Picsure Accepted to TechStars

With picsure being less than two months into the making, we have already experienced more than some startups have in a year!  That’s great news, yes, but it’s also a lot to comprehend – a lot.  In less than six weeks, we have been able to interview developers, we have committed to an awesome group of guys who have already created our MVP, we reserved a feature spot in WedBiz Magazine, and most recently celebrate our founder, Terry Roberts getting accepted to one of the most prominent startup accelerators in the nation, TechStars!

TechStars has been known to accept only 1% of all applicants.  Given its presence on Bloomberg’s Reality Show and its impact in the startup world, you can imagine the number of entrepreneurs trying to beat down the doors to get in to such an elite program.

Terry will be spending three intense days at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, working closely with and learning from TechStars Mentors, Alumni, and other industry leaders such as David Cohen and Brad Feld!  These men and women will help Terry fine-tune the critical components needed to get picsure off the ground as well as formalize his pitch on Demo Day!  This will be our first opportunity to present the app to investors from around the world!

So what’s next, you ask?  Execution.  With picsure launching in less than a few weeks, it’s quickly getting to crunch time.  Between now and then, we will be finalizing all legal efforts (for obvious reasons), forming an advisory board, and prepping for the required logistics that will need to occur in order for you to print your photos!

Stay tuned!  We’re on our way to changing the way we share life.

Testing Picsure

What an exciting time in the life of the picsure family! The development team had the app in test, and there was a serious feeling of pride as it was loaded and sat among other app icons on our iPhones. It was time to put it to work.

We hit the road on Saturday for a pre 4th of July fish fry. On our way, we plugged in a new event on picsure and were thrilled at the ease of the process! Throughout the evening we passed our phones around giving previews of the app. The energy was high and we were regretful everyone couldn’t hop on iTunes and download. As at any gathering of our friends, there were tons of kids and numerous cute photo opportunities.  We were able to capture those moments and see each other’s perspectives, share to Facebook, and add our favorites to the print queue.

Two of our favorite parts about picsure were:

1. Event Sharing – Picsure offers the ability for anyone to join an event or create their own event for others to share their photos with!  During the fish fry we were able to take photos, upload them to the event that we created and post the to Facebook all at the same time.  Now, when picsure becomes available on iTunes, everyone will have the ability to view the photos that were taken at our pre 4th of July fish fry!

2. Photo Printing – Picsure offers the ability to have any/all photos professionally printed with just one click.  All we had to do was select the photo that we wanted, then click print. It was that simple.  As we wait for the photos to print and mail back to us, we’ll be taking and sharing plenty more photos!

It’s hard to believe in a few short weeks, the app will be on its way to iTunes. It will be so awesome to be at fun summer functions using picsure to change the way we share life!

Picsure Dave Matthews

You finish your tasty local brew at Trailhead Brewery (@TrailheadBrew) and make your way over to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Parking doesn’t matter, because you booked a hotel room within walking distance. This is going to be a great night.

You make your way into a very busy, but chill stadium, stop by a vendor station and get something refreshing, and spread your blanket out in the grass on the lawn. Have a seat. Relax. Enjoy the sun.

You pull out your phone and hit the picsure app. You type in the event code “DMB” and bam! Look at all of those great pics of the people around you having fun. The concert is great, Dave Matthews is amazing as always, and the next day, you cruise through all of the awesome photos taken by all of the fans. The best part is, you were able to enjoy your favorite band in concert, and now you have a plethora of pictures to choose from to print and best capture that moment. Life is good….thanks to picsure.

The Perfect Birthday Picsure

Today was Father’s Day, and typical of any Saturday in the summer, our family calendar was fully booked. First church, a few backyard photos of Dad and the kiddies, off to my hometown for a fish fry, then to a fifth birthday party.

With the weather being in the 90s, the main attraction was a giant, inflated water slide at the party. Three Moms and two Grandmas were happily positioned toward the bottom, getting splashed here and there, and focused on getting that perfect shot of each giggling kiddo as they threw themselves down the slide over and over. I always pride myself on action shots. To get that perfect angle and facial expression, I take shot after shot, always landing at least one pic worthy of oooooohs and awwwwwws from the other Moms.

Time passes and there we all are again crowded around the birthday cake with our cameras. The pics of the sweet smile of the birthday girl are priceless as everyone sings to her. No. The shots of that cute pucker as she blows the candles out are the best. One shot has closed eyes. Another pic someone walks in front of me and a random elbow enters the scene. The birthday girl’s Mom realizes her hubby is busy chatting and neither of them grabbed the camera.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a mobile app that captures ALL the photos taken for small family gatherings like this?  ALL the photos taken by everyone in one place.  Instead of cropping, changing lighting, and still not having a good shot, maybe another Mom snapped her pic at the perfect moment at the right angle and captured the moment. What if the Mom of the birthday girl could have all 100 pics taken by everyone to create the most awesome fifth birthday album ever? Hello picsure.

