By Lynn Isenberg
So your mom is turning 80. Your parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Your sister is graduating from medical school. Your husband is embarking on a new career. Your family’s beloved four legged canine daughter is turning ten (70 in dog years!), your son is moving to a new city, your Uncle is in hospice, or your ensemble of classmates are graduating and life as you know it is moving in new directions.
You want to honor your friends and loved ones and the experiences you’ve shared together. There are so many ways to create inspiring tributes with Shutterfly’s wide range of tribute solutions! To collaborate on a Tribute follow these steps:
1. Identify the person you wish to honor
2. Consider the contributions they are making or have made to your life
3. Consider the contributions they are making or have made to the life of others
4. Choose the theme of the tribute, for example, “bon voyage” “anniversary” “milestone birthday”, “momentous graduation”, “just for being you” “because I love you”, etc
5. Send an ole’ fashioned letter, or an email, phone call, or text, inviting friends and family to send you 3-5 images of their favorite memories of the subject – and if they are inclined, also send a caption or story to go with it. They can be letters, favorite sayings, lyrics to a favorite song or an image of that person’s favorite thing or hobby
6. Now it’s time to edit the materials you’ve collected. Pick the content that will best depict a story. It can be chronological, thematic, humorous, comedic, or heartfelt
7. Arrange the photos and words in one of Shutterfly’s photo books with a style that best matches the theme of your tribute
8. Give credit to all your co-contributors, and voila, you have a collaborative tribute
Above all else, remember that tributes are an opportunity to express the love and esteem you hold for another (that includes you, too!). Be sure to ask your contributors to include the qualities they admire in that person.
You can do the same thing by using a Shutterfly Share site. This is an extraordinary and super simple way to create a collaborative tribute! It’s like creating your own personal pictorial version of Facebook. You can truly let your inner creative photographer marry your inner blogger.
You get to load and choose the way you want your pictures and videos viewed. Images can be viewed in film strip style, slide show, album, photo journal, thumbnails, etc. plus there’s a place to blog and you can add music. Simply invite friends and family to upload their images, videos, thoughts, stories or jokes in a free form expression of love and gratitude for the honoree!
Enjoy… the honor is all yours!
By Author-Brand Strategist & Tribute Expert Lynn Isenberg, “The Funeral Planner” trilogy book series and digital series featuring Joss Stone, and founder of www.TheTributeNetwork.com
Lynn’s books and digital videos:
The Funeral Planner
The Funeral Planner Goes To Washington
The Funeral Planner Goes Global
The Funeral Planner Digital Series
Grief Tributes
Grief Wellness