BY-LAWS of the Photography Club of Greater Cincinnati
Revised March 12, 2025
ARTICLE 1: NAME
The name of the organization shall be the Photography Club of Greater Cincinnati (PCGC).
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE
The aim of this club shall be to promote the interests and activities of photographers for pleasure, education, and recreation.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
SECTION 1: Any person of good character with an expressed interest in photography may join this Club. Membership may be denied or revoked for good cause by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. If such action is taken, annual dues paid shall be returned, pro-rata.
SECTION 2: The Board of Directors may award honorary memberships for outstanding services to the Club. Such memberships shall be for a period determined by the Board and may be renewed at the discretion of the Board at any time. Such members shall have the same rights and privileges as all other members.
SECTION 3: The club does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
ARTICLE IV: MEETINGS
SECTION 1: Regular meetings of the Club shall be held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month unless otherwise announced and agreed upon by a majority vote of club members.
SECTION 2: Special meetings may be called by the President at any time.
SECTION 3: One meeting each month shall be reserved for print competition and one for digital competition, with the exceptions of November and December when both competitions shall be held during the first monthly meeting. If extenuating circumstances make it impossible to meet in person, competitions will be conducted digitally on the PCGC website.
ARTICLE V: DUES AND FINANCES
SECTION 1: The annual dues for this Club shall be established by the Board of Directors and approved by a majority of club members present at any regularly scheduled meeting. Any dues changes shall take effect at the start of the next calendar year. Dues for returning members must be paid either in person or by mail postmarked by January 31st of each year. When the admittance of a new member occurs after July 1st, dues shall be one-half of the annual amount for the balance of the year.
SECTION 2: Any returning member whose dues are not received by March 1st shall be dropped from the roster. The Treasurer shall notify both the delinquent member and the President at least 15 days before the member is dropped from the roster.
SECTION 3: The Treasurer shall submit a financial report quarterly. The Treasurer must advise the Board of any changes to previously paid expenses or requests for new ongoing expenses. If agreed to by the Board, the Board shall present such increases or new ongoing expenses to the membership for approval. Any one-time expense exceeding $100 must be approved by the Board, with the exception of presenter fees, per section 5.
SECTION 4: The Treasurer shall maintain club financial records in compliance with IRS 501c7 tax-exempt status, and in particular file the club annual financial statement (i.e. Form 990-N a.k.a e-Postcard) as require by the IRS.
SECTION 5: Outside judges may be given gift cards as honorariums in recognition of their time commitment for judging the club competitions
SECTION 6: The Program Chair will be authorized to pay an outside presenter up to $150 without seeking prior Board approval.
SECTION 7: Annual dues for the Club president shall be waived unless revoked by a vote of the membership.
SECTION 8: In the event the membership votes to cease operation of and dissolve the club, any remaining assets will be distributed equally among all members who are current on the payment of their dues on the date of the dissolution vote.
ARTICLE VI: ELECTION OF OFFICERS (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer)
SECTION 1: The President shall present a slate of officers to the membership at the first club meeting in September.
SECTION 2: At both the second September meeting and the first October meeting, additional officer nominations from the floor will be solicited and accepted by the President.
SECTION 3: A vote shall be taken by members present at the first November meeting for officer nominations made in accordance with Sections 1 and 2. The ballot may be secret at the request of any member. Those receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected and take office at the first meeting in January.
ARTICLE VII: VACANCIES
SECTION 1: If the office of the President becomes vacant for any reason, the Vice President shall assume the responsibilities of the office of President.
SECTION 2: If any office other than the President becomes vacant, it shall be filled by appointment by the President for the remainder of the year.
ARTICLE VIII: QUORUM
SECTION 1: One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum.
SECTION 2: One-third of the Board shall constitute a quorum.
SECTION 3: All votes taken by the membership at large or by the Board are subject to the Quorum rules in Sections 1 and 2.
ARTICLE IX: BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SECTION 1: The Board of Directors shall consist of the club officers together with the Chairs of the Standing Committees and the immediate past President. Standing committee chairs are encouraged but not required to participate in Board meetings or Board votes.
SECTION 2: The Club President shall also act as the Chair of the Board of Directors.
SECTION 3: The Club Secretary shall act as the Secretary for the Board of Directors.
SECTION 4: Board meetings shall be called by the President or at the request of any two Board members. The President shall provide a minimum of a two-week’s notice of a scheduled board meeting. Such notice will be provided by email or by announcement at a regular club meeting
ARTICLE X: AMENDMENTS
Amendments to the By-Laws and Procedures for Competitions of this Club shall be adopted by the following procedure:
1. Any member in good standing can propose an amendment at a regular club meeting.
2. The proposal will be posted to the PCGC website in the minutes of that meeting.
3. The proposal will be discussed and voted upon at the regular or special club meeting that follows the meeting of the amendment’s introduction, unless tabled for further review.
