We’re excited to announce that The One Bag was recently featured in the March issue of PDN.  Writer Dan Havlik has such a fun writing style that keeps you in check.  Here’s my favorite line:

“Other accessory pockets and netted pockets (did we mention this thing has pockets?) inside the bag and on the attachable leather cover are great for cough drops, kumquats and /or kiwi fruit.”

I’ll lay out the disclaimer now that I did not design The One Bag to carry kumquats or kiwi fruit, but… if you end up taking Dan up on his suggestions, please send me an image and I’ll post in on the blog

Here is the article in its entirety:

“Ever wish your camera bag were more versatile? Sure, it’s fine for toting around your camera but what about your laptop? What about your lenses? What about your lunch? The One Bag, another Kickstarter project, is a convertible laptop, electronics and photography bag rolled into one.

Created by Justin Lin and sold via his UNDFIND brand, The One Bag looks like a stylish messenger bag but has removable inserts and a soft bumper on the bottom that allow you to customize it for your camera body, lenses, laptop, or other products and personal items.

With the photo insert installed, the neoprene bag expands and is split into three compartments for loading your camera and lenses.  Pull the insert out, and you can fit a 15-inch laptop and assorted document and/or magazines.  A main accessory pocket is big enough for an iPad, or an Amazon Kindle or Fire.

Smaller accessory pockets have room for chargers, cell phones, Clif Bars or a deck of tarot cards.  Elastic zipper pockets and penholders give you a secure  spot to stash valuable items such as a wallet, keys or Knicks tickets.  Other accessory pockets and netted pockets (did we mention this thing has pockets?) inside the bag and on the attachable leather cover are great for cough drops, umquasts and /or kiwi fruit.

If all those pockets (and pocket protectors) have got you worried that The One Bag is excessively geeky, do not fear, brave photographer.  The bag’s swappable cover system means you can bling it out for every occasion. ”

The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, or WPPI, 2012 is just around the corner; and who couldn’t use a few extra bucks in Vegas by saving on Registration? Get a free full registration pass from us (valued at $399) by entering our raffle. We’re giving away 5 Free passes, so be sure to enter for your chance to win!!!

Dates: February 16-23, 2012
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
Value: $399 (free for winners)

1) Tweet, Facebook, and/or Blog about us (see the section below for details)
2) Fill out the entry form below
3) Check Back on Tuesday, Feb 7th, 2012 at 12pm PST for the winners

There are 5 ways to enter the raffle. Each method of entering the raffle can only be done one time, but you may enter the raffle up to 11 times by completing all methods and submitting one form. Below are ways to enter, along with their entry value.

1) Blog Entry

Value: 5 Entries into the Raffle
Details: Write a Blog Entry with a couple sentences about why you want to go to WPPI. Also be sure to mention and link to UNDFIND.com.

2) Twitter Follow

Value: 1 Entry into the Raffle
Task: Follow @UNDFIND on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/undfind

3) Tweet about UNDFIND

Value: 2 Entries into the Raffle
Task: Tweet one of the following:

• @UNDFIND is giving away free full Registration Passes to WPPI 2012 http://www.undfindblog.com

• Check out @UNDFIND for designer camera bags http://www.undfind.com

4) Facebook Like

Value: 1 Entry into the Raffle
Task: “Like” UNDFIND on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/undfind

5) Facebook Status Update

Value: 2 Entries into the Raffle
Task: Write a status update on your Facebook Profile or Fan Page that tags http://www.facebook.com/undfind

Only one form may be submitted per person and must be submitted prior to Tuesday, Feb 7th, 2012 at 12pm PST. You may win more than one registration if more than one of your raffle entries are selected. All entries are assigned a random number; and the winner is chosen using http://www.random.org/

UNDFIND is pleased to announce that we’ve brought on Hanssie Trainor to be our Director of Marketing, or as she has dubbed herself, “The Queen of Everything.”

Hanssie is a fashion, celebrity and wedding photographer, marketing and media consultant, mom, shopaholic and socialite based out of Southern California.

When she’s not busy painting her nails, eating Pinkberry, going to the gym, homeschooling and avoiding all things domestic, she co-leads the Orange County SmugMug User Meetings and runs the SoCal Photog Shootout. Be sure to check out these amazing resources for photographers.

Hanssie is coming on board to help bring a female perspective (i.e. loudly voice her opinions) on the unsuspecting UNDFIND team.

Oh Boy… What have we gotten ourselves into?

Check out our Whimsical Collection, featuring vivid colors and fun, bold or just plain interesting patterns. A few of these patterns will go into production next month for both the One Bag v2 and the Waist Shooter. Which ones we make depends entire on the community. Click into each pattern and click “like” on the Facebook thumbs up icon to let your opinions be heard. Start here!

The Waist Shooter and One Bag v2 are available at B&H for your purchasing convenience. Click Here to shop for UNDFIND on B&H.

The Custom SLR is a fellow Kickstarter Alum. Their Camera Split Strap is a great solution for those looking for a comfortable shoulder strap for your DSLR. Here are a couple of images of their strap used in conjunction with our Waist Shooter.

We were asked to give a quick pitch of the One Bag by nicephotomag.com while we were at CES . Here’s what we came up with.

The UNDFIND One Bag was mentioned on “This Week in Photography,” otherwise known as TWIP in Episode #236 The Fantastic 4’s | Upgrades to Nikon and Lightroom. The Host, Frederick Van Johnson, made it his “pick of the week.”

We’ve included a quick and dirty iPhone Voice Memo recording of the portion of the Episode that talks about the bag in the audio clip below. If you want to hear more, make sure you check out their website for the full episode.

Here are some of his notable comments:

He said that “it is awesome” and called it a “Chic-Geek shoulder bag,” not meant for Safari’s or heading to the Antarctic, but rather for photo walks where you may “need something light and fashionable” to take.

He also notes that you can’t tell that it’s a camera bag; and that “it’s more like a laptop case, or a satchel, or … i dunno… one of Steve’s murses.” He also mentions the replaceable covers and notes that “they’ve got girly ones and manly man ones.”

We’re very excited to talk to Frederick in an upcomming episode when we’ll get into how we got started, the Kickstarter process, and the future of the Company.

2012 CES was an awesome event for UNDFIND.

We were able to catch up with our manufacturers and grab dinner with their team. We were also able to meet a ton of great people, from entrepreneurs of small time start ups like ourselves to managers and directors of the big dogs in the industry.

And of course, there are the bloggers, the ones that get people talking. We were lucky enough to meet a few writers at Engadget, including the managing editor Darren Murph. Darren was kind enough to spare a few minutes of his busy day to learn about our bags.

Within a day or so, they posted a few images of the bag! Check out the feature by clicking here

Waist Shooter Shout Out

A few days later Darren Tweeted the following about our Waist Shooter: “The UNDFIND waist shooter bag is the best saddle bag I’ve seen for pro photogs. Really quality stuff.” Thanks for the shout out Darren!

As you know our One System, One Bag, and Waist Shooters all feature interchangeable covers that allow you to switch up the look of your camera bag or laptop bag in seconds. Here is one of the collections that we’re calling “street.” There patterns are inspired by street photography. Sleek and stylish yet unassuming, we wanted these covers to feature bold, yet subtle patterns.

Most are yet to be released, but they are coming soon! We just wanted to give you a heads up to the many good things on the way here at UNDFIND. Thanks for all of your support in getting our products to market, and we can’t wait to make covers that hit home with you, our loyal customers.

Have a a wonderful Friday!