ScanMyPhotos.com Blog

Digitwirl recommends ScanMyPhotos.com for Photo Scanning

2012-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Check out which service Digitwirl recommends for bulk photo scanning. That's right, ScanMyPhotos.com is clearly the recommended service.
Preserve your precious photo memories for a lifetime and more by digitizing all those photos you've stored away in overfilled boxes. Enjoy your digitized photos and share them easily with friends and family.
By the way, the National Association of Professional Organizers' (NAPO) January Get Organized month urges Americans to declutter, organize and streamline their lives. What better way than digitizing all your photos, slides, negatives and video?
Watch the video recommendation by Digitwirl by following this link. Have fun reliving all your photo memories!

http://bcove.me/6gd88bk0

American Express OPEN: ScanMyPhotos.com Employee Morale Soaring

2012-01-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

‎American Express OPEN profiled the corporate work environment of ScanMyPhotos.com and how all the employees enjoy numerous perks that keep morale and productivity extremely high. Aren't you glad to hear your photo memories are treated with the utmost respect and care by employees who love their jobs and take extreme pride in their work?

How Over-the-Top Will You Go to Boost Employee Morale?

Jan 19, 2012

For some business owners, good culture is everything, and they will pay top dollar for it. Mitch Goldstone is one of those business owners. Goldstone, who is president and CEO of California-based photo scanning service ScanMyPhotos.com, has no qualms about going way over-the-top for his annual employee retreat in Las Vegas. The price tag is a whopping $65,000.
Goldstone’s grand design includes meeting his 17 employees at the airport with chauffeured Rolls Royce Ghost limousines. At the MGM Grand’s swanky Skylofts, employees receive nonstop attention from personal 24-hour butlers and mingle with celebrities. They eat at five-star restaurants, score front row seats to Cirque du Soleil and third row seats to Elton John, and cap it all off with a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.

Employees as First Priority
Creating a culture of appreciation is one thing, but is this much appreciation really necessary? Goldstone thinks so. “Successful entrepreneurs understand that it is all about the employees; they are the fuel that powers a company's success. Employees have to be put first, even ahead of customers, so you can’t be cheap and send everyone to a local restaurant. No level of extravagance is too much to reward loyalty,” he said.
Apparently, it works. Goldstone claims that his organization has zero turnover and that ScanMyPhotos.com recently marked its 21^st year in business. The Vegas retreat cleverly ties into the company’s mission, too. “Our business is to preserve millions of precious photo memories, and along the way, we want to create new ones for ourselves that we’ll remember forever,” said Goldstone.

Bonus Benefits
Employee morale aside, Goldstone and his advisors recognize the public relations value inherent in pulling off the most spectacular employee retreat anyone’s heard of. All over the web, blogs are buzzing about ScanMyPhotos.com and prospective customers are flocking to the website. In all likelihood, these new customers will pay for the revenue lost when Goldstone suspended operations for the retreat.
I suppose my question is: What kind of message does this send to companies looking to improve their cultures and create more desirable places to work? Is culture about putting your employees in an elevator with A-listers, or is it about sending them handwritten birthday cards and ensuring they can pay the hospital bill if they get in a car accident? Is it about letting them live like gluttons for a weekend, or it is about making retirement contributions that will help feed them until they’re 90?
Goldstone is the first to admit that Vegas isn’t everything. ScanMyPhotos.com employees also receive benefits including free lunch and 100 percent health coverage. And perhaps what says the most about ScanMyPhotos.com’s culture is the fact that the employees are willing to spend all of this time together and seem to genuinely have a blast. I mean, hey, I’ve worked in cultures that couldn’t even make Vegas fun.
Here’s something else to consider: It sounds like the ScanMyPhotos.com culture has been a pretty nice one all along. But if your work environment is unsupportive or even hostile and morale is really suffering, a gesture like this may well seem empty and contrived and has the potential to turn off employees even more. If you really want to improve things, it’s simple: Listen and make gradual changes based on the feedback you receive.
For his part, Goldstone is now under pressure to keep the party going. “The Vegas retreat was the experience of a lifetime…until next year.”
Alexandra Levit is a former nationally-syndicated business and workplace columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the author of Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success. Money magazine’s Online Career Expert of the Year, she regularly speaks at organizations and conferences on issues facing modern employees.

https://www247.americanexpress.com/MoblOpenWeb/articles.do?TargetID=culture-beat-how-over-the-top-will-you-go-to-boost-employee-morale&TopicID=managing&showOnOne=true

Not a Kodak Moment: Kodak Files for Bankruptcy

2012-01-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

While everyone continues to capture Kodak moments each day, and ScanMyPhotos.com continues to digitize precious analog photo memories, the company responsible for countless photographic innovations and technology just last night announced they have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
"Not a Kodak Moment" quips Ina Fried of Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital. Read about recent Kodak news and share your thoughts on the evolving history of legendary iconic brand Kodak.
ScanMyPhotos.com supports Kodak's restructuring efforts to keep this special brand a major part of the photographic community.

Kodak's "Big" app

Kodak has invented and reinvented aspects of worldwide image capture, storage, sharing, printing and has make taking pictures fun for millions of people globally. With their Share button and app, picture takers instantly upload their photos to all their social media and photo sharing sites including Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Kodak Gallery and many others - with just the touch of a single button.
How has Kodak influenced your life? You might be surprised to know that Kodak invented digital photography so it's pretty likely you use technology first innovated by this creative brand in your everyday life. Do you use a Kodak digital photo frame? Have you printed a large banner or poster with their "Big" app? Maybe you bought a Kodak camera, printer or one of their numerous products that have won Consumer Electronics Show Innovation Awards?

Kodak's booth at CES 2012

Read Ina Fried's article, "Not a Kodak Moment: Legendary Camera Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection" and share your thoughts on all things Kodak. Use the comment section to share other news about Kodak. How do you think Kodak should transition in this digital world? What would you do if you were a Kodak decision maker?

http://allthingsd.com/20120118/not-a-kodak-moment-as-camera-maker-files-for-bankruptcy/

Future of Preserving, Digitizing and Sharing Photo Memories

2012-01-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

Hear and see Mitch Goldstone, President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com interviewed on the radio by Dave Graveline on "Into Tomorrow: The Consumer Electronics and Technology Show":

"Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline"
radio booth at CES 2012

Mitch Goldstone speaks with Dave Graveline about ScanMyPhotos.com and the future of scanning photos, slides, negatives and transferring VHS & film reels to DVD. Interview conducted at the "Into Tomorrow" booth at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (CES 2012). Photos are everything: we make yours last a lifetime and more.

Before your precious photo memories are lost forever due to natural disaster, wear and tear over the years or simply losing them during a move, send those photos, slides, negatives and videos to ScanMyPhotos.com to be expertly and professionally scanned. Declutter your home and get rid of that storage unit where all your photos are collecting dust and not being enjoyed. Enjoy all those memories with your family and friends by digitizing them and sharing them with everyone in your life.

Listen to the future of photo preservation and sharing.

If those photos have been damaged due to mold, sun exposure, water damage or if they've been torn, restore them back to life and relive those important memories.
But don't just save the professionally photographed, staged memories. Preserve all your photos, including those goofy, funny, unplanned moments which are often the ones we cherish the most. Those are the moments that tend to show our true personalities and capture some of the most memorable moments.

Dave Graveline and Mitch Goldstone

"Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline"
CES 2012

Mitch Goldstone
President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com

Best Way to Preserve All Your Photo Memories

2012-01-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

2012 is the year to digitize all your precious analog photo memories, declutter and get organized. Throw away those old photos and keep digital, scanned copies. For all those photos that have been torn and damaged by water, the sun and mold, restore those images back to life and enjoy those special memories for generations.

What's the absolute best way to scan all your photos? We created the Family Generation Collection to scan and preserve approximately 10,000 photos! Many of our repeat customers tell us they never knew just how many thousands of analog images they have amassed. Get all of your photos scanned, digitized and preserved with the Family Generation Collection from ScanMyPhotos.com.

Family Generation Collection
Expertly scanned by world-renowned photo imaging professionals at ScanMyPhotos.com.

Key Features:

Best Value - 10,000 photos scanned to DVD. (*Total estimated, results vary with packing and size of photos.)
For photo scanning only. No negatives, slides or other media accepted.
Box dimensions: 11" x 8.5" x 5.5", includes six prepaid boxes.
Free delivery.
Includes 1 DVD data disc per box with your scanned images. (300dpi, True Color 24-bit JPEG)
Fast scanning, typically in 21 business days or less.
U.S. domestic only. Sorry, no international orders. For international orders, view our International Services information.
For more answers, view our Frequently Asked Questions
Since 1990: We have preserved ten's of millions of photo memories.
All scanning completed at our Irvine, CA headquarters: Your photos are NEVER shipped out of the country to be scanned.
All photos are returned to you: Choose our prepaid options and there is absolutely no additional charge to return your photos; all shipping is 100% FREE.

Official Consumer Electronics Show 2012 Party List

2012-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Official Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 party list. Las Vegas CES 2012 is almost here - find some of the senior management of ScanMyPhotos.com at CES!

SUNDAY: January 8, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

10 am – 8:30 pm: AT&T Hackathon, Palms (http://bit.ly/uWRWka)

4-7 p.m.: CES Unveiled – Venetian, Ballroom D, invited media only (http://bit.ly/rvTaio)

7-10 pm: 3^rd Annual Startup Debut at CES, House of Blues Foundation Room, invited media only (https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/www.startupdebut.com)

MONDAY: January 9, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

7-11 p.m.: Pepcom Digital Experience – MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, invited media only (http://bit.ly/vIpKTp)

7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.: IMS Research Reception – Monte Carlo Resort & Casino, limited invites (http://www.imsparty.com/)

7:30-10:30 p.m.: DA Awards Ceremony – Aria, Haze Nightclub (Invite only)

8:30- midnight: AT&T “Rock at Rain” (part of AT&T developer summit - http://bit.ly/rMqOBD)

TUESDAY: January 10, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

6-10 p.m.: Showstoppers – Wynn, Lafitte Ballroom, invited media only

7-9 p.m.: Women in CE Awards – Paris, Champagne Ballroom 1 (Tickets available: http://bit.ly/vet4Mw)

TBA – Social Media Club usually does a blogger event…

WEDNESDAY: January 11, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

7:30 – 10:30 a.m.: IDC Breakfast - Encore hotel – Encore Ballroom 5 (Invite only)

5 – 9:30 p.m.: iHollywood Forum/LaunchFest Party – Clarion Hotel, 303 Convention Center Way, Theatre, various levels of tickets, including some free (http://www.ceslaunchfest.eventbrite.com/)

6-8 p.m.: Shuttle Hospitality Suite – Bellagio, Shuttle Suite (Invite only)

6-9 p.m.: Netshelter Party – Venetian, TAO (Invite Only)

7-10 p.m.: Bluetooth SIG Party – Venetian, TAO (Invite only)

7-10 p.m.: Marketnews Canada Night – Bellagio, Bank Nightclub (Invite only)

7:30 p.m.: Monster Cable Retailer Awards – Paris Hotel, Paris Ballroom, starring Chicago (Invite only)

8-11 p.m.: Mashable Awards – Mirage, 1OAK Club, tickets available for $35 (http://mashbash.eventbrite.com/ )

TBA – Parnassus Group/OnStar Tweet House “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” party, location TBA (http://itwontstayinvegas.com/)

THURSDAY: January 12, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

6-10 p.m.: 6^th Annual CES Partylist Party, private residence in Paradise Palms (5 minutes from Convention Center), presented by SocialRadius and sponsored by WeVideo (for media, VIPs, video content creators and friends – for information/consideration, please email party@socialradius.com)

http://cespartylist.com/

Picture-Perfect Partnership: Stamps.com and ScanMyPhotos.com

2012-01-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Stamps.com features ScanMyPhotos.com in their blog and e-newsletter as a "picture-perfect partnership." The Stamps.com customer profile expounds upon the national and international success of ScanMyPhotos.com, the "leading provider of nationwide and international digital photo services" with hundreds of thousands of happy repeat customers.

With over 400,000 monthly subscribers, Stamps.com is the leading provider of Internet-based postage solutions. Stamps.com was the first company to be approved by the U.S. Postal Service to offer a software-only postage service that lets customers buy and print postage online.

Read the Stamps.com profile of ScanMyPhotos.com: a picture-perfect partnership.

ScanMyPhotos.com – Leading the Digital Photo Industry

January 6th, 2012 Eric Nash

ScanMyPhotos.com
The leading provider of digital photo services saves $30,000 each month with Stamps.com and the USPS.