4. The amendment shall be adopted if it receives a majority of affirmative votes from members in good standing.
5. The secretary shall report the outcome of the vote in the meeting minutes posted to the PCGC website.
ARTICLE XI: COMMITTEES
SECTION 1: Various Club activities may be coordinated by individual club members, Standing Committees or Special Committees. Coordinating individuals and Committee Chairs shall be appointed by the President. Committee Chairs may, with the President's approval, appoint additional members to their committee. The President may add additional Standing or Special Committees. The President and the Vice-President have the option of serving as a voting member on any Standing or Special Committees.
List of currently authorized Coordinating Positions and/or Standing Committees (This list may change at the discretion of the President and in response to the needs of the club, without requiring a change to the by-laws.)
- Greeter and Attendance
- Website/Publicity
- Print Competition
- Digital Competition
- Program and Education
- Competition Judging
- Hospitality
- Annual Topic Selection
SECTION 2: The President shall appoint a member to serve as a Liaison to the Photographic Society of America (PSA), while the club retains a membership in the PSA. The Liaison shall keep the club membership apprised of ongoing PSA competitions and encourage member participation.
ARTICLE XII: COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS
SECTION 1: The Club shall conduct monthly competitions at our regularly scheduled meetings throughout the year in two separate divisions: Print and Digital.
SECTION 2: Any changes to the rules and procedures for club competitions and awards shall be proposed and discussed at a club meeting. If approved by a majority vote of the members in attendance at that meeting, the changes will be incorporated in the Procedures for Competitions.
SECTION 3: Annual awards for the Photographer of the Year shall be presented in the first quarter of the following year.
1. The Photographer of the Year is awarded to the current member with the highest aggregate points in the Print and Digital competitions, as recorded by the Print and Digital chairs.
2. First, second and third place shall be awarded.
3. The Print and Digital Chairs shall submit the final overall scores in their respective categories for the prior year to the President by February 1st.
4. In the event of a tie or ties, all tied participants will receive recognition as such.
5. The Photographer of the Year will be announced by the end of February if possible.
SECTION 4: Annual awards for the Image of the Year shall be presented in the first quarter of the following year.
1. The first and second place images from each of the monthly competitions shall be eligible for the Image of the Year award.
2. All eligible entries must have been assigned titles for identification in the Print and Digital records.
3. All eligible print images must have been submitted to the PCGC website. If they were not, every attempt should be made to post the image so that it can be included in the competition.
4. Awards will be given for 1st through 6th place images. In the event of a tie or ties, all tied participants will receive recognition as such.
5. An outside judge will be used to judge the competition.
6. A People’s Choice award will be given based on voting by club members.
7. No cumulative points will be awarded in the annual competition.
SECTION 5: Annual awards for the People’s Choice of the Year shall be presented in the first quarter of the following year.
1. The People’s Choice winner from each Print and Digital competition shall be eligible for the People’s Choice of the Year award.
2. Awards will be given for 1st through 3rd place images. In the event of a tie or ties, all tied participants will receive recognition as such.
3. Club members will vote for the People’s Choice of the Year winners.
4. No cumulative points will be awarded in the annual competition.
SECTION 6: The club is not responsible for lost images, digital or print.
SECTION 7: In the event the club does not meet in person for an extended period, the rules and procedures may be temporarily modified to combine the digital and print entries, subject to approval of a majority of the members.
ARTICLE XIII: LIABILITY RELEASE FOR CLUB EVENTS AND MEETINGS
SECTION 1: By participating in a Photography Club of Greater Cincinnati (PCGC) event or meeting, you hereby agree to hold PCGC, its officers, successors, and assigns, and any of its affiliate organizations, harmless in the event of injury to your person, or property, or death, occurring during your participation in the event and travel to or from any such event. You are assuming the risks associated with participation in the event and you agree that PCGC is not liable for any losses you may suffer. Your attendance at a PCGC event implies you agree to these terms. If you do not agree to these terms, do not attend any event organized by PCGC, or any of its officers or affiliates.
PROCEDURES FOR COMPETITIONS
Version 13, February 2025
RULES COMMON TO PRINT AND DIGITAL COMPETITIONS:
1. All entries must have been taken by the exhibitor.
2. All images being submitted for both the print and digital competitions, must be submitted digitally to the PCGC website by the submission date of the competition. The digital image must be a JPEG file and the image should be restricted to a maximum width of 1920 pixels wide for horizontal images, and a maximum of 1080 pixels in height, regardless of width. If applicable, these dimensions would include any digital border or frame. Special dimensions may be specified by the Topic Selection Committee for panoramic competitions.
3. All digital images for both the print and digital competitions must be posted to the PCGC website by 11:59 PM ET by the designated date listed on the PCGC Topic Competitions Calendar.
4. All images submitted digitally should include the title of the image, but not the name of the photographer.
5. Before an entry is accepted or a score is recorded by the relevant competition committee chair, after consultation with the exhibitor and the club president, the committee chair may determine the eligibility of an entry in meeting the competition requirements set down by these Procedures and/or the subject definition for the specific competition. In addition, any Club member present may also challenge an entry. After consultation with the exhibitor and the Club president, the committee chair then will determine its eligibility.
