Today is the first anniversary of Kodak's 1,000 Words blog! It has been a year full of great content, comments, stories, and wonderful images!

Last September 6th I kicked this blog off for the team with this first post. In that post we said we would bring you:

• Tips and techniques from Kodak experts
• Inspirational stories brought to life through photography - a.k.a. Kodak Moments
• Behind the scenes tales. Insider perspectives from passionate people.
• Gee, I didn't know Kodak did that! stories from Mars to Montana of our imaging technology in use
• Off the wall stuff that most likely will be a surprise to us too!

I think that we delivered on that promise and then some!

The team had a goal to publish each and every business day with pictures in every one of those posts. That was quite a commitment given we all have our day jobs to consider ;-) We are proud to say that we made it and are on track to continue bringing you stories from the great people at the forefront of digital imaging!

An anniversary post would be lacking without out some mention of special posts. We have had a tremendous number of contributors ( I wish I could highlight them all!) making this a very diverse place for conversation and ideas. There are way too many to list here but I will take a stab a few hits.

Jenny Cisney topped the charts on many occasions but her post of Dog Photography: Not of but taken by dog was a fav!

I had a silly post that was picked up by boingboing and it set the traffic records - 17,000 people in one day!: Love, Innovation and Fruit Flies.

Tina Clark had many posts describing her preemie-cutie-pie kid Lauren's first year. Her post for Father's Day Remembering Dad was particularly special.

Robbin Huls created a series of posts that featured the adventures of Paxton, a guide-dog puppy she is raising and training. Paxton's adventures in the office and the things Robbin had to do to prepare for having a dog at work were fascinating.

Denise Stinardo posted a few times but her efforts behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly really deserves praise. It isn't easy riding herd on this bunch!

We had contributors from Kodak people around the world - Wallace in China, Guilia in Italy, Penny down under in Australia and many more.

The reception this blog has gotten from you, the readers, has been fantastic and I must tell you really energizes us contributors! Media and other bloggers dug us too - here are a few quotes:

It's a good sign when employees love to do what the company is about. - Warped Visons

Cool stories and pictures: A Thousand Words is a place for stories from the people of Kodak, with photos. - DavePicks

A Thousand Words is Kodak's weblog. It's way cooler than you would think a corporate blog would be. - funkaoshi

Kodak has hit on a fresh and clever way to approach blogging. - Heather Green at Business Week.

In good company as one of Five Effective Corporate Blog Examples by blog expert Debbie Weil

Another contributor, Vera Sytch, had a number of very profound posts highlighting her mission work and shared many amazing photos from those trips. Vera's The Day I Learned to See post stood out. It struck an emotional chord describing a near death experience that changed her life. An extract follows:

I realized that belongings are temporary but memories are forever. The only thing I truly own is my time, and how I spend it reflects what I value. My greatest treasures aren't the material things I've accumulated, but the people in my life.

This is the kind of post that embodies all of the stories, photos, and experiences you see on 1,000 Words. We all are passionate about photography and the way that it helps people tell the stories of their lives. Working on self-expression enabling products like cameras, websites, home printers, etc. that appeal to a fundamental human need for everyone on the planet is a motivating thing to think about on the way into work everyday!

I wonder what year-two will bring? Tell us what you would like to see. We LOVE your comments, after all, a blog without comments is just a webpage!

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