This week has been an awful week to live in the south. Many states were hit with a snow storm that literally brought entire cities to a standstill. People were stuck in their cars on the interstate, children were stuck in the buses and schools, and many people were stuck in the ditch or attached to the bumper of a semi.
Being from Northern Michigan where we’ve had over 150 inches of snow since the end of November, where 2-3 inches of snow is a daily occurrence, is hard to fathom that the weather down south can cause such a problem to millions of people.
But we come in contact with these type of crisis everyday. Think about it:
1. Your flight gets cancelled or delayed and you’re going to miss your connecting flight. Did you know that if your fly Delta, you can connect with their @DeltaAssist Twitter account for fast customer service? During the first “Polar Vortex” a few weeks ago, my family and I were flying to Missouri for a wedding. Our flight was delayed because of a mechanical issue that took 2 hours to get a maintenance guy there to fix it.
This delay caused a series of events that caused missed connecting flights and a 7 hour layover with a 10 month old. I got on Twitter and was given a $400 in flight vouchers. Another lady on our flight who was dealing with the gate agent in Detroit got a $6 voucher. She was beyond upset. Social Media to the rescue!!
2. Your website is no longer loading. In the last 2 weeks I have had two clients have hosting issues to find out that the monthly bill hadn’t gotten paid. Both of these sites were hosted through DreamHost. I wasn’t getting anywhere with contacting them through email and you have to pay to talk to them on the phone.
So I sent @DreamHostCare a tweet and within minutes I was getting answers to my hosting questions. Social Media to the rescue!!
3. You’re stuck on the middle of the interstate in a ice/snow storm. This is what the south was experiencing this weekend. One of my friends posted this on Tuesday.
I can’t even image, as a dad, possibly being stuck in bumper to bumper, 4 lane traffic and having my daughter stuck at her school and me not being able to get to her. “Is she ok? Is she fed? What is she doing?” And countless other things would have been on my mind. But tweets like this from the Atlanta Public School District would have eased my mind.
Social Media To The Rescue!!!
I’m telling you social media can really help in a pinch and you can meet some pretty interesting folks in the process. Spend some time. Network. Follow accounts that interest you. Trust me, its will have advantages past posting what you ate for breakfast.
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