SkipCohenUniversity
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us

the SCU Blog

Sunday Morning Reflections - Respect for Relationships

3/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
© laufer - Fotolia
Yesterday's post about my good friend, Ray DeMoulin, passing away created a long stretch of intense sadness, that's going to hang with me for a stretch. I went to sleep thinking about the impact he had on so much of the industry. It was all because of his ability to establish relationships. Seriously, it's what so many companies miss today, including Ray's old company, Kodak.

At the time Ray was "driving the bus", virtually every senior staff member in Kodak Professional was working to build relationships. Terry Deglau was the face of photography for wedding and portrait photographers. Mike Gurley and later Dan Steinhardt had responsibility for the commercial side. In terms of marketing and strategic planning, I remember meeting Jeff McLeod for the first time when he returned from a long term position in Japan and people like Beth Myers (now Beth Cubberly) and Chris Majoy were part of the team, along with Marianne Samenko in advertising. I wasn't alone in considering all of them good friends.
 
I know there are more people who made this team so legendary, but these are the first names coming to mind this morning. Here's my point...

Ray loved this industry and when you love something you'll always do a better at it, because it's so much more than just a job. That passion gets translated into a commitment, often as serious as your wedding band.  It becomes a piece of who you are to so many people.
 
Scott Stratten in his book, UnMarketing, wrote, and I'm taking this out of context, but it's so relevant: 

"We spend so much time trying to figure out what's next, and focusing our attention on future customers and growth, that we forget our fans...Take a good look around and appreciate where you are and what you're doing. Don't neglect people who are giving their time to you."

So, the point of this Sunday Morning Reflection is to follow what so many of us learned from Ray. Don't take people for granted. Appreciate whatever time they give you and let them know they're important to you. Build relationships with substance.

I always appreciated the fact that Ray showed everybody the respect they deserved. He treated us all as associates on the same quest for imaging for perfection he was on!
1 Comment
Anne | PhotoLovecat link
3/8/2015 01:51:11 am

Touching dedication to a friend, Skip. Seems like we both had messages to share about relationships this weekend. ;-)

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Your walk is just a click away
    Picture
    Picture

      Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Our Partners

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    "Why?"

    Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 130 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

    Categories

    All
    Alzheimer's
    Beyond Technique
    Business
    Business Breakthroughs
    Clean Up Series
    Customer Service
    EDU10
    Excire
    F64 Lunch Bunch
    Faculty
    Fast Food Friday
    Guest Post
    Humor And Sarcasm
    Hump Day
    In The News
    Lessons Learned
    Lighting
    Luminar
    Lumix
    Marketing
    Mark's Corner
    Mind Your Own Business
    Miscellaneous
    Motivational
    One Step At A Time
    Photodex
    PhotoShelter
    PhotoTexting
    Platypod
    Podcasts
    Profoto
    Sales
    Search
    Skylum
    Social Media
    Sunday Morning Reflections
    Tamron
    Tamron Recipes
    Technique
    Throwback Thursday
    Wedding Photography
    Westcott
    Why?

Categories​

Business
Marketing
Technique
Sales
Fast Food Fridays
​

Podcasts

Tamron Recipes 
Beyond Technique
Why?
Mind Your Own Business
Pro Photographer Journey

 Partners

Tamron
Photofocus

​Lumix

Marathon Press
​Platypod
©  2019 Skip Cohen University
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us