6. After the score and/or placement is recorded, entries may be challenged for violations of the competition rules by any member but can be disqualified only by a majority vote of the members present. Any points earned by an entry so disqualified shall be deleted from the record. Any such challenge must be made at the meeting during which the competition took place. Challenges to entries presented solely at a digitally conducted meeting must be made within one week of the date the results are posted.
7. If Outside Judges Cannot Be Secured for a Competition:
A. If an outside judge cannot be secured, a tabulated vote of all members (club judging) may occur. Scoring will be in accordance with Rule 6 below. Each voting member will act as judge and award first through sixth place and honorable mentions.
B. As an alternative to 7A, the Club may vote by majority rule to delay the judging until the following meeting when an outside judge is available.
C. As an alternative to 7A and 7B, the club may, by majority vote, agree to have three (3) club members judge the competition. The member judges will score all images but their own. The point values awarded will be added together and divided by three for those images not submitted by one of the judges or divided by two for those submitted by one of the judges.
D. The following procedure applies for CLUB judging of DIGITAL images: the images shall be shown once for general viewing, and then a second time for voting. After the judging is completed and results tabulated, images will be shown again for discussion, non-placing images being shown first, Honorable Mention images shown second, and the placing images being shown last, in the reverse order of placing.
8. If there are twelve (12) or fewer exhibitors, places will be awarded to the top-ranking six (6) entries. If there are more than twelve (12) exhibitors, a maximum of six (6) honorable mentions will be awarded in addition to the top six (6).
9. Placing entries will receive points ranging from eight (8) for the first place down to three (3) for sixth place, with the honorable mention entries, if any, receiving two (2) points each. Non-placing exhibitors will receive one (1) point for participating. Entries that are disqualified shall receive no points. The People’s Choice winner will receive two (2) points.
10. If two or more exhibitors tie, each will receive full score for the highest place, with the next place(s) omitted.
11. Point award records will be tabulated by the Competition Chairs and kept permanently by the President. These points will be cumulative from year to year, and may be used toward annual awards as determined by the Board.
12. No judge (outside or member judge) will be given the name of any photographer prior to evaluating and scoring all images.
13. Images that have placed 1st through 6th in any previous monthly competition are not eligible to be entered in any subsequent monthly competition. Further, any substantially similar images to a placing image that closely resembles that image in subject, color, and composition may not be entered in a subsequent monthly competition. If necessary, such ineligibility shall be determined as per Rule 2 above. Images awarded Honorable Mention as well as non-placing images are eligible to be be entered again in subsequent competitions.
PRINT COMPETITIONS
1. Up to twelve (12) print competitions shall be held each year. Each competition will have specific subjects or themes assigned including several “open” (no subject assigned) competitions. The total number of print competitions will be determined each year when the full competition schedule is created.
2. Each member may submit one (1) print image in either color or black and white or any combination thereof, unless otherwise specified in the assigned subject definition.
3. Each member must submit a digital copy of the print image they will be entering in the print competition per the guidelines in #2, #3 and #4 of the Rules Common to Print and Digital Competitions.
4. The minimum printed image size is 5"x 7" PLUS mat and the image maximum size is limited to 12’’ x 18”, or a maximum 12” x 12” square PLUS mat. Special dimensions may be specified by the Chair for panoramic competitions.
5. The prints shall be identified by only the title on the front of the image. The title should be posted on a small piece of paper adhered to the image mat in the upper right-hand corner. The exhibitor’s name must NOT be visible from the front. The exhibitor’s name should be posted on the back of the image in the lower right-hand corner.
6. All prints must be matted and/or mounted. The mat is the board in front with the cutout for the print and the mount is the board in the back that supports the print. Either or both can be used.
7. No print is to be framed. Frames will immediately eliminate a print from competition. There should be no hanging hooks or wires on the back of matted and/or mounted.
8. If extenuating circumstances make it impossible to meet in person, competitions may be conducted on the PCGC website using the rules of digital competitions.
DIGITAL COMPETITIONS
1. Up to twelve (12) digital competitions shall be held each year. Each competition will have specific subjects or themes assigned including several “open” (no subject assigned) competitions. The total number of print competitions will be determined each year when the full competition schedule is created.
2. Each member may submit one (1) digital image in either color or black and white or any combination thereof, unless otherwise specified in the assigned subject definition.
3. Each member should submit the digital image they will be entering in the digital competition per the guidelines in #2, #3 and #4 of the Rules Common to Print and Digital Competitions.
CREATIVE COMPETITION
A Creative Image Competition will be held annually, focusing on creative images and permitting unlimited manipulation and processing techniques. Up to two images may be submitted by a member. Submissions will be handled using the digital submission process. The competition will be judged by the members who may vote for two images. No cumulative points will be awarded for this competition.
AD HOC COMPETITIONS
Any member of the club may propose an ad hoc competition using either the digital or print competition submission processes, subject to an affirmative vote of a majority of club members in attendance at the meeting in which the competition is proposed. Ad hoc competitions will be judged by club members. No cumulative points will be awarded for such competitions.