ecards

We decided that this year was the time to try out the ecard option for Christmas cards. This is what I have learned so far:

1. To be viable it means having a reliable database with up to date emails.
2. That means it is necessary to be organised – almost like being at work.
3. The online format has space for a personal message and because it is typed it is easier to deal with than the handwritten kind that tend to get scribbled.
4. Therefore – no sore back
5. Instant feedback is available in two ways: i) You get an email telling you when the recipient has looked at the card: and ii) It encourages the recipient to write a chatty note back
6. Point 5 should not surprise me because it is what the online world is all about.

I found myself remembering my first job in insurance. It had the grand title of Agency Clerk – in fact a lot of the day to day routine was about keeping addresses up to date. Remember this was in the days long before computers, so when someone wrote in with a new address all sorts of records had to be changed (index cards galore under different headings) – and there was the possibility that there was a change in someone’s premium for example for their car or house insurance.

One lazy day, one lax move and the whole system would collapse. And it all depended on the lowliest newbie in the office. What I did was to work as quickly as I could so that I could pick up more interesting bits of work from other people in the department. That way I was gaining ninja skills. Well, so I told myself.