The fun of this is the back-story. That’s me, Colin Buck, then director of the association and my good friend, Simon Barnard. Simon and I were counterparts when I was president of Hasselblad USA, and he was responsible for Hasselblad UK and later Europe.
Colin, having worked in the US many years ago, knew Simon and I were good friends. He called me and in confidence let me know Simon was receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at their upcoming meeting. He asked me to come over to help present Simon’s award, and all without him knowing about it.
So off I went to the UK, and the way they did the presentation made it one of the most memorable events of my career. Simon’s award/recognition was announced at the beginning of the dinner, and he was brought on stage. Colin announced, “Simon, one of your good friends from America wants to congratulate you on this very special recognition.” He and Simon turned to look at the big screen behind them which had sound but nothing but static for the image. Supposedly we were hooking up via Skype, but with a few technical challenges.
Colin said, “Skip, we’ve got Simon Barnard here, and I’m hoping, even though we can’t seem to get a good image, we at least have audio!” Just off stage in the hallway with a microphone, I started talking to Simon. I congratulated him and then added, “You might look more intelligent if you’d stop staring at a blank screen and just turn around.”
At that point, I was in the room not more than twenty feet from Simon. I think we both teared up a little over the pure surprise of the moment.
I’ve written this a few dozen times: The best part of this industry has absolutely nothing to do with photography. It’s all about the friendships and the memories we make. I haven’t caught up to Simon in a few years, but that doesn’t change him being one of my very best friends and most cherished friendships.
Throwback Thursday is a great marketing tool to help you remind your clients about capturing memories. For me, even though that grab shot will never win any photographic awards, nothing will ever top the importance of great friends and so many memories of working with Simon over the years. Even better is hoping the opportunity comes up again soon to spend some time together.
Happy Throwback Thursday everybody! Hope you have as much fun wandering down Memory Lane as I just did!
SkipCohenUniversity – SCU Blog
