No email. No computer. No connections.

While driving into work the other day. I was listening to Bob and Tom interview a comedian that proudly stated he had no email and no computer. He didn’t see the need for them. He did admit there are some people who really need it in their jobs to function, but not in his. Bob and Tom told him “yeh, it’s pretty difficult to get in touch with you.” I can only imagine.

A day without being online in my job would be a train wreck. Who wants to go back to the days of faxing client correspondence or trying to describe a logo, photo or ad concept solely by a phone call description? No online world would mean not being able to connect with people all over the world. A day without a computer would restrict my Facebook connections, Twitter alerts, Ning site comment alerts or RSS feeds and all the other information at my fingertips.

But being online isn’t all about business. It’s also about relationships. Here’s a perfect example: Last week, I got an email from a friend that pulls at your heartstrings. My friend is enduring some incredible health issues with her two sons and husband. Both of her boys have a genetic condition known as hemophilia, their DAILY dose of medicine for both kids equates to approximately $6000 (yes $6000 per day!). The family’s insurance is about to run out since they have almost met their lifetime maximum. As if worrying about her children wasn’t enough, her husband has found tumors in his body. Here’s her email…

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“This Holiday season our family is asking for your help and all it takes is about 2 minutes on your computer. The Druckenmiller household spent 61 days in the hospital this year, which is quite an improvement from 2008 which topped out right around 100. 2010 is going to bring some more challenges for our home as Jeff is experiencing complications from his numerous tumors inside of his body and will travel to Rochester the first week of January to begin the process of detecting which one or ones will need to be removed. In the past this has been a 6-12 week recovery time for Jeff and all of that time off work= no income. Each hospital stay not only takes away our income but also brings in more bills and less time to spend together as a family. As we finish our 2009, with hopefully no more hospital stays, we are also hoping to have a great holiday season together as a family.

Now the favor – About a year ago now I began reading a website called C.O.L.E.’s Foundation. This year the foundation is doing a Christmas Cash giveaway to the family who receives the most votes. While we are extremely grateful for all of the generosity of others that have been directed towards our family over the past year we would like to ask for you to click on the link/website below, scroll down with the smaller scroll and select Bode and Brystol Druckenmiller.

AND don’t forget to pass along this email to your friends, family, or anyone else who would like to pay it forward this holiday season. You can place one vote per email address and all votes MUST BE IN BY DECEMBER 15.

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Think you could push this touching message and spread it to so many people quickly without an online world of social media? I don’t think so. Social media is a huge, huge, huge, HUGE asset – not just for business – but also for non-profits and stories like these. So do me a favor … post to your status, tweet, share and connect with all of the people you’ve built relationships with using social media and help me tell this story. And, if you would, VOTE for Bode & Brystol

Author: Bellana Putz
www.lessingflynn.com

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