Improvements to FlashFrame and Weekend Update
As the high volume running season draws to a close (winter is coming), FlashFrame is taking advantage of a less robust race schedule to gather feedback and improve our site for runners and photographers. We’ve received a great deal of interest in a newsletter detailing upcoming events and updates to the FlashFrame platform. Enjoy!
FlashFrame Goes International with the Havana Marathon!
FlashFrame had another successful weekend with 6 large races in 5 different states and one International marathon, our first. One of our dedicated photographers, Colin, got some great shots at the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest Championship including a host of emotional finish line photos.
In addition to photographers in Louisville for the NCAA DIII Championships, Philly and Brooklyn, FlashFrame featured our most interesting marathon to date -- The Havana Marathon! The race is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary and had close to five thousand runners. This one of the first years that Americans were officially allowed to participate, and the race saw the participation from with over one thousand international runners. While the Americans saw a strong numbers in Havana, there was also strong participation from Spain, Germany, the UK, and other European countries. For those of you that have never been to Cuba, take a minute to view the amazing work by these photographers, one of whom is lauded as the best photographer on the island!
Turkey Trot Central
Thanksgiving Day never disappoints when it comes to great racing. Find a local 5k or go for a trot of your own around the neighborhood to burn off a few calories before a turkey induced nap! If you are out watching a Turkey Trot in your neighborhood, request an event and we will get back to you ASAP! Just try to catch us before our personal turkey induced naps begin (approximately 4:30pm EST).
photo: ColinBPhoto - http://boylephotographers.smugmug.com/ColinBPhoto
Updates to FlashFrame
As many user know we have been seeking feedback to improve FlashFrame and have made many updates in the past weeks. All of our changes have been based on feedback provided by the FlashFrame users. Some of the improvements are performance changes that will be hard to notice at first. The photo upload should run smoother now and scale with regard to internet speed. Others are front and center – including an upcoming events section now included on our front page.
There are more changes coming on the horizon. We intend to improve tagging algorithms and introduce new search terms such as shirt color. We plan to build out the photographer’s home page to make it easier to navigate through your own photos and change tags. We also plan to make things more transparent for the buyer side, including the ability to search multiple terms and and inclusion of ex-if data before the purchase of photos.
Challenges with Expansion
As we continue to grow, we receive more and more race requests (keep 'em coming!), but we cannot yet accommodate all requests. While most races are easy to add, some larger races don't take kindly to freelancers cutting into their profits. After a few harmless cease and desist letters, we have to be careful with how which races we open the platform up to as we look to have quality and quantity at each and every race where FlashFrame is present!