Innovating to stay alive
Successful businesses embrace change. No one knows this better than Mitch Goldstone, President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com, the leading provider of nationwide and international digital photo services. The company started as a boutique retail photo center and experienced significant growth until the mid 1990s, when the world’s shift from traditional film to digital photography threatened to put the company out of business.

In response, Mitch not only transitioned the company to the digital photo world, but he helped his customers do the same by offering a range of digital photo services. Now people around the globe send in their photos, slides, VHS tapes and even 8-millimeter film reels to be digitized, restored and preserved. With a successful new business model in place, Mitch’s next step was to ensure that ScanMyPhotos.com reinvented its shipping as well.

“When dramatic change happens, you ask yourself do you go out of business or reinvent?” said Mitch. “I chose to reinvent. It can be a challenge, but also very rewarding.”

Finding the right shipping solution
As a new small business, shipments were taken to the local Post Office™ where employees would wait in line, manually weigh each package, and obtain postage. When this shipping method proved to be a time liability, the company looked into something new.

Mitch Goldstone,
President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com

Next the company opted for a postage meter, which required employees to replenish postage funds by taking the meter to the Post Office or placing a call to the meter provider. Over time, employees found that the postage meter was largely inefficient and lacked the robust tracking features the company needed to do business.

“People trust us with their most precious memories, their pictures,” said Mitch. “It was important to find a shipping solution with cutting-edge performance and top-notch tracking capabilities that would give our customers peace of mind.”

Stamps.com — The smart choice
One day, Mitch read a news article about Stamps.com’s Internet-based shipping solution and how it enabled customers to print postage and manage shipments with just a PC, printer and Internet connection. “It sounded so cutting edge and exponentially better than anything else, so I decided to try it,” said Mitch.

Seamless Integration
Within minutes, the software was easily installed and ScanMyPhotos.com employees were able to test the shipping solution and start printing postage. Employees were happy to find that virtually all shipping functions were automated, from shipment notification emails to inputting customer addresses. In the event of questions regarding the software, employees were able to call Stamps.com’s award-winning Customer Care team for immediate technical support. “Using Stamps.com is easier than using a stamp, and much friendlier,” said Mitch.

Cost Savings
Using Stamps.com software, ScanMyPhotos.com has instant online access to the prices and services of the USPS®. The company utilizes cost-effective Priority Mail® Flat Rate boxes in order to deliver photos quickly and offer free shipping on its most popular service plan. The company ships over 200 boxes a day, with each box holding as many as 2,000 photos.
“We use Stamps.com to process the shipment of 400,000 photos a day, and we save 40%–50% on each shipment using USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. As a result, we save approximately $30,000 in postage each month — that’s a huge amount of savings,” said Mitch.

Powerful Tracking
A shipper of people’s priceless and prized photos, ScanMyPhotos.com relies heavily on package tracking to provide customers with detailed shipping information. The company uses Stamps.com software to search for and view up-to-date tracking details, access USPS tracking numbers, and automatically generate shipment notification emails. All tracking features are available around the clock and can be accessed from any computer, giving ScanMyPhotos.com the flexibility to conduct business on and off-site.

“We have a great group of employees who take tremendous care of every single photo we receive,” said Mitch. “Each year we reward them with a memorable trip to Las Vegas, where they can easily toggle between fun activities and answering tracking-related customer questions using Stamps.com.”

The ScanMyPhotos.com Team on a company trip in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon

A picture-perfect partnership
After over 21 years of business and recognition from world-renowned media including CNN, the online testimonial section of ScanMyPhotos.com is filled with customer reviews that describe the company’s services as “incredibly reliable, mind-blowing fast, affordable and flawlessly simple from start to finish.”

“Pictures are everything and ScanMyPhotos.com makes sure they last forever,” said Mitch. “We’ve been able to do so by partnering with Stamps.com and using their shipping solution. I’ve found that both companies have the same level of commitment to innovation — and that makes for good business.”

Read more about ScanMyPhotos.com using Stamps.com to process their orders.

http://blog.stamps.com/2012/01/06/customer-spotlight-scanmyphotos-com/

NAPO 'GO Month': Get Organized, Digitize Your Photo Memories

2012-01-04T12:22:00.000-08:00

January 2012 marks the National Association of Professional Organizer's (NAPO) 8th annual 'Get Organized Month (GO Month)'. Get yourself organized and digitize your precious photo memories this month.

Make sure those memories are preserved for future generations to enjoy. Once those photos, slides, negatives and videos are digitized, share those memories with your friends and family easily and quickly. Host online photo sharing and tagging on social networking sites including Facebook, interact with the people close to you with Google+ hangouts, and exchange tweets about your funniest, most memorable and favorite photos. What better way to get organized than organizing your photos?

Photos are Everything. We make yours last a lifetime and more. Arguably, photos are the most important material objects we possess because they cannot be replaced. Dave Malkoff, Emmy winning reporter with KTLA News in Los Angeles offers "the only irreplaceable objects in your house are your family photos and videos," speaking about ScanMyPhotos.com.

Once those analog images are lost, faded, moldy or damaged by natural disaster they are gone forever. Don't let that travesty happen to you. Digitize all of those memories this month! However, if some of your photos are already damaged, restore them and bring them back to life.

January is 'GO Month' and ScanMyPhotos.com supports NAPO's efforts to get America organized.

Miva Merchant ScanMyPhotos.com Testimonial from Rick Wilson on Vimeo.

Read what NAPO says about the 8th annual 'GO Month':

GOing, GOing, Gone!
Kick Clutter to the Curb with a Professional Organizer During Get Organized MonthSM January 2012

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – December 29, 2011 – Helping homeowners and businesses with their New Year’s resolutions to get more organized, January marks the National Association of Professional Organizers’ 8th annual Get Organized MonthSM. This month-long initiative is dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses to retake control of the chaos by providing the resources, tools and educational programming to get started.

“The aftermath of the holidays is often a house full of clutter, and the office is in disarray with files and emails piled at capacity from budget planning season,” said Angela F. Wallace CPO®, President of the National Association of Professional Organizers. “Becoming more organized can help reduce stress, saves time and money, increases productivity and can enhance the quality of your life.”

In a NAPO conducted survey, 96 percent of respondents felt that they could save at least some time each day if they were more organized at home, and 91 percent felt they could be more efficient at work if they were better organized. Additionally, 71 percent indicated their quality of life would improve with more organization. Price Waterhouse Cooper estimates that workers spend nearly 50% of their time looking for information because it is not organized properly.

Professional organizers use tested principles and expertise to enhance their client’s lives by designing custom organizing systems and teaching personalized organization skills. During Get Organized (GO) MonthSM, select NAPO chapters and thousands of members will host public events including, Ask-the- Organizer panels, Organize to Economize in the New Year workshops, Shred-and-Organize events and much more.

“The beginning of a new year is a great time to jumpstart organizing your home or business,” said Wallace. “A NAPO member can help you with room-by- room assessment, organizing a move, improve digital filing processes and enhance business work-flow systems.”

http://www.napo.net/news/press_releases/press_releases/2011/1229_pr.pdf

For more information on GO MonthSM activities and to find a professional organizer near you, visit www.napo.net or call NAPO at 856-380-6828.

About NAPO: The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) is The Organizing Authority®. Since forming in 1985 as a nonprofit professional educational association, NAPO has grown to nearly 4,200 members and is the premiere national association dedicated to the field of organizing and productivity. NAPO is dedicated to serving its members and the public by providing professional and educational opportunities, industry leadership, productive partnerships and expert information and solutions to foster growth and fulfillment for all who work within the organizing and productivity industry or benefit from its services.

MIVA Merchant + ScanMyPhotos.com

2012-01-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

MIVA Merchant is a shopping cart software and the best way to sell online. They have more than 50,000 merchants doing billions of dollars a year in sales and selected ScanMyPhotos.com for their new video to showcase their success.

Watch the video testimonial here!

Miva Merchant ScanMyPhotos.com Testimonial from Rick Wilson on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/34060441

Small Business Health Insurance

2012-01-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Mitch Goldstone, President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com comments on health insurance coverage for small business. Read the article published by Entrepreneur.com today, 1/2/12, written by Diana Ransom:

Small Business Health Care Stuck on Hold

BY Diana Ransom

Editor's Note: This is the first installment in a four-part series analyzing the outlook for small businesses in the year ahead.

When it comes to health care, small-business owners aren't making any fast moves.

Faced with higher premiums again in the year ahead, many business owners have found themselves in a holding pattern. They're concerned about the rising costs and the possible impact of health reform, but unsure about making any changes until they have more clarity or options.

Mitch Goldstone, the President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com, a photo scanning service in Irvine, Calif., plans to continue paying 100 percent of his 19 employees' costs for medical, dental and vision coverage, even though premiums are expected to jump 18 percent, or roughly $18,000, in 2012.

Mitch Goldstone (fourth from right in back row) on a recent trip to the Grand Canyon with his employees. His company’s health insurance premiums are expected to jump $18,000 in 2012.

While he considered sharing the costs with his employees in 2012, he worried that some people would opt out, putting their own health at risk and raising the per-person cost of the company's group plan. "I didn't think that the usurious rates that the health insurance companies are charging should be punishing my employees," Goldstone says.

Waiting to see
He and many other business owners are waiting to see what impact the Affordable Care Act will have on them. Nineteen percent of small employers say they are either "likely" or "very likely" to terminate plans after state insurance exchanges go online in 2014, according to a November survey by Mercer, a benefits consulting firm in New York. The insurance exchanges would offer uninsured consumers a choice of health plans with information about the costs and benefits of each option.
At the same time, the law would require that any business with more than 50 employees working 30 hours a week on average provide health-care coverage or face an annual fine of up to $3,000 per employee. That provision is scheduled to take effect in 2014, but the law's fate remains unclear given a pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging its constitutionality and the uncertain outcome of the 2012 presidential election.
Consequently, many businesses are delaying any major benefit changes, says Barry Cohn, the president and CEO of RGEB Employee Benefits, an insurance agency in Woodland Hills, Calif. "There are just so many moving variables right now. People aren't really mentally prepared yet."

A question of cost
Still, costs are rising. U.S. employers face an 8.5 percent jump in health-care costs in 2012, up slightly from 8 percent in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCooper's annual report on medical cost trends.
That uptick is prompting some owners to alter their company's health benefits—sometimes dramatically. In 2012, 20 percent of small-business owners offering coverage expect to decrease benefits or increase the amount that employees pay, or both, according to a July report from the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business association in Washington, D.C.
Workers in small firms (3 to 199 employees) contribute on average 15 percent of health insurance premium costs for single coverage and 36 percent for family coverage, while workers at larger companies pay 19 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey. In 2011, half of all workers at firms with fewer than 200 employees faced deductibles of at least $1,000, up from 46 percent in 2010, the survey found. More than a quarter of workers at smaller firms had deductibles of $2,000 or more in 2011, compared with 20 percent in 2010.

Sizing up reforms
Although the health-reform legislation is still being challenged in the courts, some companies will face changes in 2012. Starting January 1, businesses with more than 250 employees will have to do more paperwork. They will be required to track the full cost—both the employer's and the employee's share—of medical coverage. They will then have to report the figures on their employees' W-2 forms in 2013. Also in 2013, employers with fewer than 250 workers will be required to start tracking medical coverage costs.

Keeping track of the costs "is not as easy as it sounds," says Ben Lupin, director of compliance at Corporate Synergies Group, a health-benefits broker in Mt. Laurel, N.J. "Some people may be on the plan for a couple of months and drop coverage, or maybe they were single at the beginning of the year and then get married. The payroll [department] or your accountant will need to be aware of what's going on."

Sam Lazarus (on left) recently switched his company from a mini-med plan after his insurer said it was phasing the plan out to comply with the Affordable Care Act.

Another result of health-care reform: the elimination of "mini-med" plans, stripped down medical-care policies that have been popular with small companies because of the lower cost. Sam Lazarus, the owner of ServiceMaster by Best, a cleaning-services provider in Wichita, Kan., recently had to find a new medical plan for his 30 employees because the mini-med plan his company used was being phased out. "In one sense, we were disappointed," he says, adding that the company's new high-deductible plan more than doubles his monthly costs to $2,500 from $1,000. But, "we just want to do what's best for our employees."
Other insurers are dropping small-group plans because they're simply not profitable. In November, New York's Empire BlueCross BlueShield announced that it will trim roughly 30 plans from its small-group market offerings, leaving only four.

In addition, the company says it will pay brokers, who often act as a small company's human resources department, only $5 per employee per policy. Currently, brokers earn a 4 percent commission, or about $22 to $25 per employee per plan. "Commissions have been decreased because our [small group] book continues to lose money," says Sally Kweskin, a spokeswoman for the insurer.
The trend toward flat commission payments is worrisome, says Susan L. Combs, president of Combs & Co., a health and property insurance brokerage in New York. The compensation structure will attract fewer brokers, she predicts, and small businesses will "be stuck calling the 800 number and getting a random person every time."

