Blogger “Mama Sharon Says” attended the recent Kodak photo expo hosted by ScanMyPhotos.com and 30 Minute Photos Etc. in Irvine, CA.
From “Mama Sharon Says…”
Last night I had an amazing opportunity to attend a very special and exclusive gathering hosted by Kodak and ScanMyPhotos in Irvine, CA. I want to say that when I was first invited I had no idea what I was in for. The invitation sent by Jacqueline Mangione the WW PR Manager at Kodak simply said to bring LOTS of photos, and there will be light sandwiches and Mimosas. OK, while I don’t drink, I never turn down a free meal. LOL! I’m kidding of course; I once turned down a meal when I was little and in camp. Gross! Have you seen camp food?
OK, so let me get back to last night. I walked in about 5 or 10 minutes early and was greeted by Mitch Goldstone, the President of ScanMyPhotos, International (pictured with the kiosk), and his wonderful staff. I was brought to a Kodak Kiosk and shown some of the features. Did you know you can download photos from your phone into one of these? I have to tell you that I was slightly intimidated at first as I think anyone would be when they have no idea what to do. But then I put my USB stick in the port and pressed the “START HERE” button on the screen. Everything is guided by the touch screen which is great. The first thing I created was a DVD with a ton of pictures. And yes, I said the first thing! Mitch was quite generous, and I was quite grateful. I still am! Anyway, the DVD I made took me all of about 3-5 minutes to make. I selected my photos for the disk. I chose photos from the Big Bear trip last year, The Wiggle years, Jonathan’s past birthdays, and Christmas photos. Once the pics were selected, I got to go through a bunch of music selections. I chose What I Like About You. Then I selected the DONE button, and that was that. They processed the DVD for me as I went on to another project.
All and all I came home with a poster, a calendar, a DVD, a package of reprints, a couple of 8 ½ x 11 photo collages of my chocolates and brownie pops, and a photo book!
The Photobook took me about 5-10 minutes to make. I don’t know exactly how long because I was having so much fun I totally lost track of time. I should have been looking at the receipts that were printed out to let you know how much this stuff would cost on a normal day, but I suspect it’s less than you may think. I did look at the receipt for the photobook I created in which I added the max amount of photos allowed. If you’re not sitting down, you may want to. It was only about $27. I am so not kidding! I even asked it if that was correct.
I was also given a tour of the back room. It was like going behind the scenes and was so cool. You wouldn’t believe what goes on back there. They have several people that work all day long to be sure your photos, no matter where you are in the country, are taken care of in any way you order. They have scanned over 9 million photos and will service you even if you are out of the country! They can restore those old photos and you will be blown away by the results that it will cause tears. The happy kind of course.
Then it was back to the Kiosk. I scanned a photo of mine that was of my brother Mike and me when we were very little. The original photo as you can see, is faded and, well, old. The kiosk has a feature where you can press edit photos and then restore the color. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like magic!
But if you don’t live near ScanMyPhotos then just go online to ScanMyPhotos.com and look for the information on sending your old photos to them, and they will send them back with the new and improved versions. I’m not kidding! Hey dad…they will even be able to repair old damaged photos! You can trust them with your treasures. They know what they’re doing.
OK, so here is another crazy cool part of the evening. The Kodak staff was there filming footage so you may see me somewhere talking about this stuff. Who knows!
Remember the DVD I made? When it was finished, they put it on the big screen in the store, and as I watched it I got very emotional, and for some reason, the only word I could get out of my mouth was “WOW.” It was so special.
I learned that I needed to go back with Jonathan because he got a camera for Christmas. The kiosks are so easy to use that even my 7-year-old can do it. Hey, do you have older kids? Make it a play date. Let them make a photo book. It’s less expensive than the place with the Rat and the games, right? And they won’t come home with a junky toy that will break. Instead, they will come back with a wonderful memory book.
I will be going back to ScanMyPhotos very shortly. After all, I have 2 or 3 wedding VHS tapes I need to be put on DVD. But if you don’t live by then, you can do everything online. Whether you pick it up or it gets mailed, they are a site to see. They have a blog, too you should check out.
Thank you, Mitch and Jacqueline, and all that put this on for us mom bloggers. I had a night of creating memories and learning new things that I will be putting to good use in the future. Also, thank you for your very generous gifts. Thank you to Mom Bloggers Club too, for putting out the word on requesting to be a part of this. I love being a mom blogger!
