A few days ago I posted about how one of my first rodeo images became a viral inspirational meme image. It was cool and the message was nice so to help further the reach I decided to give away an original signed print of the image.
Complications arise in this was done on facebook that somehow started routing all the shares data from the original post which was another business and page entirely removed from mine. I was not even tagged mostly because the image was old, it was under my original business name— I rebranded in 2016— and I was fine being uncredited the message was worth it.
Needless to say I am getting the notifications from the original post, re-shares from my page, re-shares on their shares, and so forth. It’s confusing to say the least, I am pretty sure it’s a facebook glitch but that being said I had to scramble to figure how to accurately select a recipient for the print to honor what I said I would do. So I managed and found a re-share from my page not the original post, this took days of shifting through since it has over 25,000 re-shares that I was getting all the data on.
As I went to reach out to the selected recipient a message came through from my printers. I have always used independent printers for my work, some larger, and several family owned as it supports my business model and needs. As I read the message from the printers I was using from prints alone— no canvas— I realized I would need to amend my deliveries and services for awhile at least.
The reason for that is my printers has decided to halt their regular operations and use they manufacturing facilities to make masks for our healthcare works on the frontline of this pandemic. I literally applaud them and will support them however I can, this is an amazing thing that are doing and I can work with clients to delay orders.
Print Company in questions is Nations Photo Labs! Be sure to show your support when this pandemic is over.
So that said I contacted the chosen recipient for the original print of my now viral image. I explained the situation, she was more than happy to wait and was also happy with the reason for the delay. In this time of crisis seeing companies and people stepping up for the right reasons is amazing!
In this time when a lot of us are uncertain, and waiting for the end. Remember to continue to be humble and kind.