Welcome

I am pleased to welcome you to the 2013 version of our Valentine site.  I am convinced that this is our best work yet.  Brooke, Kevin and I are anxiously awaiting your comments. We encourage you to share them with us using the blog commenting feature.

Where Are the Teddies?

Those of you who are familiar with the Trainor Valentine will know that our cards usually include many images of the Trainor teddy bear family.  You may have also noticed that the 2013 edition does not include any photos of teddies.  So, where are the teddies?  This year, we teddies have been working behind the scenes in editorial and support roles.  As Editor-In-Chief, I have spent many hours with Brooke and Kevin working on the big decisions.  Our decision to go “green” and to deliver the Valentine over the Web was probably our biggest hurdle.  Many reader requests from past Valentines helped to push us in this direction.  Many of you wanted us to include captions to allow you to identify the photo subjects and locations.  Others, wanted to see larger images in addition to the small images in our  photo collage.  In the end, our biggest motivator for moving to the Web was the sale of the Kodak division that has been producing our beautiful printed cards.  Apparently, the new owners were not interested in continuing the product line that we had been using.

Another big teddy bear contribution came from Ooby, who has served as Technical Director.  Oob believed strongly that this should be a WordPress site and he succeeded in talking Kevin out of a number of alternative solutions.  If not for Ooby, the Valentine site would probably have  been implemented using the Ontopia Topic Maps Software.  While the semantic power would have been impressive, Ooby was convinced that Kevin would miss our publication deadline. Ooby also lobbied heavily for the choice of the Photocrati theme to showcase the photos on the site.  He convinced us and we hope that you will appreciate his choice too.

Seji and Buster served as Directors of Photography.  These were key positions that required a discerning eye and a knack for social work.  Kevin has always been a stickler for photos that are good technically.  Brooke has typically favored photos that tell a good story and are visually engaging (regardless of technical flaws).  While these differences in perspective have led to exciting discussions in past years, the introduction of the click-through feature that shows full-size images really brought the issue to a head in 2013.  Our current states of artistic satisfaction and domestic tranquility are largely due to the gentle, persuasive natures of both Seji and Buster.

Any project team needs support, and the Teddies really came through this year.  Poohey, Widdle, Buster, and Middle (AKA “The Iddles”) provided their usual reliable personal support.  This included making sure that Brooke took enough weekend naps to get over a nasty bout of the flu.  It goes without saying that this group also did their usual heroic job of getting Kevin out of bed on weekend mornings so that he could work on the project.  Catering was the responsibility of Ger, Nutella and Stoney.  While they are not really tall enough to get much done in the kitchen, they have developed tremendously strong relationships at the local Panera that really paid off for the team.  The remainder of the teddy bear family has been working on a “wrap party” that is scheduled for Valentine’s Day evening.  Valentine’s Day is also Brooke and Kevin’s wedding anniversary.  So, we are all hoping for the party to be a big hit.  Ger, Nutella and Stoney are doing the food again with help from Panera; Mikey has taken responsibility for drinks; Giovanni is bringing the music; Gully is responsible for the coat check.  Please feel free to drop by to join us if you are otherwise unoccupied on that very special evening.

We Want to Hear From You

Most important, we are looking forward to hearing from you.  So, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts using the comment box below.  Also, you may reach us by email.  Our email addresses are listed on the Contact page.

Visit the 2013 Photo Gallery

Please remember to visit the 2013 Photo Gallery.

All the Best,

Boo