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222539

iPad apps love you

2011-12-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, so your iPad apps probably don't love you. But you might just get hooked to your iPad with these apps.

Did you receive a new iPad for the holidays? If so, now it’s time to download apps. We read an article by Nancy Messieh with The Next Web and knew our readers would be interested in this topic.

Note the first app she mentions: Snapseed. Snapseed is a photography app that helps you edit and share your photos. Also, she recommends Skitch, an app that helps you annotate your images and screenshots. Check out 500px to browse high quality photos, follow the photo uploads of other users and, if you pay for PhotoStackr for 500px, upload your own photos. Of course we were happy to see photography featured in a top 20 list of iPad apps.

For a full list of all the top photography apps for iPad, based upon the Apple iTunes rankings, check out our previous blog post about the top free iPad photography apps.

Below, check out the 20 recommended apps including those for photography, games, productivity improvement, music, videos and more!

The Next Web’s article, written by Nancy Messieh:

Got a new iPad? These are the first apps you should install on it.

25^th December 2011 by Nancy Messieh

We can imagine that a fair share of iPads got unwrapped this morning, and the first thing you’re going to want to do is switch it on and get a few awesome apps on there. Last year, we gave you a long list of apps that will help you get started with all of the popular essentials.

This year, we’ve decided to do the same thing, adding a ton of great apps to the list that you’ll want to get on to your iPad straight away. The list includes apps to handle your photos and videos, music apps, productivity apps, a few essentials to meet all of your social media needs, and of course a few games to keep you entertained.

Media

Snapseed - If you’re a photography buff and are finally going to get that iPad you always wanted, we’d recommend getting yourself an iPad SD Card Reader from Photojojo. This makes it easier than ever to get your photos straight from your camera onto your iPad, and it’s half the price of Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit. Once the photos are transferred, you’re going to want to be able to edit, process and share your photos. The best app we’ve come across that does this is Snapseed, which we’ve previously reviewed here. The $4.99 app is worth every cent. It comes with easy-to-use autocorrect features which will adjust your images at the click of a button, or if you want more control over your image’s final look, you can manually adjust basics like sharpness, brightness and contrast, and use some pretty cool looking filters to give your photos a grunge or vintage look. Snapseed is controlled entirely by swiping your image either right to left or up and down.

Pandora - For streaming random music or personalized radio stations, Pandora is a great option for those of you who are lucky enough to live in the right country. The iPad app makes it easy to access all of your Pandora radio stations when you log in, and you can rate, skip and pause the music.

MusicTandem - For those of you who don’t have access to Pandora, check out the $0.99 app MusicTandem, which we reviewed here. With the app, you can create personalized radio stations based on artist, genre or tag. When selecting music based on a specific artist, you can choose to play music only by that singer or band, or to play a variety of music similar to that one artist. Our one complaint when it comes to MusicTandem is that it doesn’t play in the background which is a much-needed feature. Another music app which certainly deserves an honourable mention for discovering new music is MusicHunter, which we’ve reviewed in-depth here, but it’s worth noting that the app is now completely free.

Shazam - Another essential app for music buffs is Shazam. The free app comes with unlimited tagging, so if you hear a song on the radio or TV and want to know what it is, just whip out your new iPad, hit tag, and let the magic of Shazam do the rest for you.

Showyou - If you want to watch online videos on your iPad, a great way to do that is with the the free app Showyou. You can connect the app to your YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts, making it easy to find interesting videos, and instantly share them with your friends and followers. Showyou is not only fully searchable if you’re looking for a specific video to watch, but it also comes pre-loaded with grids featuring videos on various topics and from various sources, with everything from Al Jazeera to Reddit TV. If you want to save a video to watch later, all you have to do is sign up for a free account.

FlexPlayer – Since VLC was pulled from the iTunes App Store, the best free alternative available now is FlexPlayer. You don’t have to convert your videos before transferring them to your iPad. Just hook your iPad up to your computer, fire up iTunes and copy your movie files to your iPad. FlexPlayer is a slick video player, and add to that the fact that it’s ad-free, there’s really nothing else that you need to watch your movies and TV shows on your iPad.

Social Media

Zite - We’re big fans of Zite here at The Next Web, and reviewed it when it first launched here. Zite is one of the best ways to get your daily news fix with minimal effort on your part. All you have to do is plug in your preferred topics and the app will do the rest for you. And the more you use it, the better it becomes at making recommendations based on your personal preferences. Zite’s UI is best bar none. It’s sleek and minimal, showcases the articles you’re reading beautifully, and makes it easy to share posts on your favourite social networks or save them for reading later.

Blogsy - You might not get as much writing as you’d expect using the iPad, but if you’re really serious about it, investing in a bluetooth keyboard to go alongside your iPad will make life much easier. So which apps should you download if you’re serious about your writing? The first app a blogger will probably want to download is Blogsy. The $4.99 app supports WordPress, Blogger and Posterous, while also allowing you to access your Flickr, Picasa and YouTube accounts. Blogsy makes it easy to write up and share media-rich posts straight from your iPad, allowing you to upload images and drag-and-drop videos, and also comes with text formatting.

Verbs - Verbs is a pretty slick chat app for the iPad with Google Talk, AIM, Facebook and MobileMe support, and allows you to add multiple accounts. For easy photo-sharing you can also connect your Cloud or Droplr accounts. Normally a paid app, you can get it free for now, but the free version does have its limits. The paid upgrade at $4.99 will get you push notifications, whereas the free version will only notify you of messages for the first 10 minutes that the app runs in the background.

StumbleUpon - When StumbleUpon finally launched an updated iPad app this year, one of our observations when reviewing it was that the iPad was made for this kind of site. And the app certainly lives up to that. We should warn you though, if you’re a fan of StumbleUpon, installing this app on your new iPad will suck you right in and make it hard to put your iPad down.

PhotoSync - For all of your photo uploading needs, rather than download a different app for each account, PhotoSync supports Dropbox, Picasa, Facebook, SmugMug and Flickr. Select multiple photos to upload simultaneously to all of your accounts. You have extensive control over how each account is configured – from privacy settings, folders and more.

500px - Want to browse gorgeous photos on your brand new iPad? Then the first app you need to download is the official 500px iPad app, which we reviewed here. The quality of photography on 500px is pretty impressive, and where better to check it out than on the iPad. If you have a 500px account, you can log in to follow other users and add their photos to your favourites, but unfortunately, you can’t actually upload any images to the site from your iPad using this free app. If you want that capability, you’re going to have to opt for the $0.99 app, PhotoStackr for 500px.

Productivity

Polkast - If you prefer not to have to upload files to the cloud, Polkast is a great alternative. The only drawback is that you’ll have to stay logged in to your computer in order to access your files. On the other hand, there are no complicated settings to fiddle with in order to get the connection to work. Simply install the app on your Mac or Windows computer, install the app on your iPad, and you’re good to go. You can play videos and music straight from the app, or download the files to your iPad. If you modify files on your iPad, you can save the new file back to your computer right from your iPad.

Wunderlist - If you’re looking for a multiplatform productivity app to keep track of your task list, look no further than Wunderlist. The app is completely free regardless of which OS you use, and also syncs to the cloud, so you’ll be sure never to lose your task list, and have access to it on all of your mobile devices and on your computer as well. It’s no surprise the app has over 1 million users now.

iA Writer – While Blogsy has you covered for most of your online writing needs, if you need something to save notes locally on your iPad, we’ll tell you right now, the native notes app that the iPad ships with simply isn’t going to cut it. The $1.99 app iA Writer is a great option because it comes packed with some pretty decent features without locking your content on your iPad. You can sync all of your content on the distraction-free iPad writing app with its Mac counterpart, using Dropbox or iCloud. For those of you who don’t use Macs, you can simply take advantage of the Dropbox backup to get your documents from your iPad to your computer.

Switch - If you know for a fact that your new iPad is going to become a form of entertainment for the whole family, you’ll be disappointed to find that you can’t password protect your apps or create user accounts. The closest you’ll come is to use the $4.99 app Switch which allows you to create browser-related accounts. With Switch, each user can password protect their browsing, bookmarks and logged-in accounts. Of course this applies only to the browser app and doesn’t affect any other apps on your iPad.

Utilities

Flip Clock HD - Your new iPad is going to look great sitting on your bedside table so you might as well put it to good use. With Flip Clock HD you can turn your iPad into a stylish clock which not only lets you keep track of the time and date, but you can also check out your local weather at a glance. Using the app as an alarm clock will give you the option of waking up to tracks on your iPad. When using the app as an alarm clock you will have to keep it open, since it doesn’t work in the background, but the screen does dim if you leave it running without touching the screen.

Skitch - If you’ve been using Skitch on your Mac, you’ll be happy to know that it’s available on the iPad as well. The free app is the best option available for annotating your images and screenshots and instantly save them to your Evernote account.

Games

The Sims 3 - If you’re looking for a game to keep you busy for endless hours, Sims might be the right game for you. The best part is that EA has made a really decent free version available so you can try it out first. Although right now the full version is available for just $0.99 so get it on sale while you can.

Temple Run - Before downloading Temple Run, be warned. It’s extremely addictive. The current version of the free iPad game has been rated over 55,000 times and is standing strong on a 5 star rating. And for good reason. The 3D adventure will have you making your way through a maze, collecting coins, and swiping left and right in the high speed game.

Machinarium - You might be surprised to find that the $4.99 app Machinarium, which only works on the iPad 2, was created using Adobe Flash. The game has received rave reviews, and with the amazing graphics and music, you’ll understand why. The game is a gorgeous experience of puzzles slipped into a point-and-click adventure, and makes for a fun and challenging experience if you have a bit of time to kill.

The Next Web

Of course, we also recommend The Next Web’s iPad app which makes it easy to keep up with all the latest tech news, using a beautiful app designed specifically for Apple’s tablet.

What are your favourite must-have iPad apps? Let us know in the comments.

"
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/12/25/got-a-new-ipad-these-are-the-first-apps-you-should-install-on-it/

Top free iPad Photography apps

2011-12-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

Looking for a photography app for your iPad? Visit this link to see the top 90 free iPad photography apps.

The list is based upon the Apple iTunes store's top download listing. DSLRphoto.com posted this list and will update it hourly comparing the latest app ranking with the previous ranking.

Everything from "Adobe Photoshop Express" to "ColorBlast! Lite" (which let's you create dynamic black and white photos with selected areas of color by brushing in the area of interest) to "Holiday Cards by Sincerely Ink: Christmas, New Year & Hanukkah cards, too!" (which, as it sounds, lets you send cards directly from your iPhone or iPad using your own photos).

Look through the entire list which changes every hour based upon the new rankings.

For more iPad apps for photography, games, personal organization, videos and more, see our post for 20 recommended iPad apps.

You asked, We Answered: Holiday Gift Ideas from ScanMyPhotos.com

2011-12-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Looking for last-minute holiday gifts? We've been receiving calls and emails asking what kinds of services we recommend as good gifts. The average American family has about 5,500 analog photos sitting around. These photos are in photo albums, frames, shoeboxes, bins, storage lockers, stashed away in attics or a closet. Some of these images have already been damaged or have been faded by the sun. Give the gift of photo memories this holiday season and help someone special in your life preserve their memories for a lifetime and more. We hope this helps everyone to choose the best holiday gift. Happy holidays!

As requested, a few gift ideas from ScanMyPhotos.com:

Premier Legacy Photo Scanning Package

Our All-Inclusive, Flat-Fee Premier Legacy Photo Scanning Package. This is the perfect gift for anyone on your list. Everyone has many old photos tucked away, never to be seen. Give the gift that will let them travel down memory lane while also preserving those memories in a digital format. Also a great gift for yourself as well. For one low price you receive:

1 Prepaid Photo Scanning Box for Our Famous Fill the Box Photo Scanning (11"x8.5"x5.5")
4 Duplicate DVDs (total 5 DVDs of your order)
Photo Index Book and Image Rotation
Photo Soap^SM
1 Year of Extreme Backup
Scan in Order
FedEx Ground Return with Signature Confirmation
1 FREE Photo Restoration (up to $39.95 value)

Prepaid Slide Scanning Box

Fits about 540 standard 35mm slides.
Professional, delicate hand scanning with Kodak Digital ICE

Video and Film to DVD Transfer

Prepaid Photo Scanning Box

1 box fits about 2,000 4x6 standard photos. (Total estimated, results vary with packing and size of photos.)
Includes 1 DVD data disc with your scanned images. (300dpi, True Color 24-bit JPEG)

Photo Restoration

And of course, the ScanMyPhotos.com E-Gift Certificate

CES 2012 revealed: Maps! Conference Brochure! PMA@CES TechZone!

