Today is officially the last day that Kodachrome will be processed. The chemicals are gone, the processing machine will be sold for scrap and the official end of a photographic era will be mourned by thousands.
The last Kodachrome photo lab is located in a tiny town in Kansas. This little lab never thought it would be the last of an era, but it has become just that. This story of the last of something, the end of an era reminds me of the thousands of businesses who shut their doors every day. Most of these businesses shut their doors without notice or any sort of fanfare. These businesses won't have happy endings. The only thing that will be left for them will be an empty store front and the paperwork they collected from the office.
The only thing the public will see are the blank spaces and forgotten advertisements. That's right... long after your business closes, your adoring public will still remember what used to be there. They'll see the ads printed on boxes, in magazines, newspapers and aired on television; they'll see the name, the logo, the slogan of your forgotten business. Some may even wonder what happened to your business, whether it is still around. Or will they?
It all depends on what kind of legacy you leave behind. If you decide to neglect your advertising for another year, you may end up on the shelves of those long forgotten. Do something great though, advertise your business and you may find that you have loyal customers who will mourn your passing. And even though everything must come to an end someday, you can still look back on those ads, at that time, and realize you did everything you could to make your business successful.
You didn't stand on the sidelines and hope people noticed you - you got out there, played the game and made sure people remembered you. Or better yet... maybe you're still playing.
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