When the many people think of it, that Kodak could participate excites them. It's a natural, so when they see Kodak nowhere in our plans, they ask. Of course we have approached Kodak about participating, through multiple channels, but so far, without luck. They have their minds wrapped around other concerns. Of course we plan to keep trying.

Many consumers who wanted to jump into digital photography have already made the jump, and digital camera sales have reached an inflection point. As the top seller of digital cameras in North America, Kodak knows this and acknowledged as much in press materials and interviews leading up to the Photo Marketing Association trade show late March in Orlando, Florida. Their new offensive now moves to the Web, according to a February 25 front-page Democrat & Chronicle story by Ben Rand. Of course, there on point is Easyshare Gallery, formerly Ofoto, which Kodak acquired almost exactly five years ago to establish an Internet presence quickly.

Since acquiring Ofoto, then the top photo-sharing website, and rebranding it Kodak Gallery, dozens of new photo-sharing websites have emerged and some like Flickr have exploded in popularity by combining social networking, blogging, and collaborative filtering. For example, hordes i know find flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ one of the most fascinating pages on the Web. That an algorithmic filter can select good and interesting photos, better than any curated show i have seen, astonishes. A friend makes it his browser homepage.

So what can our projects do for Kodak, and why might they participate?

• To Kodak Gallery and other Web initiatives, our projects could drive measurable product trial, a qualification Kodak sought in project partnerships.

• For its existing 8+ million current customers, our projects offer another outlet for their photos, with attendant marginal revenue and profit, and customer participation and mindshare.

• Our projects could gain Kodak additional experience and another business model in the competitive Web photo hosting and gallery segment. Many organizations like schools and galleries seek ways to host photo contests and calls for work, while collecting fees and maintaining rights to those submissions. No online gallery offers service to empower this.

Kodak already realizes a powerful brand, and collaborative projects could draw an excess of a quarter million entries. By comparison, the Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards drew at their peak over a decade ago a half million entries. Our projects gain for Kodak not just additional business, but also make a compelling promotion: we intend to build the world's largest outdoor photo museum.