2011-12-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Heading to CES 2012 and want to know where everything will be located? Problem solved! See a larger map of the Consumer Electronics Show here!

City-View map

Venetian Map

Las Vegas Convention Center map

You can search by product category and exhibit hall, as well.

Check out the extensive conference program, all the events, awards shows and of course the dizzying array of new and innovative products that will be featured at CES 2012!

Want to see the CES 2012 Conference Brochure? Check it out!

Did you know that PMA@CES is going to be featured for the first time as one of the CES TechZones? CES TechZones group new technology markets together and feature up-and-coming products, services and companies. The Photo Marketing Association International is sponsoring their own TechZone, which will be the place for the most-concentrated exhibits of digital imaging/photography products and services, according to their description.

View the extensive list of exhibitors who will be featured at the PMA@CES TechZone!

See you at CES 2012!

Give the Gift of Photo Memories this Holiday Season

2011-12-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

Photos are everything... we make yours last a lifetime and more.

Give the gift of photo memories this holiday season with a ScanMyPhotos.com gift certificate.

Happy Holidays from ScanMyPhotos.com!

Forget battling for a parking space at the mall and give an e-gift certificate from ScanMyPhotos.com. If you must venture to an over-filled parking lot, thank The Wall Street Journal for these informative tips on finding a parking space faster.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577098451316357124.html?mod=e2gp

Awkward Family Photos

2011-12-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

‎Awkward family photos - what a perfect time of year to check out this site. Especially since they teamed up with USA Today to celebrate the 12 Days of Awkward Holiday Photos.

Most of us have at least one awkward photo... What's yours?

Check out the official Awkward Family Photos board game! Why not make your own game with your very own awkward scanned photos?

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Facebook Timeline Goes Live

2011-12-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Facebook's more than 800 million members will now be able to convert their profiles to the new Timeline design.

The world's largest social network announced Timeline in September, and now it's available worldwide. The feature replaces current user profiles and dramatically overhauls how information is shared on the service.

"It's a way to tell all the important stories from your life on a single page," Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said when he announced the new feature at his company's F8 Conference.

Timeline shows all the updates a person has added to Facebook since they joined the site. It also follows the social network's desire to provide users with a single place to showcase what has happened in their lives over the years.

Facebook said this morning that people can head over to its Timeline information page and turn the feature on. Upon doing so, they will have seven days to review their timelines and decide whether certain photos or wall posts shared on the site over the years should be shared or kept hidden from view.

Aside from a prominent picture at the top and basic information below it, Timeline has a right sidebar listing years in chronological order that you can click on to see what a user shared on the site, who they made friends with, and other information for any given period. Timeline even includes a map where people can input where they've been around the world.

I loaded up Timeline this morning and was immediately hit with a sense of nostalgia. I went back to updates and posts friends put on my wall years prior. In many cases, they were things (and events) that I had long forgotten. But Facebook hadn't. And now, my friends and I can relive some of those moments.

Timeline has privacy features.

(Credit: Facebook)

Aside from that, I was pleased with Facebook's decision to let me customize just about everything in Timeline. If there was something I didn't think should be shared any longer, I simply made it private. And if certain information was worth sharing again, I made it publicly viewable.

Inevitably, some folks will complain about Timeline's design and Facebook heaping major changes on its user base. But from what I've seen so far, it's a solid update. It offers privacy features, it comes with a nice design, and it makes getting to know people (in the virtual world, at least) a bit easier.

Facebook said it will automatically push the timeline live seven days after someone signs up for the new feature. However, if folks are content with what's shared after reviewing it, they can push it live themselves at any point within that period.

Mobile users hoping to access Timeline will be able to do so from Facebook's mobile Web site.Android handset owners will also have access to Timeline in the Facebook for Android app.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57343500-17/facebook-timeline-goes-live-out-with-old-in-with-new/

Kodak Earns Three CES Innovation Awards from Consumer Electronics Association

2011-12-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

‎Kodak earns three (3) CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Which products won? The Kodak Hero 9.1 all-in-one printer, Kodak Playfull waterproof video camera & Kodak Playsport video camera/Zx5.

Do you use Kodak products or services?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kodak-earns-three-ces-innovations-awards-from-consumer-electronics-association-2011-11-09?siteid=nbsh

Tech the Halls with Photos

2011-12-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

Looking for that last-minute gift idea?

Tech the Halls with photos, slides, negatives and film scanned and digitized. Give a prepaid box to your family and friends this holiday season.

Enter code TECH40 at checkout: ScanMyPhotos.com. Receive $40 off your next online prepaid order over $200 through December 31, 2011.

Happy holidays from ScanMyPhotos.com!

Pick Your Plane Seatmate on Facebook

2011-12-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, you read correctly. You will be able to chose your seat-neighbor when flying KLM Royal Dutch Airlines through Facebook and Twitter profile searches.

Will you use this service? Do you like this idea?

If you would use this feature for picking your seatmate, would you alter your social media profiles to try to be the #1 most wanted seat-neighbor? Or would you try to be the least favorite choice in an attempt that you might have an empty seat next to you? How would you accomplish either of those feats using your scanned photos?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dutch-airline-passengers-pick-seatmates-facebook/story?id=15155962#.TupJ4Jj3BGx

Holiday Cards 2000-2010

2011-12-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

Find inspiration for your card by viewing this collection of The Arnold Family's holiday cards from the past decade. Do you mail cards to friends and family or do you send e-cards? Do you use scanned photos to create unique cards? Below, check out one of their cards posted at CameraSim.com.

http://camerasim.com/creative-christmas-cards/

Seeking a Picture-Perfect Tablet

2011-12-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Looking for a tablet to organize, edit and store photos? These are helpful tips.

Consider screen size, the ability to add storage space, see of syncing images externally or saving them in a cloud.

Very importantly, keep in mind the quality, quantity and availability of photo apps that you will have access to on your particular tablet's operating system. Make editing and organizing your photos as easy, fast and FUN as possible.

Happy organizing and editing!

December 12, 2011, 5:46 PM

Q&A: Seeking a Picture-Perfect Tablet

By J.D. BIERSDORFER

I want to get a tablet for organizing, editing and storing photos. What things should I consider when shopping?

Although there are other systems available, most tablets today run Google’s Android operating system — except for Apple’s iPad 2, which runs its own iOS system.

If you want to put a focus on photography when making a tablet purchase, keep several factors in mind. Unless you want to travel light, a tablet with a 10-inch screen gives you more space to edit and show off your work than do tablets with 8.9- or 7-inch screens. If you plan to store a lot of images on the device, be mindful of the storage capacity. Some tablets expand on their internal storage space with slots for Secure Digital cards, ports for USB flash drives or a few extra gigabytes of room on a remote server.

But even with smaller-capacity tablets, you can still usually move pictures between the device and your computer. Depending on your computer’s photo program of choice, you may find it easier to sync images to the tablet if you use certain software. For example, Google’s Picasa program works easily with Android devices, and Apple’s iPad (through the iTunes program) can quickly synchronize photo collections stored in iPhoto or Aperture for the Mac, or Adobe Photoshop Elements for Windows.

When it comes to mobile devices, the apps available for the operating system are perhaps the most important factor to consider, especially if you want to do a lot of image editing directly on the tablet. If you are trying to decide between an Android tablet or an Apple iPad, visit the app stores for each system and browse the photography section to see what apps fit your needs best.

You can sample the Android Market here and Apple has a list of iOS photo apps here. If you already use Adobe’s Photoshop products, the company has a selection of photo-editing apps for both systems here.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/qa-seeking-a-picture-perfect-tablet/

The ScanMyPhotos.com Annual Las Vegas Company Retreat

2011-12-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

Each year, to celebrate our extraordinary employees and to provide an opportunity to bond, the entire ScanMyPhotos.com family heads out to the Capitol of fun as we leisurely enjoy Las Vegas.

We recently returned from this year’s retreat, which vaunted a more over-the-top adventure than ever in the past. The celebration was in part due to our expansion from a 1,200 sq. ft. retail location to our new corporate headquarters in Irvine, CA - boasting 6,000 sq. ft and 19 separate offices. Our staff has also grown over the years, from five to nineteen employees (new ones are on the way).

For this retreat, we even flew a former employee to join in the fun. Although Phil is now attending the University of Massachusetts, it was important that he too attended, after all, we are a tight-knit family and his efforts also assisted in magnifying the upswing in our business; besides, we hope that during vacations and next summer, he will return to work with us.

Those guests flying to Las Vegas were met with chauffeured Rolls Royce Ghost limousines to whisk them to SKYLOFT’S. Perched on the top two floors of MGM Grand, SKYLOFT'S redefines luxury. From the modern two-story loft design to their personal 24-hour butlers, every detail was carefully planned to ensure our absolute comfort.

At this years ScanMyPhotos.com Vegas adventure, we included a master suite at SKYLOFT’S Suites. Several employees engaged and talked with the celebrities that were also staying on our floor. Along with separate luxury rooms throughout MGM Grand, Vegas shows, culinary and unique thrill ride experiences were also provided.

Some of the activities included:

Front row seats to LOVE, the Cirque du Cell celebration of the musical legacy of The Beatles at Mirage Hotel and Casino

Row three seats for Elton John's Million Dollar Piano Show at Caesar’s Palace

Heart-pounding thrill rides atop the Stratosphere Casino Hotel

Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour - We began at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday as we received a briefing on the helicopter adventure by Maverick Helicopter Tours. Sixteen of our guests were wisked above the beautiful Lake Las Vegas, Lake Mead, the world-famous Hoover Dam and Fortification Hill, an extinct volcano. Along the way we saw breathtaking scenery and wildlife of the Southwest.

Then, we descended and landed 3,500 feet into the Grand

Canyon in Hualapai Indian Territory. Champagne, beverages and a morning breakfast were served some 300 feet above the mighty Colorado River surrounded by one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. Afterwards, we boarded the helicopters for a journey back through the Grand Canyon and land on the West Rim, where we enjoyed the spectacular views at Eagle Point and received a brief introduction to the Hualapai Indian legends and culture. Afterwards, we headed to Guano Point, a breathtaking observation spot overlooking the Grand Canyon where another meal was served. The adventure culminated with a walk on the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the new glass bridge attraction. On the ride back, aboard our three chartered helicopters, we set out back to the SKYLOFT’S Suites, toward Las Vegas through the Bowl of Fire and concluded the journey with a flight over the Las Vegas Strip.

In-room games and dining experiences at SKYLOFT’S Suites were hosted throughout the retreat along with those famous Vegas buffets at MGM and Mirage.

Dinner included reserved seating for our seventeen guests at two of the hottest Vegas restaurants.

MESA Grill Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace: Bobby Flay brings his passion for bold and innovative Southwestern fare straight to the heart of the region that inspired it at Mesa Grill, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Bobby developed his signature style of American cookery, marrying the flavors of southwest with his love of grilling at Mesa Grill. Dishes like New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon-Ancho Chile Sauce, Sweet Potato Tamale, and Crushed Pecan Butter were presented. In a nod to the West, he also included a Chiptole Glazed Rib-Eye with Red and Green Chile Sauce. Las Vegas' proximity to Mexico gives the restaurant access to some of that country’’s highest-quality tequila and mezcal offerings, and the expansive wine list has a global reach yet maintains an emphasis on top American wines. The combination of Mesa Grill's magnificent decor, the exciting vibe of the casino atmosphere and Bobby Flay's stunning range of textures, flavors and colors incorporated into his menu electrify all of us.

Spago Vegas: At the flagship of Wolfgang Puck's fine dining restaurant empire at Spago, located in The Forum Shops at Caesar’s, just steps away from the Colosseum Theater where we saw the new Elton John show, we were presented with an imaginative diner menu. Acknowledged as the spark that ignited the Las Vegas culinary phenomenon, Spago is the preeminent trendsetter in cuisine, service and style -- synonymous with fine food and celebrity clientele. Executive Chef Eric Klein’s menu features seasonal American cuisine with influences from around the world and trademark Wolfgang Puck touches.

Craftsteak Las Vegas: After a day traveling to the Grand Canyon and afternoon in room movies, we stopped off for cocktails in the private SKYLOFT’S lounge 29 floors above the Vegas Strip and then ambled through the SKYLOFT’S lobby to Craftsteak, where the James Beard Award Winning Chef, Tom Colicchio created menu items that appeal to all lovers of fine food. Using only the finest ingredients from small family farms and other specialized venues, every dish bursts with flavor. While this famous steakhouse offers mainstays like Kobe beef, specialties also include veal, salmon, lobster, and farmer's market vegetables. Before a medley of the most popular desserts were served, each guest was provided with a private tour of the Craftsteak kitchen.

