Posts Tagged ‘Birthday’

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Gift VS Present by Seth Godin

I say that a gift is rooted in support and a present is founded upon quilt.. A gift requires thought and a present meets a deadline… Gifts connect people in a mutual event, while a present fills a desire to not lose face… And, shipping gifts can turn a personal gift into a delivered present.

Seth Godin suggests that“a gift costs the giver something real. It might be cash, but more likely it involves a sacrifice or a risk or an emotional exposure. A true gift is a heartfelt connection, something that changes both the giver and the recipient”.

Lee Knight, the overachiever coach makes a distinction by saying that “…we give someone a present because we think they’ll benefit from it, whereas a gift is something they have expressed interest in or would like to buy on their own”.

When a birthday is approaching, those who truly love and support take the time to select “the” gift. Those who are rushing to not miss the date, find a presents to wrap. I know that this is true because I live with a gift giver, and I am a present purchaser.

My wife, Sarah will spend 30 minutes selecting the perfect card to demonstrate her personal connection with the person who will eventually open the envelope. I, on the other hand, swoop into the store (the day of the event), speed-read the words, grab the envelope and head for the cashier.

Sarah takes the same care as she approaches the actual gift selection. Sarah is a gift giver not a present wrapper. She anxiously awaits to see the expression on a loved ones face when they open their gift. Sarah wraps her love and support around the gift.

I think that this is why it is so difficult to be a true gift giver at a distance. The personal connection is lost, and the UPS driver doesn’t wear a party hat.

This is the reason that our family gift exchange party has been so important to Sarah. With this online mimic of a party, some of the magic of gift giving is returned. All participate in the banter as each gift is virtual opened and the party proceeds. Then when the UPS driver arrives with the package, the memories have an opportunity to come out of the box with the gift.

Millions of true gift givers live with the same frustration that Sarah experiences when she sends off a gift to one of our children or grandchildren. At least her online substitute for a supportive gift giving experience helps to make a gift remain a gift, even at a distance.

Are you a gift giver or a present deliverer?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

We were interviewed for an article in the Conversation Agent blog, written by Valeria Maltoni. She asked why we are building an online party application. Here is my quote:

The tradition of supporting family and friends with gifts does not end when distance separates us. Nether does the desire to have a meaningful conversation with those that we love.

Parties are the traditional gathering point for both conversation and gift-giving among those who desire to support each other on special occasions. When distance interrupts this opportunity to gather, we all feel a loss of personal connection.

We are building this online party application as a demonstration that the tools of the modern web can, at least in some measure, replace the actual party experience with a valuable substitute.

Amazon provides a trusted shopping portal for gift purchasing. PayPal allows for secure payment systems. And AlbinoPhant provides a fun way to gather on Facebook to pass out all the gifts.

That is the “Business” side of why… But on the personal side, it is a much more emotional reasoning.

We love our children… and we want to stay involved in supporting them and their children with gifts. We would love to be at every event and milestone in their lives, but we can’t….   And we shouldn’t be.

Just because they have left the nest, we haven’t lost the strong memories of what it was like to host birthday parties and friend stay-overs, or to watch their excited faces on Christmas morning. The memories are great, but we are still craving to add more…

Distance and time have created a void in the conversation and the banter that was an important part of our family life for many years.  The traditional party experience is now a distant memory, and we just want a little of it back…

We know that we are not alone in our desire to share gifts in a better way than just shipping them off with UPS.  We have now found a way to bridge the distance and build a memory or two at the same time.  We can share gifts and great banter in an online party from any computer.

We have proven that it can be done for the past 3-years in our family, and we want others to have the same experience.

We Built it to Share it…

Give it a try and you will see why we did this…

Thanks to Valeria for her great article and the use of the image.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists