...often go astray. So, I said I'd come back with tales from the road and this is a good one. Launch Day - we proudly arrive in our bright, shining, eye-catching Scan Van at Laguna Hills Mall and are met by an unfamiliar bouncer - the Fire Marshall. He insisted on disconnecting the battery and we quickly moved onto Plan B for powering the vehicle - our muscles.

Needless to say - the early bird mall walkers were shocked to see us coming. I witnessed all that got packed into that van when we did a dry run the night before, so I was ready to work up a sweat. Surprisingly, when you put a multi-ton vehicle into neutral, it was fairly easy to move. But, it was still teamwork at its finest and we eventually got to our home outside of JC Penney's.

For the past couple of weeks, the van has been touring around Southern California. From college guys to mothers to war veterans - our customers have loved it.

We met a family genealogist scanning photos to send to her distant relatives in Sweden who just learned of their American relations. We met a man who was going to create a photo book of his newly digitized photos to give to his younger cousin who never met some of their older relatives. Another woman wanted to digitize photos of her daughter who recently died, leaving 3 small children. This woman wanted her grandchildren to have some way of remembering their mother. Photos are emotional - they remind us of the most important people and times in our lives.

Most people who come to the van return with more pictures because it was much faster and easier than they expected. One woman came 3 times. Another drove 2 hours for her appointment. Some bring us 1,000 plus photos. Listen to what our customers have to say....

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In shoeboxes under your bed? In albums on your bookshelves? In photo development sleeves in your attic?

We all have them. They are often our most prized possessions. And yet, they are usually completely vulnerable and at huge risk of being damaged. Mine are in a storage unit. I recently heard the dreaded news that there was a fire in the facility and a flood ensued as the firefighters extinguished it. My heart sank-not because of the random clothes (probably out of style by now) or kitchenware (which never got used anyway) that I was storing - but because every photo I took until the age of 30 was there.

[Enter the Kodak Gallery Scan Van which launched today.]

Maybe it was a dose of foreshadowing that months ago, I was asked to manage the Kodak Gallery Scan Van project, which offers our customers the opportunity to have their print photos scanned in just minutes. For the next three months, we will be bringing our Scan Van to 25 festivals, malls and retail stores throughout Southern California and South Florida. Once at the Scan Van, our Kodak reps take over: setting customers up with a Kodak Gallery account, scanning their photos (literally in minutes - while they wait) and uploading them straight to kodakgallery.com. The newly digitized images can then be shared with family and friends and used to create cool products.

We are giving a new life and all sorts of creative possibilities to peoples' most treasured photos. I think of my Mom, elated when I gave her a calendar with recent photos of her grandkids, and wonder what her reaction would have been if the pictures were from her youth with her ten siblings and parents who are now deceased. What if I could send my parents an anniversary card with a picture of them at their own wedding? Or - if I could give my nephew a framed print of his Mom (my sister) at her first soccer game? And of course - I can't help but think of the peace of mind I'd have the next time there is a fire and flood at my storage facility, knowing that my memories are still alive just a few clicks away at Kodak Gallery.

Okay - it's time for me to get scanning. Stay tuned for tales from the road.....

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