Printing Photos Makes Me Crazy!

In 2011, we took more than 80 billion photos in the United States.  Only 14 billion were printed however.  With the anticipated decline of printed photos, our society may very likely evolve to a purely digital photo culture.  If this happens, what will we have to show our grandchildren or our great-grandchildren when they ask us for a photo of the stories that we share with them?  Will they even know what a photo album (as we know it) is?  Picsure exists to prevent that from happening.

First, we researched why fewer photos are being printed and determined that it isn’t cost.  Photos cost less now than they ever have.  It isn’t quality, with the technology that is available today, the photo quality of the cameras and printers is better now than it has ever been.  So what is it?  It is the inconvenience!  Think about the hassle that you encounter every time you want to print just one photo.  You likely end up printing more than one because we don’t want to go through the process again anytime soon!  Right now, you have two options, print at home or print through a business.  Both of which, evolve into a process that you never want to experience again.  Oh, and by the way, you pay for it.

Here’s how it typically goes:

You spend countless hours browsing through hundreds of photos on your computer, only to select the few that you deem worthy of printing.  Once you’ve selected the photos, you now get to find that infamous “Photo Website.com” to login to, upload each photo, start over again because the site crashed, upload again, enter your credit card information, then pay for printing and shipping.  Now all you have to do is wait 3-5 business days AFTER the photos are printed!

OR

You decide to make a quick dash to your local Wal-Shop retailer, thinking that you’ll be able to slip in, hand your memory card over the the “quick print photo machine”, select the photos you want, and voila!  Right? Ha, if that were the case, we wouldn’t still buy our own photo printers or spend the same amount of time on “Photo Website.com”.  Rather, we end up finding ourselves fighting traffic to get to the store, wait in line for the “quick print photo machine” to either become available after the people in front of you and/or call for a technician because the machine broke down!  Best case scenario, you are able to plug in all your photos (if you remembered your memory card), then mosey on over to the grocery section to grab a few items while they print.  Finally!  You get home, put away the groceries, then remember, you forgot the photos!

Picsure does away with all of that inconvenience.  Picsure is a mobile app that revolutionizes the way in which the world shares photography.  Picsure makes it possible for users like yourself to have their favorite photos professionally printed and mailed to their doorstep with one click.  Picsure makes it possible for an event of any size to curate photos from all who attend.  Picsure does all this without having to endure the frustrating process of printing photos at home or through a store.

Want to learn more?  You can visit our page or follow us for future updates!

Never Miss That Photo Opportunity Again

On our wedding day, we had grand plans of having everyone with a camera pop out their memory card on their way out of the reception, stick it into our laptop, and we would load all candid shots they captured. It was a few years ago and that made total sense at the time. However, the champagne fountain was flowing and it didn’t get done. A few people tagged us on Facebook in the upcoming days, but we wanted to see the differing angles, general silliness,  and the moments captured of our wedding in the perspective of our friends and family. We knew people used to put out disposable cameras on tables, but that really wasn’t our style. I still wish we had all of those shots.

At our daughters’ baptism, I saw several people taking photos as the girls’ stories were read, while they sat anxiously in the baptismal, and as we shared a special family moment afterward. Where did those pics end up?

The day our precious little baby boy entered the world, things were a bit of a blur to me. There were so many people in and out. Who all was even there? Did everyone get to hold him? I wish I had photos of every little hug he shared with another person.

I can’t wait to go to our annual DMB concert. I love laying on the grass listening to Dave and his group be the amazing musicians that they are. I bet some pretty artistic photos come out of those events. Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to see everyone’s perspective during a time like that?

That’s where picsure comes in. All of the ‘events’ mentioned above could have been captured by photography by simply creating an ‘event’ within picsure.

Mother’s Day Photo Nightmare

Mother’s Day this year was fast approaching. It was a very special one for me because I was experiencing the joy of sharing that date with my own child. In addition, a new fondness, respect, and deeper love had developed for my own Mother because of the new experiences we were sharing.

I wanted to do something special. As many of you know, the time for upmost creativeness while having a three month old on your hip is somewhat limited. My Mom loves pictures. Loves. They are all over her home, her office, her Facebook page, and etched into her brain. She had mentioned her lack of Keegan photos (my son). This should be where an easy process steps in. But let me tell you what actually happened.

My best pics of Keegs are on Facebook and instagram. Most all of my pics are taken by my iPhone and iPad. I’m 29. What can I say? If my phone takes photos as good as my camera and also has editing software built right in and is most generally already right next to me…what else am I going to use?