Why did we entertain our employees in Vegas?

We are smart and they deserve it. They are the best employees in the WORLD and the reason for our success! After 21-years in business, we understand that our most important resource are those dedicated workers that help build and expand ScanMyPhotos.com. Every smart entrepreneurial company should understand the fuel that powers their business are their employees. Beyond a very rich compensation program, including free lunch and 100% paid medical, dental and eye coverage, we constantly strive to create an environment that fabricates loyalty and a steadfast commitment to excellence. After all, our business is to preserve millions of precious photo memories, and along the way, create new ones for us that will be coveted forever.

PMA@CES exhibitor update

2011-12-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

JACKSON, Mich. – PMA, The Worldwide Community of Imaging Associations reports The Venetian exhibit space allotted for 2012 PMA@CES will feature key exhibits in the digital output, camera and accessory space. The combined PMA, Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA) and International CES imaging experience, Jan. 8-13, 2012, is shaping up to be the biggest imaging exhibition and conferences in U.S. history.

“Coupled with the array of digital imaging companies at other International CES venues, PMA@CES is shaping up to be the can’t-miss kick-off for 2012,” comments Jim Esp, executive director, PMA. “With DIMA and our traditional PMA programming, we’ve got a terrific lineup.”

Pentax Ricoh, Liberty Synergistics, Lucidiom, Noritsu America and Tamrac are among the confirmed exhibitors in the PMA@CES, which will also feature imaging-specific German and China pavilions. Other imaging exhibitors at The Venetian include AAA Imaging Solutions, ToCAD America, Inc., Black Rapid Inc., Bowens International, Dotline, KIS SA, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, Marumi Optical Co. Ltd., MediaClip Inc., Omega Brandess, Pioneer Photo Albums, Storefront.com, Altech Co. Ltd., Colorado Timberline, Gallery Blocks / Artsy Couture, GPI International, KVD Kleer Vu Deluxe, Matin Interational Co. Ltd., and Think Tank Photo.

The 2012 International CES also features a robust array of digital imaging companies exhibiting in other areas of the show floor, including Canon, Casio, Fujifilm, JVC, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung, Sigma, Sony, Tiffen and Vivitar.

PMA@CES will give attendees maximum exposure to all of the newest technology and products in the imaging/electronics world.

Esp adds the outlook is bright for PMA-CES relationship, which is in the first year of a two-year agreement and will continue in 2013.

Major PMA events coming soon:
• DIMA /PMA@CES Conferences, Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 8-12, 2012
•PMA@CES exhibits, Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 10-13, 2012
• PPFA Convention, Mirage Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2012
•PSPA/SPAA Conferences, The Renaissance Las Vegas, Nev., Feb. 18-19, 2012
•6Sight Future of Imaging Conference, New York, N.Y., June 25-27, 2012
For more information on PMA events, visit the PMA home page.

About PMA – The Worldwide Community of Imaging Associations
As a professional trade association, PMA® helps the worldwide photo imaging community achieve business success and adapt to new technologies. Its commitment to members in 100-plus countries is part of an 86-year legacy that connects business owners to a network of knowledge and support. PMA furthers this purpose through the development of educational programs, marketing research, publications, and trade shows. As a not-for-profit organization, any success PMA achieves in its endeavors directly benefits the industry, providing the means to continually develop services and activities for members.

Official Consumer Electronics Show 2012 Party List

2011-12-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Update: See the most up-to-date, official list of CES 2012 parties!

List from December 9th follows:

SUNDAY: January 8, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

10 am – 8:30 pm: AT&T Hackathon, Palms (http://bit.ly/uWRWka)

4-7 p.m.: CES Unveiled – Venetian, Ballroom D, invited media only (http://bit.ly/rvTaio)

7-10 pm: 3^rd Annual Startup Debut at CES, House of Blues Foundation Room, invited media only (www.startupdebut.com)

MONDAY: January 9, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

7-11 p.m.: Pepcom Digital Experience – MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, invited media only (http://bit.ly/vIpKTp)

7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.: IMS Research Reception – Monte Carlo Resort & Casino, limited invites (www.imsparty.com)

7:30-10:30 p.m.: DA Awards Ceremony – Aria, Haze Nightclub (Invite only)

8:30- midnight: AT&T “Rock at Rain” (part of AT&T developer summit - http://bit.ly/rMqOBD)

TUESDAY: January 10, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

6-10 p.m.: Showstoppers – Wynn, Lafitte Ballroom, invited media only

7-9 p.m.: Women in CE Awards – Paris, Champagne Ballroom 1 (Tickets available: http://bit.ly/vet4Mw)

TBA – Social Media Club usually does a blogger event…

WEDNESDAY: January 11, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

7:30 – 10:30 a.m.: IDC Breakfast - Encore hotel – Encore Ballroom 5 (Invite only)

5 – 9:30 p.m.: iHollywood Forum/LaunchFest Party – Clarion Hotel, 303 Convention Center Way, Theatre, various levels of tickets, including some free (www.ceslaunchfest.eventbrite.com)

6-8 p.m.: Shuttle Hospitality Suite – Bellagio, Shuttle Suite (Invite only)

6-9 p.m.: Netshelter Party – Venetian, TAO (Invite Only)

7-10 p.m.: Bluetooth SIG Party – Venetian, TAO (Invite only)

7-10 p.m.: Marketnews Canada Night – Bellagio, Bank Nightclub (Invite only)

7:30 p.m.: Monster Cable Retailer Awards – Paris Hotel, Paris Ballroom, starring Chicago (Invite only)

8-11 p.m.: Mashable Awards – Mirage, 1OAK Club, tickets available for $35 (http://mashbash.eventbrite.com/ )

TBA – Parnassus Group/OnStar Tweet House “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” party, location TBA (http://itwontstayinvegas.com/)

THURSDAY: January 12, 2012 CES Parties

posted by admin on Nov 29

In 2012, the trend will be to discard your photo albums and save everything digitally

2011-12-07T16:01:00.001-08:00

Digitize your life was the principle takeaway message learned by members of the ScanMyPhotos.com senior management team as they attended the Economist Magazine's World in 2012 Festival, which was held on December 1st and 3rd in New York City. A compelling message at the conference was to propel yourself into the digital age to protect your precious photo memories and declutter your life. By digitizing your analog images, you will be able to instantaneously share those memories with friends and family across the world.

If you are looking for a creative way to share your photo memories, consider collaboratively hosting an online family reunion by uploading your scanned photos to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Instagram or another photo sharing site, allowing your family and friends to tag people and comment on each of those special images.

Do you have an annual New Year’s resolution to live happier and stress-free? Happiness is throwing away your photo albums and saving everything digitally. Preserve your precious memories for a lifetime and more.

If you’re looking for that perfect gift to help preserve family genealogy or save and share analog images, try Teching the halls with ScanMyPhotos.com.

ScanMyPhotos.com Attending The Economist Magazine World in 2012 Festival

2011-11-29T16:28:00.000-08:00

About The World In Festival

[Watch this video]

With lively presidential elections in America and France, the Olympics in London, and massive change happening in every corner of the globe, the year 2012 promises to be a big one. Members of the ScanMyPhotos.com senior management team will be participating by attending this years New York City conference.

List of speakers

Follow along on Twitter [#TheWorldIn]

And this year, like every year for the past twenty-five, The Economist has published The World in..., a collection of trends and predictions about the year ahead. Journalists from The Economist and leaders in business, government and a wide variety of fields — from Bill Gates to Angelina Jolie, from Nicolas Sarkozy to the Dalai Lama, from Michael Bloomberg to Eric Schmidt – step out on a limb and make bold predictions about their fields of endeavour and the events that will shape our lives in the near future. Predicting the future is a hazardous affair, but over the years The World in... has given readers a rich feast of ideas about what’s on the horizon.On December 1-3m 2011, The Economist will host the third annual World In Festival, timed with the publication of TQhe World in 2012 publication. Over the course of this event, a select group of engaged Economist readers will be immersed in debate, discussion and interactive activities with the editors of The Economist, guest writers for The World in 2012, and special guests. From high-powered speakers on pressing economic, business, and political matters to experts on cultural trends, artists and musicians, the summit will be a feast for the intellect and an opportunity to frame the year ahead with people who will move the headlines.For over 165 years, The Economist has traded on two ideas—insight and optimism. At The World In 2012 event, participants will have the opportunity to share in a unique experience that only The Economist can create—and to share their views and ideas about what will shape the months ahead.And this year, like every year for the past twenty-five, The Economist has published The World in..., a collection of trends and predictions about the year ahead. Journalists from The Economist and leaders in business, government and a wide variety of fields — from Bill Gates to Angelina Jolie, from Nicolas Sarkozy to the Dalai Lama, from Michael Bloomberg to Eric Schmidt – step out on a limb and make bold predictions about their fields of endeavour and the events that will shape our lives in the near future.

Predicting the future is a hazardous affair, but over the years The World in... has given readers a rich feast of ideas about what’s on the horizon.

On December 1 and 3, 2011, The Economist will host the third annual World In Festival, timed with the publication of The World in 2012 publication. Over the course of this event, a select group of engaged Economist readers will be immersed in debate, discussion and interactive activities with the editors of The Economist, guest writers for The World in 2012, and special guests. From high-powered speakers on pressing economic, business, and political matters to experts on cultural trends, artists and musicians, the summit will be a feast for the intellect and an opportunity to frame the year ahead with people who will move the headlines.

SCHEDULE:

World in 2012 Festival

New York, December 1 and 3, 2011

About the event

The World in 2012 Festival is a two-day event that builds on a more than quarter-century of publishing success with The Economist’s annual publication, The World in - a collection of trends and predictions that will shape the year ahead. The World in 2012 Festival brings the publication to life with a forward-thinking programme that balances sophisticated discussion with a provocative cultural experience unlike anything else. Luminaries from business, politics, science, universities, and the arts come together in a live arena to make their predictions and voice their ideas for 2012 and beyond.

Taking place in downtown Manhattan, The World in 2012 Festival will begin on Thursday, December 1st, for “an evening of global politics”, featuring some of today’s leading politics experts discussing three of the world’s most closely-watched 2012 presidential elections—the US, France and Mexico. The following Saturday, the festival continues with six diverse panel sessions, where experts will make predictions and engage in lively discussions on topics ranging from China’s power transition to global debt to the wild world of sport. The World in 2012 Festival is truly a must-attend experience for the culturally and intellectually engaged to hear what today’s top minds think about tomorrow.

Chair

Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist; Editor, The World in 2012

Speakers

Alec Baldwin, Emmy Award-winning actor, “30 Rock”

Zanny Minton Beddoes, Economics Editor, The Economist

Matthew Bishop, NY Bureau Chief, The Economist

Bhaskar Chakravorti, Senior Associate Dean of International Business & Finance, The Fletcher

School, Tufts University; Executive Director, Fletcher Institute for Business in the Global

Context

Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder, CEO, foursquare

Tom Easton, US Finance Editor, The Economist

Robert Frank, Author, “The High-Beta Rich”; Senior Writer, The Wall Street Journal

Brian Gaffney, CEO, Allianz Global Investors Distributors

Tavi Gevinson, Founder, Editor in Chief, “The Style Rookie” & Rookie Magazine

Martin Giles, Technology Correspondent, The Economist

Kal Kallaugher, Political Cartoonist, The Economist

Arianna Huffington, President, Editor in Chief, AOL Huffington Post Media Group

Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, President of Global Market Development, Qualcomm

Kal Kallaugher, Political Cartoonist, The Economist

Nicholas Lardy, Senior Fellow, Peterson International Institute of Economics

Kati London, Director of Product, Zynga New York

Mary Matalin, Republican Strategist, CNN

Alice Lyman Miller, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

Paul Miller (aka “DJ Spooky”), Professor, European Graduate School; Author, “Book of Ice“

Susan Miller, Founder, Astrology Zone; Author, “The World Ahead: 2012”

Moby, Musician

Saad Mohseni, Chairman, Founder, MOBY Group

James Mulvenon, Director, China Division, Defense Group, Inc.

