The month of May has finally arrived and the days are finally getting longer and warmer. I’m not here to give you a weather report. Instead, I would like to talk about my experience at NEIPP a few weeks ago. It just seems that soon after the classes are dismissed at NEIPP and we are back at home, the weather feels more like Spring.

You may have heard, if you did not attend NEIPP this year, that the location had been changed from the Sea Crest in North Falmouth, to the Ocean Edge in Brewster, Massachusetts.

I have been attending classes at NEIPP for the past 12 years and look forward to attending the week-long photography school. The only place that I have been accustomed to was the Sea Crest Resort. It basically had everything inside its main building; all the sleeping rooms, classrooms, dinning room, pool and gym equipment. If the instructors wanted to do a photo session out on the beach, it was right out the back door. Not so with the Ocean Edge. When I arrived on Sunday, April 6th, the weather was cold with a slight rain. After I found a parking place in the Registration parking lot, I walked to the Mansion building to find everyone and register. I received my packet of information, my badge, etc., and then waited in line to register for my room. The woman at the desk checked me in and then told me that my room was in the East Wing and she pointed my building to me on a map. Dinner was at 5:30 p.m. in the Pavilion (a large white tent) on another spot on the map, and my classes were in the Carriage House, another separate building. I asked her if I could have a Bellman help me with my luggage since I was so far away from the East Wing. She called over a gentleman wearing a nice suit. He started to walk out to the parking lot and I told him he may need a luggage cart to put my things on, but he told me there were no luggage carts at this resort. So we both unloaded the car and carried everything to my room. I was out of breath by the time I arrived to my room, tipped the gentleman in the suit and unpacked my bags.

The room was very spacious and decorated in simple pale colors looking very Cape Codish. It was very clean. In fact, all the buildings on the premises were very nice and clean. Beautiful architecture. That was not my complaint. I know that walking is good exercise, but when you are carrying camera equipment or laptops back and forth to class and your room, it becomes very inconvenient. You also had to wear a coat each and every time you had to leave one building and go to the next. To say the least, I was not a very happy camper. I was spoiled with all the amenities from the Sea Crest and was wondering why we even had to make the change. If it’s not broken, why try to fix it???

As the week progressed, I guess I was a little more acclimated to my surroundings and the weather also cooperated by becoming a little warmer each day. In fact, Thursday was so pleasant it was the first and only day I didn’t have to wear my winter coat.

Thursday evening was the banquet night and we were told it was a black tie affair. They wanted to make it feel and look like “The Great Gatsby.” I wore my long black velvet gown, but decided to walk over to the white tent wearing my sneakers and carried my heels. That plan worked out fine for me. I felt sorry for the other woman who wore high heels and had to walk all that way from their rooms. If my feet are not comfortable, then I’m not happy.

I remember how we all raved about the food at Sea Crest and how much weight we have gained after spending a week there. The food was not as good at the Ocean Edge, especially the meats. Most were tough and dry and most of the time the food was not hot. The salads were O.K. There were no glasses on the tables and no water pitchers. You either had to ask for water, or go up to the station where the coffee was set up and get water yourself.

You may think after reading this message that I’m just a person that likes to complain, but I was not the only person that had negative comments about this place. Most people I talked too were also not happy with the Ocean Edge and were hoping next year we could go back to the Sea Crest. I’m sure the NEIPP board had high expectations of this beautiful resort, but in my opinion the layout was not practical for what we needed.

Thursday evening at the end of our banquet, Sal Genuario made the announcement that next year we will be back at Sea Crest. Everyone applauded.

Some things do not change, no matter where you are. I’m talking about the awesome instructors and everyone that helps to make NEIPP the best school in the country. All of the NEIPP trustees and alumni people worked as hard as they could to keep things moving smoothly that week. Richard Castiglione is the Alumni President. He was seen running around all week helping get equipment for Doug Box’s class, running the raffles during lunch and our banquet emcee on Thursday night. He did a wonderful job and I hope everyone appreciated his hard work and dedication. Michael Spiegel is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for NEIPP. He was also seen running around helping in any way he could. Thank you Michael. Susan Drew worked as a trustee in John Hartman’s class. This was Susan’s first year as a trustee. She seemed to enjoy it. Anne Dyer helped with the models. She is perfect for this task. Sal Genuario is our Executive Director. All I can say about Sal is to repeat what Richard Castiglione said at the banquet, “Sal can make lemonade out of lemons”. He did his best to pull everything together, even though Ocean Edge didn’t seem to know what our needs were. Don’t get me wrong about Ocean Edge. It is a very lovely place for a vacation in the warmer weather, but for NEIPP’s needs and expectations, it just didn’t cut it.

I have already signed up for next year’s NEIPP class and looking forward to returning back to the Sea Crest in North Falmouth, Massachusetts. I hope to see you all there.

Warmest Regards,
Grace Cribbins, CPP, M.Photog.