
A corporate communications consultant and accomplished photographer and marketer, he knew the internet, would be a good platform. Expanding his concept of, “Learn By Doing”, he decided to launch their first website.
IPA Enables Members
IPA members have access to events and shows, IPA issues our own set of tools including press identification to each of its members.
This gave members some limited access to events. This enabled them to photograph subjects with others of the media and write their articles.
As the internet grew and changed IPA has kept up with the technology. Launching the main web site almost 7 years ago. This site has given past members their own member’s profile area. A Portfolio that would display their best work too.
Member Articles and photos are published on the IPA site as well. This has now become the site to recruit new members and display their works.
IMPress Magazine
In November 2011, IPA launched our online magazine IMPress. This became an instant success with readership growing at an astounding rate of 20% each month since its launch.
Highly skilled and motivated IPA members were invited to join the IMPress staff. As you can see they have done a wonderful job by publishing informative and interesting articles and photos.
IMPress is meant to showcase some of the best works from members both here in the United States and Europe.
April 2013
We launched our most ambitious effort on the new InternationalPress.Org site. This site will become the new home for IPA members that are actively publishing their works on our site.
Members that prefer not to be active, will remain on our main site. They will continue to be passive participants as we grow our organization.
In October 2014, we launched the Hazlet News, what we to be a local publication for the town. Len Rapoport lives in Hazlet. This site has become the place to go for how-to tips and tricks on maintaining your home and garden.
We now cross publish many interesting articles from IMPress on the Hazlet News site as well.
New Members
IPA continues to seek out new members who are in need of help in honing their skills, they can earn more on their assignments. Many members, simply love photography or writing and want to enjoy the benefits that come with membership.
Readers who are interested in joining IPA should visit our new site. Review all the benefits of membership and register for an exciting and educational membership at IPA. No matter what your skill level is now, there is a place for you at IPA.
In 2016, we launched our newest website Travel Pavilion. TP offers travel advice, articles, videos and services to those seeking professional help or information for their business or vacation needs.
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