I just believe…don’t you? It’s that time of the year where kids can be kids and so can us little adults. We just can’t hold it back, admit it…you get a little a little giddy when see jolly ole Kris Kringle. You have the yearning to go crawl up in his lap and share your greatest wish, each and every holiday season.
So we are off…off to enjoy some time with family. It is Christmas and it’s that time of year when we take some time to enjoy a cabin out in the middle of NOWHERE. Well actually, the mountains of Georgia. For the fourth year, Sarah and I, along with Sarah’s two sisters (Jennifer and Susanna), and Jennifer’s husband Tom & their two kids (Maggie and Sadie), take to the the holiday travel and enjoy the mountains of Georgia. Sometimes, Sarah’s father Marty tags along…but it is sporadic. BTW, Sarah’s birthday is the day after Christmas…so this is also a birthday weekend as well!
So bottomline…I am out of pocket from Christmas Day until Monday, January 3rd of the new year. Yes, can you believe it is almost 2011, close to 20 years since I graduated from good ole Daniel High School. So this little note is to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I will not be seeing you until my return…no offense. Do not worry, my family is watching the house and my awesome assistant and partner in crime is monitoring everything. Thanks Wendi…she ROCKS!
I will be enjoying the get away of a log cabin and nothing but woods. My job…make sure the fire in the fireplace does not die. That is it! Oh, yes I will be watching tons of football.
So bottom-line, I am not sure if I will have good/any cell phone reception and I will have an auto-responder set-up on my email. I will monitor just in-case of an emergency. If you like to mess around on Facebook and Twitter, well I will be Tweeting and updating Facebook. Here is my updated contact information:
Bobby Rettew
864-209-1467
http://twitter.com/bobbyrettew
http://Facebook.com/bobbyrettew (personal page)
http://Facebook.com/brllc (business page – “Like Me” if you like!)
So…Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and GO TIGERS!
Bobby
So…this holiday season, I have been trying to take the time to write holiday cards. For the past three years, I have been creating a little holiday video that is from me to all my clients, friends, and family. One message to all of these people. Typically I would have about a 85% open rate, and about 90% of those who open would enjoy close to a minute of the video. These stats told me…that this was an impersonal way of saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.
I have had this little bird singing in my head, telling me to do something a bit different. It is something that I remember John Warner saying in the first NetworkBash a few years ago. He was talking to the audience, explaining how after his yearly event called InnoVenture….he would write each person a thankyou note. This note was handwritten. I would bet he probably had a 100% open rate and 100% of those who opened the letter actually read the note. I don’t know about you, but when I receive a hand written thank you note, I read it!
The other day, I received a hand written thank you note from a very important public figure…I was humbled and honored. This busy person took just a few moments out of his busy, public policy day to write me a thank you note! WOW! His written words inspired me this holiday season.
What many people do not know about me is that I love buying cards. I like to find funny, off color cards that make people laugh. Each birthday, I typically buy two or three birthday cards for each person and number them in order for the recipient to open. I have been known to find a store with good cards and buy them out. I actually made a lady mad in Beaufort for buying all of her funny cards…I think I spend about $150.00 that day. I have a good collection for the perfect moment.
So this Christmas…I went out and bought cards. Funny cards, professional cards, thank you note cards, and generic holiday cards. I sat down and wrote to each person, each client, each friend a personal thank you note. I wrote to each client thanking them for their business and friendship. Some were sent off-color cards, some more professional cards, and some a typical holiday cards. But to each person, I wrote a personal thank you note. I let them know why I wrote and let them know that appreciated their relationship.
It got to be one fun little task. I got through the list of 100+ plus and kept on finding more funny cards, more appropriate cards. So I wrote to more people. It was therapeutic! I did not write to my close family members because I will be seeing this a lot during this holiday season, but I tried to write to as many people as I could. Some I did not, because I could not track down their address, so I will hand deliver. Some…I am still remembering and writing as fast as I can.
So this holiday season, how are you letting those you care about…know you care? Sometimes a hand written note says a lot…I know it does for me!
