Canon Australia has announced the closure of its workshop and educational events program, Canon Collective, after almost a decade due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Canon Collective ran workshops and events across the country, hosted primarily by seven current ambassadors. It poured significant resources into building the events program, which was geared primarily to amateurs and hobbyists. Along with education, there was also a sale element to Canon Collective. Attendees had the opportunity to get their hands on Canon gear and trial it in various real shooting scenarios.
Many upcoming events have been cancelled, with others in South Australia, NSW, and Queensland ceasing from a set date.
‘It’s with great regret that we announce that the Canon Collective program will discontinue in its current format,’ Canon Australia said in a statement. ‘As you can appreciate, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has made running our Canon Collective events incredibly difficult. This has in turn affected the long-term viability and sustainability of the events program. As a result, Canon will discontinue Collective events, with key dates for each state below:
• Victoria: All activities have ceased in adherence with current Victorian restrictions
• Western Australia: All activities have ceased due to current State border closures
• ACT, Tasmania, Northern Territory: All activities will cease immediately
• South Australia: All activities will cease by 30 August 2020
• New South Wales: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
• Queensland: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
• International: All activities will cease immediately
Canon will contact affected ticketholders for refunds.
Canon Collective also nurtured a dedicated community, with a private Facebook group consisting of 17,500 members. This group will remain open. Many in this community are devastated Canon is shutting the events program down, with some expressing disappointment there wasn’t an attempt to adapt with online education. While it’s unknown if there will be job losses, particularly the ambassadors, the community has expressed the great job performed by the ambassadors, who were also skilled sales reps.
Given the desire for good quality online education, it could’ve been an opportunity for Canon to look at shifting some of their workshops online.
For instance, a class on teaching video for photographers could easily be done online. Or using Lightroom.
That was so shortsighted of Canon. You should also mention the fact those staff were made redundant. One had been there 14 years.
Thanks Natalie. We weren’t aware that staff were made redundant – Canon didn’t reveal that in its announcement. Only that the ‘Ambassadors’ would be finishing up by October. Condolences to anyone who has lost employment in the current climate.
Today was the last day for the final two
Ambassadors, myself and Scott Stramyk. I have been at Canon for more than 20 years and the final event was a tropical escape to Heron Island last week. It was a great program and a real point of difference between the brands. At the heart of the Collective was the community, some of whom are now earning a living as professional photographers themselves. The end of an era for us and the start of new adventures for me!
Today was the last day for the final two
Ambassadors, myself and Scott Stramyk. I have been at Canon for more than 20 years and the final event was a tropical escape to Heron Island last week. It was a great program and a real point of difference between the brands. At the heart of the Collective was the community, some of whom are now earning a living as professional photographers themselves. We hosted 7600+ events, attended by 75,000 attendees. The end of an era for us and the start of new adventures for me!