Photo-internal: For three weeks, many pictures have been flickering in a banner on photo-internal. If you click on it, you land on Gridon.ch. Since today we also know a little more. But what is Gridon, in a nutshell?
Thomas Biasotto: Gridon is a completely new platform on which workshops and photo trips are offered in the field of photography. In addition to travel and experiences, there is also a lot of knowledge, tutorials and much more about photography. Gridon is a network made up of the best photographers who want to pass on their knowledge and enthusiasm to a wide audience and are eager to do so.
Photo: Thomas Biasotto
Covid-19 is the big stumbling block of the workshops. Do you do this physically or virtually?
Most of the workshops are held physically at our locations in Appenzell, Zurich Bern and Lucerne. Despite the current circumstances, we see light at the end of the tunnel. We are also firmly convinced that we all need the community and solidarity more than ever, especially today. That is why we would like to show all passionate photographers anticipation and a clear prospect of a fantastic future. Of course, always with a protection concept and in compliance with the applicable rules.
Photo: Rainer Eder
What is the difference between Gridon and other course providers?
Basically, we offer workshops and photo trips, just as our competitors do successfully. We differ in the large selection of workshops and trips, in the large selection of the best instructors in Switzerland and in our unique platform, which offers a lot of knowledge and news.
We also offer our community the opportunity to show everyone their own microsite with their own portfolios to a broad audience.
With our strong partners such as Mammut, our community benefits with 20% on the entire Mammut range. Our main partner GraphicArt offers 30% on the whole rental offer. Together with Amag AG, we launched a great project called Looky Look. A fully equipped VW T6 California, designed for photographers and adventurers, which we rent to our community at exciting prices.
With the camera manufacturer Phase One, the community benefits from the fact that you can test and rent Phase One systems at cost price. And many other exciting offers follow continuously in our newsletters and social media campaigns (Instagram: @ gridon.ch / @ lookylook.ch)
Photo: Michael Schär
But there is an oversupply of courses. Very many that are advertised cannot be carried out because the minimum number of people has not been reached. How does Gridon intend to counteract this trend?
We will be attractively marketing the workshops and trips with strategic campaigns. Basically, the workshops and trips take place with us from four people. We firmly believe that our attractive workshops and photo trips achieve these numbers. Because with us, not only theoretical knowledge should be held in the restaurant, but our community should experience unique experiences.
Photo: Maximilian Gierl
You said with well-known speakers and course instructors. Who is behind it?
When I put together the instructor team, it was important to me that the personalities are people who want to achieve something together as a team. With us there are no lone fighters. Everyone is one of the leading makers in their field with high quality interpersonal skills. Of course, I also made sure that a wide photographic field could be covered. And it was also very important for me that we also have female photographers in the instructor team, which is very rare. We have international luminaries in our team who are waiting to pass on their knowledge and experience to the Gridon community.
Our instructors are:
• Andreas Agazzi
• Karin Bishop
• Stefanie Buonanno
• Rainer Eder
• Tolis Fragoudis
• Maximilian Gierl
• Juerg Hostettler
• Marcello Keller
• Andreas Köng
• Michael Schär
• Isabella Tabacchi and
• Thomas and Sandra Biasotto as initiators
Every year we will offer a master class workshop with an internationally renowned photographer. For the year 2021 we could Daniel Kordan who will do a three-day workshop with us in the Alpstein. It will also be a unique experience for everyone. We are really looking forward to it!
Photo: Jürg Hostettler
These are top people who have extensive work experience and are used to high daily rates. Can I afford these workshops?
We don’t want to be the cheapest workshop provider. We offer the best instructors in Switzerland and it is also important for us that we pay our instructors well and fairly, especially now in this difficult time of pandemics etc. Nevertheless, our workshop and photo trip prices are in the market segment. We guarantee the top experience for every level.
Photo: Michael Schär
What feedback do the participants get from the course instructors?
Honest – We want our community to be better than what it was yesterday.
There is a lot of competition for all workshops, namely all of these tutorials, more or less well done, such as those offered by YouTube, for example. What does Gridon do better?
As already mentioned, our goal is to offer the community unique experiences, packed with theoretical knowledge, guided by our instructors who are among the best in their genres.
Photo: Isabelle Tabacchi
One trend is obvious and is gnawing at our industry: people no longer take photos with cameras, but with their smartphones. What do you have to offer these photo lovers?
Many workshops around the smartphone. A wide range of video and photo workshops are offered by our instructor Juerg Hostettler (Instagram @aventuoro). He is one of the most accomplished smartphone photographers and videographers in Switzerland.
Photo: Rainer Eder
A look into the future: What are Gridon’s medium and long-term goals?
Always stay on the ball with new workshop models, experiences and photo trips that are unique and high quality. Many ideas and projects are already planned in our team, but we are constantly informed about them via our newsletter or our social media channels. There is still a lot to come, this is just the beginning. We’re glad!
The interview was conducted in writing.
The article was illustrated with success pictures from Gridon Instructors.
Further information can be found on www.gridon.ch
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