Robbed at Christmas, but It’s Still A Wonderful Life…

Robbed at Christmas

Open message to the thieves that robbed our house and several others in the neighborhood prior to Christmas:

I hope that the gifts that were earmarked for family and friends and slated to go under the Christmas trees on our street bring you some sort of comfort.  I can only imagine the desperate times you must be experiencing that would entice you to track and follow a lone UPS driver as he made his rounds late on a Friday night. Running up the driveways, careful to avoid the 4 inches of white snow blanketing the grass, he breathed hard as he hurried to finish his route in order to begin his own Christmas preparations.

Perhaps you lay hunkered down in a parked car making a note of each house that the brown jacketed driver stopped at. Or maybe you had an accomplice who tailed the truck and wrote down addresses (although, how you could read them in the dark is beyond me…..wait….they must have been illuminated by the hundreds of Christmas lights brightening our homes). In any event, your heart must have been pounding in anticipation.  Knowing that you needed to score; yet not wanting to get caught.

You were so bold that some of the neighbors were actually at home at the time that you slinked off with your bag full of goodies. These are desperate times I know.  I give of my time to help many in my community who have lost their jobs, and in some cases their homes. My family has given generously to several food drives and gift tag collections at our church.  My son, along with several boys from his homeroom, have sponsored a family of four for Christmas.

So knowing that this is the worst economy in decades, I understand why you would stoop to such a despicable act.  But you know, when it came time to wrap the gifts on Christmas Eve and I realized that yet another shipment had been stolen on that same delivery day (thanks UPS tracking service!) and it was too late to replace the items in time for Christmas, I just felt sad…..

Grinch via Coaster500@photobucket

My husband and I resumed our Christmas Eve tradition of  putting out cookies for Santa and wrapping the remaining gifts while watching “It’s A Wonderful Life”.  But then as I watched George Bailey react to the kindness of the Bedford Falls community as they poured into his house on Christmas Eve and gave of the little that they had in order to help save the Bank, I realized that stolen gifts won’t remove the true spirit of Christmas.

The true spirit of Christmas today, no matter your beliefs, is love.

Love of family.

Love for friends.

Love for the communities in which we live.

So as the little bell on the Bailey Christmas tree tinkled and ZuZu said,

“Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

a solitary tear rolled down my cheek and I gave thanks for the wonderful people in my life. Stolen gifts are just things that can eventually be replaced. No thief in the night can steal love….

Fast forward to Christmas morning:

A friend of my daughter’s saw her Facebook status about the robbery and she and her father drove over this morning to bring us a special gift. They wanted us to have something special in our time of loss.  Words can not express my appreciation for such a kindness- leaving their own family on Christmas morning to come and share with ours….

It truly is A Wonderful Life…

God Bless!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

To take in the full effects of the snow outside my window, I have decided to re-create this experience virtually for any reader who happens to land on this page.  This is a magical time for everyone so enjoy!

Santa & Company, 2009

Merry, Merry!

My first attempt at video for public broadcast.  No retakes, no notes- just a “press the Logitech button” and go.  Yeah, I have the Santa Hat- not really a hat person, but it kind of adds to the festive atmosphere.  Let me know what you think.  (Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, performed by Over The Rhine plays in the background.)

RL (REAL LIFE) ROCKS!!

Me, Ann Lightfoot & Friends at the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour via Christiaan Todd Photography

In my previously addicted MMORPG days (that’s massive multi-role playing game for the uninitiated) we used to refer to our player relationships off-line as RL or “real life”.  Players in game would ask clan members (yes, I guess I was somewhat of a nerd; although not so much from the computer technology aspect, but from the highly competitive aspect of being the best with the highest player stats….that’s a blog post for another day!) if they knew each other in RL or just via the game.  Well, last night was a night for the Cincinnati Social Media Community to take their “game playing” completely off-line and meet up in RL.

