Our fourth annual Photographer’s Summit returned earlier this month! Kayli Webster, GSV Logistics and Photographer Manager, hosted the event, which was split into two separate sessions. These sessions covered our four photography regions: Northcentral, Northwest, Southcentral, and Southeast. A total of 29 photographers attended the summits, joining remotely from 20 different states across all regions.
Attendees had a full schedule in store for each Summit, including training refreshers, guest speakers, and various award announcements. Guest speakers included Megan Moser, Vice President of Product Fulfillment, and our Founder and CEO, Abe Andrzejewski. The sessions also featured important updates for the coming year. These changes and updates help the team get ready for the busy warm season ahead!
To celebrate the photographers’ accomplishments, we handed out 5 awards to one winner per region (North and South). Each award was an acknowledgement of core values or accomplishments in our photography team:
The GSV Superhero Award: selected by the office GSV Scheduling team and presented to a photographer who went above and beyond to assist customers over the last year.
Northern Regions Winner: Ed Wrenn
Southern Regions Winner: Kristen Wrenn
The GSV Evolver Award: presented to the individual that displayed dedication to growth and improvement in their abilities, in both technical skills and daily procedures.
Northern Regions Winner Otto Nero
Southern Regions Winner: Kelly Hawthorne
The GSV Rookie of the Year Award: presented to the individual who has shown initiative and drive since their first training day and continues to exemplify professionalism, communication, efficiency, reliability, and customer satisfaction in every shoot.
Northern Regions Winner: Austin Berger
Southern Regions Winner: Akeem Dukes
The GSV Road Warrior Award: awarded to the individual that traveled the greatest number of miles per photoshoot on average.
Northern Regions Winner: Davis Benton
Southern Regions Winner: Kelly Hawthorne
The GSV Ambassador Award: awarded to the individual that embodies our core values and consistently represents our company with professionalism, integrity, and pride.
Northern Regions Winner: Ed Wrenn
Southern Regions Winner: Kristen Wrenn
The GSV Superhero Award: Presented by Megan Moser and selected by the GSV Scheduling team for a photographer who went above and beyond to assist customers over the last year.
Northern Regions Winner: Zach Bender
Southern Regions Winner: Mike Roberts
Shooting Forward
The GSV photography team rarely gets the chance to gather like this. Thankfully, these meetings provided a valuable opportunity for the team to receive synchronous training refreshers and set goals for the year ahead. During the summits, the photographers were also introduced to a brand new resource (GPL) to help with their daily processes. This new resource is helpful to get past any bumps in the road during shoots both quicker and easier!
Kayli Webster conducted the training sessions along with regional team leads and GPL team members Lauryn Schultz and Nisa Alicia. Together, they covered essential topics for each region, such as equipment maintenance and the best ways to photograph full spaces. These refreshers are vital for maintaining the high-quality imagery of our Get Seen Virtually™ Interior Tours. They become even more critical as we grow the team and introduce our products to new markets!
In addition to the training, Megan Moser introduced the GSV Scheduling and Fulfillment teams from the office. During her presentation, she announced department-wide changes to help make sure photographer appointments run smoothly from start to finish!
Additionally, each summit was attended by Abe Andrzejewski, who spoke about the impact GSV has on our customers. This year, he also noted how the ever-changing world of AI affects our work. He emphasized the growing importance of human-created imagery and the role photographers play in establishing credibility online. Their work is essential for building long-standing customer relationships, and adding value to every business photographed!