We don’t have a home printer, which I know is commonplace for many. If we did, which we have before, the possibility of having toner, ink, and the correct photo paper all at the same time would be rare. So I hop onto my laptop and start saving pics. I’m on my Facebook page flipping through my very generically labeled albums. I’m on instagram finding the pics I didn’t load to Facebook. I’m on twitter. When did I find time to tweet 1000+ times? Then I remember the adorable pic my husband took and loaded, so I’m on his Facebook page. Who took that cute tickle pic a month ago…? Maybe my Mom…so I get over to her Facebook page. Our camera did make its way into the delivery room. Where’s that memory card? Have I uploaded these yet?

Blah. Three hours later, and we all know in mom world I’ve added a breastfeeding session in there and a trip to the bathroom-I’m ready to upload. I load all sixty-two photos. At least I try to. System stall on wal-Mart’s end. I’m hoping they all got on there and click to pick-up the next day. Later that night, I get an email that the pics won’t be ready on time. I stress, but decide I’ll just have to tell my Mom that I tried. Six hours later, another email arrives saying they’ll be available, just a little late. We pack up the kiddo, get to wal-mart, get our photos, and get on the road.

Did all my photos make it through this journey? Of course not. I remember the faulty upload. Whatever. Lucky for me, my Mom’s a gracious woman who is easily distracted by children. She never knew the difference. But for the eightieth time, we decided there had to be a better option. It’s 2012 for goodness sake.
I think, “Come on technology!”as I anxiously await Picsure.

Here We Go

Hi! I’m Kerri. I’m the HR Manager for a Columbia, Missouri business that serves Veterans. I’m an MBA grad that loves to read and write. I live on a lake and enjoy the outdoors. Spending time on a patio or around a table with wine and friends is a favorite past time. I’ve got two step-daughters, and an amazing son that entered our lives in January of this year. While I know it’s not for everyone, I’m a huge advocate for breastfeeding, the bond it provides, and the awesome health benefits it lends to my babe.

On top of all that, I’m married to a charming USMC Vet who is a dreamer and a big thinker. He is the founder of this new venture called Picsure. I can’t give all the credit for this brain child to me, but I am sure my day-to-day actions of constant uploading of pics to twitter, Facebook, instagram, pinterest, email, wal-mart.com, and walgreens gave him a nudge in the right direction.

In a recent tizzy, we went to wal-mart to print some pics after being guilted by my Mom and other moms because I didn’t have one single printed pic of my newborn. My fingers and those machines aren’t friends and after a few minutes, I was more than frustrated, but finally finished. My pics would be ready in eight minutes, so we gathered our groceries, paid, and left the store WITHOUT MY PICTURES. Ugh. Needless to say, another trip to wal-mart was in order later that day.

I could go on and on with stories like these. Stories of uploading pics to a store website only to have them delayed by broken store printers, printed but not good quality with no prior notification, loading all my pics onto my laptop but not taking the time to label folders so I can’t ever find what I’m looking for…you get the point.

Enter Picsure into my life. Ahhhhhhhhh.

Throwing Life’s Precious Memories Away

Remember the days, before digital cameras, when we paid for the 110 film or 35mm film? We were so anxious to get home, pop that baby in our camera and start taking photos. Not sure about you, but due to the cost and limitation of the film, I was especially cautious to take photos of only the moments/people/objects that I was willing to pay to have developed. With 20-25 photos per roll, I wanted to get my best shots only.

Fast forward to 2012. Not only are digital cameras so much more convenient, they’re a part of our lives. More than 50 million people own an iPhone, not to mention all the other smartphones in the marketplace with integrated digital cameras. We now have the ability to take as many photos as we want, when we want, where we want, and as often as we want. Finally, we’re no longer restricted to the old days of film. So life is great, right? Maybe not.

Back then, we made darn sure to get that roll of film to the store to be developed – for two reasons:

1. We paid for the film; we had better get our monies worth!
2. We were so careful to take the best pictures we could and we were anxious to see them!

Back then, our intent was to print 100% of the photos we took. Today, it’s a different story. Thanks to the convenience of digital cameras, we’re able to take so many more photos, about 200 million per day to be precise. However, our intent to print all of those photos has faded. In today’s reality, we print about 17% of the photos we take. So how does this impact us, you ask? Dramatically.

Picture yourself in 10 or 20 years, you will have taken thousands of photos in the time but will only have printed about 100. What will you have to share with your children, grandchildren, or your friends and family that were a part of the moments you speak of? At best, you will have your photos on an online account via “cloud” somewhere. If you happen to remember your username and password, then you’ll be able to navigate through more than 40,000 photos that you will have taken by then for the one or two photos that you wanted to find.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had access to a service that prompted you to simply select your few photos that were worth printing? Wouldn’t it be great if that’s all you had to do? Take a photo with your smartphone, select the photo if it’s worth printing and automatically receive it in the mail?

This is where Picsure comes in!