Mark Penn, CEO, Burson-Marsteller

Ruth Porat, Executive Vice President, CFO, Morgan Stanley

Eswar Prasad, Professor of Trade Policy, Cornell University; Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation

Dan Rosenheck, Americas Online Editor, Sports Editor, The Economist

Robert Rubin, former Secretary, US Department of Treasury; Chair, Council on Foreign Relations

Paul Saffo, Managing Director, Discern Analytics

Wesley Stace, Musician, Author, “Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer”

George Stephanopoulos, GMA Anchor, Chief Political Correspondent, ABC News

Travis Tygart, CEO, US Anti-Doping Agency

Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Shanghai Bureau Chief, The Economist

Carl Walter, Managing Director, COO of China Businesses, JP Morgan; Co-author, "Red Capitalism"

Cintra Wilson, Fashion Writer, The New York Times; Author, “Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling

America's Fashion Destiny”[source: The Economist.com]

This Saturday, November 26th is the 2nd Annual AmEx Small Business Saturday

2011-11-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

ScanMyPhotos.com is again participating in the 2nd annual Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express and Facebook! Small Business Saturday takes place on Nov. 26th.

Small Business Saturday encourages consumers to support independent entrepreneurial businesses.

Purchase at least $25 at ScanMyPhotos.com and you will be eligible to get a one-time $25 statement credit on your American Express credit card statement.

STEP ONE: Purchase at least $25 at ScanMyPhotos.com on Saturday, November 26th and you are eligible to receive the AmEx credit. Simply register your AmEx card before you spend at least $25 at ScanMyPhotos.com.

STEP TWO:

Buy an e-Gift Certificate for everyone on your list. Our popular e-Gift certificates start at just $25.

Also, order our extremely popular Prepaid Photo Scanning Boxes and Prepaid Slide Scanning Boxes!

To learn more about the nationwide AmEx Small Business Saturday, visit their Facebook page.

Happy Holidays from the entire ScanMyPhotos.com family

http://m.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&_rdr

BIG Win. Save 25% Off Online Photo Scanning

2011-11-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

How to Have My 8mm Film Digitizated to High Quality Digital DVD Movies

2011-11-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

ScanMyPhotos.com has a new and improved 8mm transfer service to produce high quality movies from your old 8mm and Super8 reels.

Bring those old home movies into the digital age.

Watch this sample, professionally digitized 8mm film from ScanMyPhotos.com to showcase how special your newly preserved family movies will look.

8mm Film Reel to DVD
Pricing
Order Form

Hi8 Video Tape to DVD
Learn More
Order Form

The improved 8mm film transfer system at ScanMyPhotos.com boasts:

Scene by Scene Density Adjustment - As your film is digitized, the technician will manually adjust the scene to offer the best possible balance of clarity and overall look for that specific scene

Manual Retiming of Movie - Once digitized, our technicians view a small portion of your movie to ensure that the timing of the reel is correct. No more “old-time” movement that makes everyone look they were in a hurry.

Flicker Free Playback - Since we digitize your film frame-by-frame and manually retime the movie, you no longer get the flicker effect that plagues so many other transfers.

Full Frame Capture - We capture as much of the film as possible with no stretching or distorting of your movie to give you the most of your movie.

Menu with Selectable Chapters - We create DVDs with full menus and chapter selections so you can watch either all of the movies or select just the reels you want to watch.

Transfer in Order - Each reel is used to create a chapter on the DVD. If you would like them in a specific order, simply number the reels and we will transfer them in that order.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Holiday e-Gift Certificates from ScanMyPhotos.com

2011-11-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for the perfect gift this holiday season?

We've got the perfect idea to last a lifetime and more.

•Give the gift of ScanMyPhotos.com

•$25, $50, $100, $125, $250 and $500 available

•Recipient receives code and message from you via email

Now you can give the gift of photo memory preservation to those you love from ScanMyPhotos.com. The recipient receives an email from you (if you choose it) with the code and gift message from you. If you do not wish to send the email to the recipient right away, enter your email address to have it sent to you. You can then forward the email at the time of your choosing. E-gift certificates are only valid toward our prepaid photo scanning service and additional options.

Click here to get more info and to order

Photo app “makes it fun to learn about photography”

2011-11-09T06:13:00.000-08:00

Photo app “makes it fun to learn about photography”

Another Customer Rave About Our Delicate Hand Scanning of Film Negatives

2011-11-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

Just got my 1,017 negatives back and your work was FABULOUS. I shot the pictures 20-30 years ago and yet your images showed no dust, no scratches, only great quality photos.
Your images were better than the original prints!!! Also, before finding your company I had the negatives reprinted at a local drugstore and the quality of your work was vastly superior. Thanks again for a great job, that was VERY affordable, and with FAST turnaround time. I will be sending you more work soon.
Louis V.
Niceville, Florida

Holiday Gift Idea: How to Digitize 35mm Slides to DVD - low as 27 cents each

2011-11-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Give everyone on your list a special gift to provide joy for years

The perfect holiday gift takes minutes to order online

Click here to buy our most popular prepaid slide scanning boxes

ScanMyPhotos.com expertly and quickly scans and digitizes thousands of slides daily at 2,000 or 4,000 DPI using the most advanced technology.

Trusted by professional photographers around the world since 1990

Visit our “In the News” section at ScanMyPhotos.com for many published, professional reviews including:

The New York Times Two rave articles including by personal tech columnist, David Pogue

Barron’s “Easy as a Snap” 5 Star review

USA Today “How to Digitize Your Life”

The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, Scientific American, TV News & many more

AS LOW AS 27¢ PER SLIDE

35mm Slide Scan Prices (cost per slide $US)

Quantity 2,000 DPI 4,000 DPI

1-499             65¢            87¢

500-1499      52¢            70¢

1500-2899   39¢            57¢

2900-5799    35¢            49¢

5800+            27¢            45¢

We also offer Photo Soap on prepaid scanning orders which:

•applies medical quality contrast and sharpness;
•restores color vibrancy;
•improves shadow detail and brightens highlights;
•removes abnormal tint caused by tungsten, fluorescent, ultraviolet and infrared lighting

Order our most popular, featured prepaid slide scanning box for 35mm mounted slides. Fit about 540 slides in each box to be professionally & delicately hand scanned with Kodak Digital ICE for $249.95 per box, including free shipping & handling. CLICK HERE or see our website for details

You select from our two affordable pricing services with industry-leading discounts for delicate hand scanning of 35mm slide orders

Kodak's new "big" app

2011-11-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

The new big print out app from Kodak: print one of the photos we scanned for you and make a large poster-sized or banner-sized image at home.

http://1000words.kodak.com/thousandwords/post/?ID=7569930963447624181

Repeat Customers Tell us Why They Keep Coming Back to ScanMyPhotos.com

2011-11-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Our customers selected this year's must-have photo scanning service.

Throughout the year, we track feedback and experiences shared by people trusting ScanMyPhotos.com to digitize their photo memories. This year, the most popular item has been the 3-for-2 prepaid photo scanning boxes to easily & quickly have about 6,000 photos expertly scanned to DVD with free S/H [Save $184].

Repeat customers tell us they continue to use our services for 4 main reasons: our unbeatable prices, high quality, efficiency and knowledgeable and friendly customer service.

Get ready for the holidays and buy prepaid photo scanning boxes to give the gift that provides joy for years to come.

Order your boxes today at this link:
http://www.scanmyphotos.com/photo-scanning.html

Anniversary Gifts for Parents

2011-10-31T07:50:00.001-07:00

For unique anniversary gift ideas, check out this blog

One of Our Favorite Customer's, Ira Neimark, Former Bergdorf Goodman CEO, Profiled in the WSJ

2011-10-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

There are few greater joys than to share in a friend's success. For us, Ira Neimark is more than a customer, he has been a role model. His prior book was used as a road map for how to create an extraordinary experience for our customers, by mirroring the former Bergdorf Goodman CEO's decades of devotion to customer service and retail excellence.

Mr. Neimark's newest book, "The Rise of Fashion and Lessons Learned at Bergdorf Goodman" is now available at Amazon.com.

read the review

Published this month by Fairchild Books, the tome features short stories about his ascent from high school drop-out to the chief executive of Bergdorf's, which he transformed "from an old, dull, expensive, intimidating store to a young, exciting, expensive, intimidating store." He recounts his store experiences, and impressions of designers like Donna Karan ("When she had a small business, small ego—now she has a large business"), the Fendi sisters ("Always looking for the best deal, usually found it") and Michael Kors ("Central casting for talent and good looks").

USPS Profiles ScanMyPhotos.com in News Link

2011-10-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

The United States Postal Service published a Customer Focus profile on ScanMyPhotos.com in News Link that is read by all USPS employees. Read more

Excerpt:

“SAVED MY BUSINESS” PHOTO COMPANY FINDS NEW LIFE THANKS TO FLAT-RATE SHIPPING

Mitch Goldstone (L) president & CEO;
Carl Berman Executive VP & CFO, ScanMyPhotos.com

Mitch Goldstone, left, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com.

In 2008, Mitch Goldstone’s company was in trouble.

Originally a boutique retail photo center, California-based ScanMyPhotos.com was losing business because of the shift from film to digital photography. Goldstone had transformed his company to digitize photos, slides and negatives, but he needed to expand his client base.

“I saw a commercial for the Postal Service’s flat-rate shipping,” said Goldstone. “It looked like a great way to serve more customers efficiently and affordably.”Goldstone later attended a business conference where the Postal Service had representatives available. “They told me all about flat-rate shipping and later sent supervisors to tour my facility and help modernize my operations,” he said.

Today, ScanMyPhotos.com customers place orders online. Goldstone sends them Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes — which customers fill with photos for scanning and mail back to the company. After each job, Goldstone returns the completed order using Priority Mail. ScanMyPhotos.com covers all shipping costs, and each job takes only 2-3 days to finish.

ScanMyPhotos.com now serves 230,000 customers, has more than tripled its staff and has moved its operations to a 6,000-square-foot headquarters.

“Flat-rate shipping saved my business,” said Goldstone. “I always tell people about the wonderful experience I’ve had.”

USPSNEWSLINK © 2011 United States Postal Service

ScanMyPhotos.com Sponsors 13th annual MARCPO with NAPO-WDC

2011-10-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

ScanMyPhotos.com is sponsoring the 13th annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers (MARCPO) to be held Saturday, October 15, 2011.

We're looking forward to connecting with more professional organizers in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area at this conference hosted by the Washington, D.C. Metro chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).

A corporate member of NAPO, ScanMyPhotos.com is regularly used by professional organizers and their clients to declutter and organize their homes.

Do you or does someone you know have photos, slides, negatives or videos taking up space? Send them to us! We'll expertly and quickly help you preserve those memories so you can share them more easily and stay organized.

Why you must never waste space by putting photos in your "to-go" bag

2011-10-08T11:58:00.001-07:00

WARNING! Don't put photographs in your emergency "to go" bag, watch this TV news profile, get 'em scanned
http://ow.ly/1y5Ybs

Why Yelp Reviews Are Questionable. Why Good Reviews Get Filtered

2011-10-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

If you operate a retail or ecommerce business and have become frustrated with your Yelp reviews, I share in your concern. ScanMyPhotos.com has practiced extraordinary customer care since 1990, and have raves from many, including The New York Times Personal Tech columnist, David Pogue, and Barron's Newspaper. We have hundreds of new fans every day. Watch this recent TV news profile on ScanMyPhotos.com.

However, the challenge is when a few - and I mean one or two people post critical reviews. In every case, we fix any issues instantly and make it right. Operating an international ecommerce business means that every customer matters, but what happens when all those complimentary reviews disappear from Yelp?

Does Yelp filter only the good reviews? I don't know, but it appears that way. Click here to read the most recent 33 reviews that were all sent to a hard-to-find page on our Yelp site. Interestingly, we regularly receive unsolicited requests from Yelp to buy their services and invest in advertisements. Is this a "pay for play" game?

Anyone else have similar experiences? Let us know. Click here to share your Yelp story. Hopefully, they will listen as social media channels expose what is going on with them.

Reaction to the Death of Apple's Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

As big fans of Steve Jobs and his visionary work, ScanMyPhotos.com extends our condolences to the Jobs family and everyone in the Apple family.

Barack Obama On Steve Jobs

Here's President Barack Obama's statement on the Apple co-founder, released via a White House blog post

.

Another Customer Review of ScanMyPhotos.com

2011-10-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

Great story! Thank you for your excellent spotlight on a service that everyone can benefit from. As a professional organizer, I love this service and recommend it to my clients. Fabulous piece! Stellar reporting!

VisionsOrganizing

OC Tech Daily Blog: Preserve Your Old Photos And Home Movies Digitally

2011-09-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

Background: Welcome to OC Tech Daily. My name is Josh Cronkhite and I'm a tech enthusiast and developer. After years of posting my thoughts on Facebook almost exclusively, I became frustrated that content posted there becomes lost over time with no easy way to look back at old posts. That's why I decided to start OC Tech Daily.

Thanks, Josh for the mention.

