This is it! The third annual Help-Portrait is about to begin. We can’t tell you how excited we are to see this movement grow to the size it has – thousands of you in 56 countries across the world are signed up to make a difference in people’s lives in your own communities this weekend. We’re thrilled at the level of teamwork, camaraderie, compassion and resources that will come together to allow others to feel valued, seen and heard.

As Help-Portrait 2011 begins to roll out across international timezones, we wanted to give you a few last-minute reminders.

EVENT REPORTING

Most importantly, don’t forget to track and report your numbers. We’re looking for the number of photographers, volunteers and portraits given. At the end of the event, head over to http://bit.ly/help-portrait2011 and fill in the details. This allows us to share the global impact of Help-Portrait with the public, media and potential sponsors. This helps us engage more photographers so that next year, we can do even more.

MEDIA LOVE

  • We’d love to get #HelpPortrait to trend globally on Twitter Saturday so be sure to use that hashtag.
  • We’ve seen that many of you have already gotten wonderful media coverage in your local papers and from local news stations. We’d love to see and keep a record of these links. Send us the details using this form http://bit.ly/HP-Press-2011 so we can share it with community.
  • Create a CNN iReport for your Help-Portrait location! We’ve got a step-by-step tutorial on our blog. At your local event, capture a compelling brief video or photo(s) or so of what’s happening. Give an overview of your event and interview an organizer or participant about what the day has meant to them (don’t forget to get release forms signed).

SHARING PHOTOS

Lastly, we can’t wait to see your photos this year. Whether you upload on your personal blog, local Help-Portrait site, Facebook, Flickr or other means, please make sure to include the Help-Portrait watermark, get the proper release forms signed, and include “Help_Portrait” in the file titles so we can see the photos when doing a Google Image Search.

We’re anticipating great things this year. Let’s go!

-Jeremy & the Help-Portrait team