The venue was Jag’s in West Chester, an upscale steak & seafood restaurant that was beautifully decorated for the holidays.  We had the entire back room and patio of the bar section and had live music playing on top of the bar.  You gotta see the pictures to truly appreciate this feat!  The aim was to mix up the local social media community with other friends and colleagues from a variety of professional backgrounds to get a conversation started and facilitate learning.  Anne Castleberry, Julie Sweeny Bogart and I are members of the New Media Cincinnati (NewMediaCincy) and Cincinnati Social Media (CincySM) social/digital networking groups.  We met virtually through Twitter and Facebook this past May and became great friends.  In fact, the three of us attended a recent REO/Styx concert and tweeted, twitpic’d and facebooked our hearts out as we swayed and clapped to the music.  (Note: the flashlight app for iPhone works great in lieu of a lighter for classic songs like Come Sail Away!)  It was at the pre-concert dinner that we hatched the plan for the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour.  I think that several people were glad that we did!

Who said you can't dance or play on the bar? via Christiaan Todd Photography

Over 100 people registered for the free event which featured complimentary appetizers, drink specials, live music and prize drawings.  Approximately 60 to 70 people representing a wide variety of backgrounds from social media folks, politicians (Charlie Luken was on the list), writers, non-profits, corporate types, attorneys, real estate professionals, bloggers, etc. made it out to Jags and from the comments that have been running on Twitter and Facebook, I think it was a very successful event.

Social Media Holiday Happy Hour at Jag's via Christiaan Todd Photography

Here are a few:

“Thanks for a great event, it was a good time and a great chance to network and catch up with people.”  -Brandon Kilby

“Great job putting the event together…great turnout!” -Carole Baker Hicks

“Great job Michelle, Anne and Julie.” – John Fleck

“Thanks to Anne Castleberry, Michelle Beckham and Julie Bogart for a FANTASTIC party!!! Those appetizers were delicious. I got to see people I hadn’t seen in a while; make new friends; catch up with friends; and had an absolutely wonderful time. Thank you SO MUCH for planning this. I look forward to the next one.” -Vickie Sceifers

Me & Julie Sweeney Bogart at the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour at Jag's via my Droid cam

“Wow-what a great party. Thanks for all you 3 did. We had a wonderful time. Everything was perfect and the place was just gorgeous. Met some interesting new people and many special friends.” -Ann Lightfoot

Thx to great girlfriends @julieunplugged @michellebeckham and @CastlePoint for fab & fun SM party last night!- Debba Haupert via Twitter

Cincy social media holiday party is a huge success w @benjaminmccall & Rhonda Silbiger @michellebeckham see pi http://tweetphoto.com/6563893 -Margo Rose via Twitter

@michellebeckham It was a great time! I’m glad I went and was able to meet you! Great job! -Annie of ArtsyGirtie via Twitter

Many folks asked the name of the organization putting on the event.  They seemed surprised when I replied that there was no group, this was just about three friends throwing a party.  No hidden agendas, no ulterior motives, just the pure desire to bring people together in the act of being social.  I met someone who had been directed by his boss to come to our event in her place.  He had no idea about the evening; just that there was a social media element and it made sense for their company to be involved.  Gotta love it!  Ended up having a great conversation with him and I’m sure he is thinking that his substitute attendance was time well spent.

The point of this post is to simply say that social media is a starting place and a conduit for building relationships that lead to community; but somewhere in the process one must take the connection off-line and into the real world.  It is a fact that we all do exist in Real Life and it is here that we can create and establish deeper and more meaningful relationships, both professional and personal.  Cincinnati is on it’s way to becoming a Digital Hub, I’m just glad to be along for the ride.

Want to know more about how you can become involved in the local Soc Med scene?  Feel free to contact me at:  http://twitter.com/michellebeckham

Warning!  Shameless Request Here: Become a Fan of my Facebook page to stay connected and be in the know about breaking news in social media and local happenings:  http://www.facebook.com/C3.CreatingConnectionsConsulting

Happy relationship building!

Glenn Corbin and Me at Jag's via Christiaan Todd Photography

People Experiencing REAL LIFE! via Christiaan Todd Photography

Thanks to Daniel Johnson, Jr for manning Eventbrite, spreading the news through the New Media Cincy community and offering great tips!

Thanks to Christiaan Todd Photography for the great shots!