Excerpt:

Growing up, my family didn't take too many photos. I lived a relatively photo-free life. Then, a few years ago, I got married. My wife's family took pictures of every event in multiples. As a result, I've inherited tens of thousands of printed photographs. During my first year of marriage, my wife asked me how long it would take to scan them all into the computer. After I laughed, or cried, or both, I was somehow able to lock them away in a storage unit and forget about them until a better solution came along. Fortunately, I found the solution.

ScanMyPhotos.com is a company in Irvine, CA that will scan your photos, slides, or negatives for a fee. The service doesn't stop there. They will also transfer your old films or VHS tapes to digital media so you can preserve those memories forever. Film and tape deteriorate and don't last forever. Nor do photographs. What better insurance is there than to digitize all of your photos and home movies? The company was featured last night on KTLA. If you haven't been nudged enough yet, watch the clip and see how it all works.

ScanMyPhotos.com NEW Lower Pricing for 35mm Slide Scanning. 2000/4000 dpi as low as 27¢/49¢ per Scan!

2011-09-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

ScanMyPhotos.com: 35mm slide scanning, scan mounted slides as low as 27¢

Professional, delicate hand scanning of 35mm mounted slides . Each scan is color and density corrected for optimum results and scanned using Digital ICE.

Key Features for Slide Scanning

•Choose either 2,000 or 4,000 dpi JPEG scans

•LOWEST RATE: 27¢ per slide for Family Archive Collection

•Indvidually hand scanned and color/density corrected for optimal scan

•Scanned using Digital ICE technology to remove dust, dirt and scratches (non-Kodachrome slides only)

•Packaging Instructions: If your slides are in carousels, slide boxes, or sleeves you may leave the slides in them for easy shipping. If your slides are loose slides, we recommend grouping them in batches of about 50 and rubber banding them together to prevent damage during shipping. This will also keep them organized. Place your slides in a box with lots of padding so they don't slide around (to prevent scratching) and enclose the order form. Slides must be out of metal frames or an additional 25-cent per slide fee will be charged.

Let ScanMyPhotos.com preserve your 35mm mounted color slides by delicately hand scanning them into a digital JPEG format. Most orders are completed super-fast, many times the same day they are received. Each slide is individually scanned by one of our trained scanning technicians. Every image is then adjusted to achieve the optimum color and density so you end up with an image that is close to the original or even better. At our base service, slides are scanned at 2,000 dpi which outputs at 500 dpi @ 4x6 (5 megapixel equivalent). We also offer 4,000 dpi resolution scans at a higher cost (16MP equivalent) to create a truly archival digital image, however 2,000 dpi scans are best for most consumers and their everyday needs. Photographically, 2,000 dpi files can produce clear 8"x10" and in some cases 11"x14" prints. Select 4,000 dpi if you plan on creating very large poster prints.

We color & density correct and enhance each image using Digital ICE which works to detect and reduce dust and surface scratches without softening, blurring, or altering the image. (Note: Digital ICE cannot be used with B&W or Kodachrome slides. These slides will be scanned without Digital ICE. Kodachrome slide film uses a unique dye that responds differently from other slide films. Due to the nature of the dye and the Kodachrome film development process, Digital ICE can misinterpret certain image detail as a defect and will attempt to remove it from the image.)

Read to Order and More info, Click HERE

ScanMyPhotos Announce 600 DPI Photo Scanning - Available Now! Same Day Return

2011-09-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

Why Should I Add 600 DPI Scanning?

The quick answer is that higher resolutions lead to better scans for reproducing your images. 600 DPI scans produce much larger files but help ensure every detail in your print is recorded in digital form. If you want to be sure as much detail as possible is captured during scanning, add 600 DPI scanning (for an average 2,000 scan order, you are getting 600 DPI scans for under 14¢ per scan). If you want files that are easier to work with, 300 DPI scans would be a better choice.

600 DPI Scans Allow for Double the Enlargement

Part of the benefit of scanning your old photos, in addition to the added security of backing them up in a digital format, is the ability to create new prints, enlargements and photo products such as photo books. The quality and size of the prints you will be able to reproduce will depend upon both the quality of the original photo and the resolution the photo is scanned at. See the charts below for a guide comparing original print size, resolution and reproduction size. Scanning at a higher DPI will give you more options for reprints and copies to be passed down to future generations.

Order Now

TV News Profiles How ScanMyPhotos.com Protects Millions of Photos from Natural Disasters

2011-09-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

Wildfires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and any natural disasters can wipe out an entire family’s photo memories. You can do something right now to protect your generations of pictures.

Watch this KTLA-TV news video by 5-time Emmy Award winning reporter, Dave Malkoff to learn how you can protect all your photos.

During National Preparedness Month (NPM), companies across the nation, including ScanMyPhotos.com are issuing an urgent recommendation to encourage people to take action and prepare for emergencies year-round. As a coalition member with the Ready Campaign (Ready.gov), ScanMyPhotos.com is helping to educate the public about the importance of emergency preparedness to digitize photographs, slides and negatives to have multiple backups.

On Twitter, look for #NPM11 to follow announcements about National Preparedness Month. NPM is a nationwide effort sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign to increase awareness for preparing and effectively dealing with emergencies and natural disasters.

“It is important to remember that beyond gathering survival items when preparing for natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes or earthquakes you should also focus on the irreplaceable items in your home and office, including photo snapshots,” said ScanMyPhotos.com President and CEO, Mitch Goldstone.

What is your backup plan?

It is often forgotten that in the aftermath of a disaster, your insurance will cover the replacement of possessions that have a monetary value but items with emotional value can never be replaced. Those shoeboxes of family photos tucked away in your closet or attic are often overlooked until it is too late.

“Preparing for a natural disaster is a year-round imperative. In an instant, when disaster strikes, you risk losing precious photo memories. Family photographs document our lives in a way that material items cannot. Once those photos are destroyed, that part of the family history is lost forever," commented Goldstone.

Family photos can also be ‘lost’ due to neglectful storage, sun exposure and deterioration over time.

Because of new high-speed photo imaging technology, no longer do you have to individually scan every photo. That daunting task has been replaced with professional and affordable scanning. At ScanMyPhotos.com, the charge is only $79.50 to have 1,000 photos scanned. The most popular service is purchasing pre-paid fill-the-box scanning which costs just $184 to scan about 2,000 photos and all shipping is free. Also, if a customer buys two pre-paid packages, the third is free. Using a professional service like ScanMyPhotos.com to digitally scan and save your pictures to DVD allows you multiple off-site backups, keeping your photos secure and readily available to you.

What are the primary reasons to backup your photo memories?

According to ScanMyPhotos.com, the six primary reasons to backup analog photos to digital files:

1) Offsite storage in case of a natural disaster

2) Family divorce or relationship separations (duplicate copies solve ownership issues)

3) Halt ongoing fading and discoloration of your older analog pictures

4) Easy sharing of photo reprints with others

5) Making treasured photo gifts for anniversaries, birthdays and more

6) Sharing stories and journaling to give a real ‘face’ for family tree genealogy projects

Background:

Founded in 1990, ScanMyPhotos.com is headquartered in Irvine, California. The company’s nearly 6,000 sq. ft. facility employs 18 people and digitally archives nearly one million photo images each day for customers worldwide. As longtime leaders in the photo-imaging industry, ScanMyPhotos.com is regularly profiled by the national media for its entrepreneurial and industry-leading innovations.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8801185.htm

ScanMyPhotos.com Honored by FEMA: National Preparedness Month

2011-09-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

Dear ScanMyPhotos.com,

National Preparedness Month 2010 has concluded and we would like to thank you for your partnership with the Ready Campaign to help educate the public about the importance of emergency preparedness. This year’s campaign brought together a diverse group of nearly 5,000 national, regional, state and local organizations to provide information, host events and/or sponsor activities for their customers, members, employees, stakeholders and communities throughout the month of September.

We encourage you to continue to use the resources and materials provided on our website to make sure your constituencies are Ready. The National Preparedness Month Calendar will be updated threw the end of October, so please continue to post your events at http://ready.adcouncil.org/LogIn.asp and we will promote them on our site. In the coming weeks we will post highlights of different events that were held throughout the country during NPM 2010. We hope these can be used to continue to engage the public and promote this important emergency preparedness message.

Additionally, please visit the Ready Campaign’s main site (www.ready.gov) for all the resources you may need to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies. FEMA has made files for the Ready Campaign's publications available to the public to download at no cost. Individuals or organizations who would like to order printed copies of publications can do so by calling 1-800-BE-READY. Multiple copies can also be requested by calling the FEMA Warehouse at 1-800-480-2520.

Once again, thank you for your participation in National Preparedness Month 2010 and expanding the reach of this critical information. Please continue to keep us up-to-date on the activities you are sponsoring in your local communities and we look forward to working with you again for National Preparedness Month 2011!

Sincerely,

Darryl J. Madden

Director, Ready Campaign

Office of External Affairs

Federal Emergency Management Agency

500 C St., SW, Suite 711

Washington, DC 20472

http://www.ready.gov/

KTLA-TV News Profiled ScanMyPhotos.com (watch Dave Malkoff video)

2011-09-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Click here to view the KTLA-TV News segment

Click here to view KTLA-TV 5-time Emmy Award winning reporter, Dave Malkoff's blog and links to the feature profile. Dave Malkoff is on a mission to find the most interesting people and technology around him. His travels take him from Los Angeles to Baghdad, From Las Vegas to the Giza Plateau and beyond!

Recent Yelp Reviews For ScanMyPhotos.com - Customer's Comment on Photo Digitization Service Results

2011-09-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

These recent Yelp reviews which include the filtered comments are a sampling of the raves we regularly receive.

Luis F.
San Francisco, CA

8/13/2011 Thing is that I have this slow, lame and cranky scanner so even the thought of spending a significant fraction of my remaining time on earth scanning all these photos was giving me the heebie-jeebes. So I jumped on the offer.

I had low expectations for quality and speed. I had images of gnome-like indentured creatures slaving away in an underground bunker at a flatbed scanner, pouring over my my mementos for any hint of salacious material that could be filed away for for future backmailing purposes. Time lines would be stretched.. excuses would be given ...and I would receive my precious pics and their grainy and wonky-sided jpg facsimiles, at best, at some moment in the distant undefined future.

I was nervous that my hoarded and protected memories would, simply put, go poof.

Ok.

So that didn't happen.

What I got instead was an amazingly fast turn around (less than a week!), and a CD with good quality digital files of pics of me acting a fool at Rockaway Beach when I was 22 or , or trying to mack on some poor unfortunate girlfriend of yore. Was scan quality some mind blowingly ultra high quality with 1.21 gigawatts of pure resolution power? No. But then, would I really want a 3 x 4 ft blow up pic of me with poofy hair, parachute pants and Capesios? The answer again is no.

It was simply good enough. I am satisfied.

So that is my bottom line. I am satisfied. Totally satisfied. In this day and age of overstated, frantic and hyperbolized ad copy for even the most trivial service, just being satisfied feels... damn good.

Approved.

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Chris N.
San Francisco, CA

5/10/2011 A few weekends ago, spent an afternoon sorting through old photographs. After filtering down to ~500 good ones between Anne and myself, discovered Scan My Photos. They will scan all photos, return photos with a CD of everything, for the price of about $0.17 per photo. Not bad at all.

Turn around was quick. Received a box of my own photos less than a week after shipping them out. Scanning quality was great. Say goodbye to boxes of printed photos.
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Ken G.
Greensburg, PA

9/7/2011 Superior customer service. Were extremely helpful in processing my order very quickly, as I had a reunion coming up and they went above and beyond in expediting my order. Quality of scans were great.

Highly recommended!
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Christine F.

Folsom, CA

8/31/2011 I have been our family historian for 20 years and have scanned my share of photos. I was tired of doing it so I packaged up 2000 photos for SMP and sent them in (I used Groupons). Before sending them, I had many questions, every time I emailed I was responded to promptly and all my questions were answered. Since I knew the photos were scanned at 300 dpi and not 600 dpi as I would have done (and I didn't want to pay extra for 600 :-) I only sent in 4x6 photos. I don't suggest you send smaller photos unless you are having them done at 600 dpi.

The photos were returned in 7 days from the time they were shipped. They were packaged better than I had packaged them myself. I am really, really happy with the scans. They are straight. They look good and they are ideal for what I want to do with them. If I wanted to blow a few of them up to 8x10 and print them out, I'd probably rescan those few at 600 dpi. But I want to put together slideshows for my family, put together photobooks. These scans are perfect for archiving and if you can get a Groupon or another sort of offer, that's the way to go,

I will definitely use SMP again. I have videos I need transferred to DVD and I have some more photos. I've recommended SMP to family and friends. They did a great job for me.
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Susan m.

Winter Park, FL

8/23/2011 I had a great experience using ScanMyPhotoscom. They were quick to answer my emails when I had a question about the order form, answering me within the hour. I sent my heavy box of 1000 photo's on a Monday and my disc was in my hands within the same week I mailed my photo's off. The quality was perfect for me, and I am planning to use them again for my VCR tapes and old slides. I too own my own scanner and plan on never scanning another photo in my life thanks to this company! Being able to look through these photos that sat in boxes for 15-20 years was worth its weight in gold! Thank you ScanMyPhotoscom , for getting this done for me at a reasonable price and so quickly and efficiently.

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Lillian H.

Torrance, CA

8/16/2011 I can't say enough good things about this service! When my father passed away a few months ago, we had to move my mother into a much smaller home. Among the possessions amassed over a lifetime were huge tubs of photos (taken over the past 50+ years) that none of us kids even knew existed.

My husband had read about http://ScanMyPhotos.com on a blog and we knew it would be a multi-year project for us to home scan the mountain of pictures I now had to contend with. We ordered a pre-paid box, carefully packed it according to the instructions, and sent it out, crossing our fingers that we weren't about to lose the only copies of irreplaceable family photos.

What a pleasant surprise to have that "test" box returned to us, not only quickly, but the bundles were just the way we had packaged them. The DVD was right on top so we quickly reviewed it. Even more surprising was the quality of the scans. Despite the superfast turnaround time, all the photos were scanned and looked great! Okay, many of the scans were off color or showed a bit of age and scratches, etc. BUT that's what the original photo looked like and we chose not to purchase any of the extra clean-up / white-glove services.

It wasn't cheap - but they scanned just over 2,100 prints in that first box for about $185 (that's only .08 each). We're finally near the end of the mountain of photos, 7 boxes later, and couldn't be happier.

We recommend the service to all our friends, especially my scrapbook friends, and will definitely go back to them for their restoration services on some of the very old photos.

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Michele K.
Spring Hill, FL

8/7/2011 I was very happy with Scan My Photos! Quick turn around time. Photos came back exactly as I sent them. I did the prepaid box with 2,000 so photos for $184.00. You have to remember that before digital photography printed pictures were grainy, and they do not restore them in any way. If the picture quality was mediocre when you sent them out, that is how they will come back. It is so nice to have the photos scanned and on my computer so I can put them in "albums" or what not. Highly recommend this company to anyone else with pictures sitting in boxes on a shelf!

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Biscuit W.

Oakland, CA

7/29/2011 I have used these guys for 20 years and have watched them grow and change as the world of cameras and film change. They are the most customer friendly business I have ever used. They used to give me a candy bar when I picked up my photos (miss them!) but now I email my digital file to them. The candy might screw up my iMac. Now I tried the scanning service and was very impressed. I stuck as many photos as I could in their box and sent it to them. It can back really fast and with all my photos scanned and on a DVD. I have now done it again and sent a few as gifts to friends.

If you are going to do photo stuff, stop looking and go here!

Nice employees as well.
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Joanne S

Dennis, MA

7/14/2011 I worked hard to sort through and pack up, according to instructions, 11 years of photos in crumbling albums...I CANNOT believe this company does EXACTLY what it claims - puts them on a disc , in order by numbered packets ( extra charge for putting in order- well worth it for us)- it came out great!! I don't think there's a way to scroll though disc ( but I am not good at knowing that stuff!)- I downloaded them to my i-photo, corrected the sideways images, ( you can have them do that for an extra charge) then burned a disc so we could see them as a slide show. I am in awe, and will prepare the next decade and a half, starting with the birth of my children, which will fill another box I'll be ordering shortly!!!

Thank you for the GREAT work - the memories are SO important, but we're downsizing and have no room for 37 years of photo albums, that our daughters would probably throw away when we're gone someday!! I think they'll keep the discs!!!

Thanks again!!

Happy Customer

Cape Cod MA
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Scott P.

San Diego, CA

7/5/2011 I first used this service 3 years ago. I was astounded at the fast turnaround time. Everything was exactly as advertised and the service was even faster than promised. I had an opportunity to use them again and once again everything is going great (I haven't sent the pictures to them yet but the pre-process is as fast as lightning and the emails are always so courteous and efficient!)
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Mimi H.

Littleton, CO

6/27/2011 I had over 40 years of photos in boxes, bags and envelopes and sent them to Scan My photos! You can imagine how thrilled I was to get the DVDs back with all these memories. I am an Apple user and put them all into iPhoto and had a wonderful time making DVDs and Movies for my whole family. I never could have done this without Scan my Photos.

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Patty S.

Portland, OR

6/15/2011 After many years of passing the closet which housed thousands of photos... riddled with guilt, anxiety - I decided to organize them and have them scanned. I had heard great things about "Scanmyphotos" and decided to send them off. I had a little bit of trepidation about putting them in the mail. As we all know, they are our irreplaceable treasures. Within a few days I had them back, carefully scanned and easily accessible on a dvd.

I have been able to share them with family members, many of whom were just overjoyed to see them.
Then I sent another huge box of photos and 5 of my favorite VHS tapes to be transferred to dvds. It was all handled so well with great customer service. I have shared this great find with many friends who have thanked me for the information.

It gives you easy access to your photos for sharing and posting online. No longer hidden away in boxes...you are actually looking at them! And they aren't in danger of degrading or being lost in some fire or flood. I encourage everyone to use this service. Finally, there is a way to deal with these memories.

It is great! You will be so glad you did it!
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Maggie Z.

Los Angeles, CA

1/26/2011 When we moved from a 2-bedroom to a loft, it was time to cut the clutter and after I gave a bunch of shoes to Goodwill, I used http://Scanmyphotos.com to turn a mountain of old prints into a DVD. I mailed them a box of photos and they sent them back along with digital copies on a disc--all within a week. And frankly, the quality seems really good to me. I realize that a professional photographer might not think the pixels or the DPI or whatever is the best, but I guess these people might have different purposes than me. If you're like me and want to keep thousands of photos to glance through from time to time for the memories, this scanning will be more than OK for you. If you want to be able to print high-def posters, later, maybe not.

They have this deal where, for $150, they'll send you a pre-paid box and you stuff in as many photos as you can fit (they say about 2,000 fit). Then the price includes scanning, making the DVD, and return shipping of your photos. When I think of the time it saved me, I it was definitely worth it! Also, this is a place with exceptional customer service and everyone I've dealt with has been super-nice!

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Randy N.

Albuquerque, NM

6/11/2011 We just received our order from ScanMyPhotos. WOW!! We are so impressed! ScanMyPhotos, thank you so much for putting our precious memories in a useable and safe format for us. The photo book with all 1858 thumbnails (upright, in order, group, enhanced, etc.) was just the delicious icing on the cake!

Can't thank you enough.

Randy

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Maria L.

Orlando, FL

5/24/2011 My photos were my headache and stomach ache for 15 years at least. It took 2 nights to sort through them. I mailed the package with over 900 pictures on Tuesday of last week and received the completed order back on Saturday, just 4 days later. Now I can display them in my digital picture frame and make a photo book, what a relief.

Thanks again for the great super quick service. I will definitely recommend your service to all my friends.

Maria, Florida
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Bonnie P.

Salt Lake City, UT

5/12/2011 Wow, I am not kidding you - this company is one of the best I have ever dealt with for friendliness, professionalism, promtness and especially for GOING THE EXTRA MILE. I had a coupon and forgot to put it in the box. Shannon said "no problem, I will watch for your box and make sure it gets taken care of right away!" What??? A real person who gives a poo!!! I am so impressed. This service was so worth it. It has saved me neck aching hours of scanning myself. My photos came back in perfect condition and in the order that I sent them in. I would give these guys a 5 star rating for everything!!!! Then they made me copies for all of my children to have. Thank You Sincerely for the best customer service in the industry. Kudo's to you and all who work there!! Sincerely, Jeanne in Salt Lake City.
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5/10/2011 I scanned two boxes of old photos (almost 4000 photos) last year at http://ScanMyPhotos.com. They ranged from 1920's black and white up to current 35mm images. The company did a terrific job technically. My 90 year old mother gets great pleasure in pulling them up on a computer! I am glad that I can now manipulate the digital images. Their customer support team is really helpful and they are also good people. I've had some health issues and forgot my third box until the day before the expiration. They extended my deadline by one month.

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6 Reasons to Protect Photos During National Preparedness Month Revealed by ScanMyPhotos.com #NPM11

2011-09-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

As an advocate for protecting and sharing photographs, ScanMyPhotos.com is urging people to have their hard copy photos, slides and film negatives digitally scanned and backed up.

Being prepared means being ready for any kind of emergency, be it hurricane, utility disruption or manmade disaster. September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council. NPM is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. NPM is a nationwide effort sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign to increase awareness for preparing and to effectively deal with emergencies and natural disasters.

Companies across the nation, including ScanMyPhotos.com (celebrating its 20th year as a leader in the photo imaging industry) have registered to participate in NPM 2011. Each business is issuing an urgent recommendation to encourage people to take action and prepare for emergencies year-round. On twitter, look for the hash tag #NPM11 to follow online announcements about NPM.

“One of the most important items in every household are photographs. As the average household has about 5,500 analog photo snapshots, there is an urgency to preserve those generations of precious memories for today’s all-digital world.

"One of the most important items in every household are photographs. As the average household has about 5,500 analog photo snapshots, there is an urgency to preserve those generations of precious memories for today's all-digital world. Photos must be protected from natural disasters," says Mitch Goldstone, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com.

As an advocate for protecting and sharing photographs, ScanMyPhotos.com is urging people to have their hard copy photos, slides and film negatives scanned and backed up now.

"In support of NPM, it is important to remember that beyond gathering survival items when preparing for natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes or earthquakes one should also focus on the irreplaceable items in the home," advised Goldstone.

What is your backup plan?

It is often forgotten that in the aftermath of a disaster, your insurance will cover replacement of possessions that have a monetary value, but items with emotional value can never be replaced. Those shoeboxes of family photos tucked away in your closet or attic are often overlooked until it is too late.

"Preparing for a natural disaster is a year-round imperative. In an instant, when disaster strikes, you risk losing precious photo memories. Family photographs document our lives in a way that material items cannot. Once those photos are destroyed, that part of the family history is lost forever. Family photos, slides, negatives, VHS and other movie film formats can also be 'lost' due to neglectful storage, sun exposure and actual time," explained Goldstone.

Keep It Simple:

Easy to order, prepaid fill-the-box bulk photo and slide scanning are available online, with same day service from ScanMyPhotos.com, along with hundreds of other featured photo imaging and picture preservation keepsakes, like photo index albums, photo restorations and Kodak-quality picture collages.

Because of new photo imaging technology, no longer do you have to individually scan every photo. That daunting task has been replaced with ultra-fast, safe and affordable bulk photo and slide scanning services performed by photo imaging industry professionals with same day return. Your photos are digitally scanned and saved onto DVDs - providing you with multiple off-site safe backups and easy access for sharing on Apple's iPad, Apple TV, electronic picture frames and other digital devices.

ScanMyPhotos.com also recommends its custom photo restoration and secured "Extreme Backup" plan for independently preserving and archiving all your images - assuring total photo preservation.

According to ScanMyPhotos.com, the top six reasons to digitally backup your photo memories are:

1) Offsite storage in case of a natural disaster
2) Family divorce or relationship separations (duplicate copies solve ownership issues)
3) Halt ongoing fading and discoloration of your older analog pictures
4) Easy sharing of digital files and photo reprints with others
5) Making treasured photo gifts and slideshow TV presentations for anniversaries, holidays,
birthdays, memorial services and more
6) Sharing stories and Journaling to give a real 'face' for family tree genealogy projects

Learn more about NPM: http://www.ready.gov/.

About ScanMyPhotos.com:

ScanMyPhotos.com, founded in 1990, is your fast, affordable digital photo imaging headquarters. Based in California, the company provides worldwide service. Pay just $79.50 for up to 1,000 photo scans, or order our popular prepaid $184 fill-the-box photo scanning service that holds about 2,000 photographs for U.S. domestic customers. Transferring VHS, Super-8 and other movie film formats are our specialty. The newest service is a prepaid $249.95 fill-the-box 35mm slide scanning service that holds about 550 slides for domestic U.S. customers. We know that scanning photos can be time consuming - that is where we come in. We scan photos to digital format so you don't have to. Turn your normal photos into digital photos on a digital DVD without having to do the work yourself. Your photographs are professionally scanned as 300 dpi JPEG files onto a DVD-R data disc. ScanMyPhotos.com & 30 Minute Photos Etc. are experts at handling all your photographic needs, both online and at our retail photo imaging center in Irvine, California.

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6 Reasons to Protect Photos During National Preparedness Month Revealed by ScanMyPhotos.com #NPM11