And now, a happy story! MV reader Cortney writes:
I have to ask how many Gen-X parents of ?screenagers? feel an unsettling love hate relationship with today?s technologies? We are locked into its wispy webs personally and financially ? with a great deal of us working in the tech sector ? pledging allegiance to an operating system is becoming as important as political affiliation. Yet, we remember times when everything had cords and at times, it was faster to ride your bike with your friends to the library, then to wait for the dial up connection. Our children however LIVE IT, LOVE IT, EXPECT IT? they have known nothing but instant information and often assume that the devices that deliver are staples next to milk, orange-juice, and cereal.
The part that our dear adolescents don?t always understand is that all of this costs money, time and energy? lots and lots of energy. Heading to a phone carriers den requires clearing your afternoon schedule, putting on your reading glasses to read the fine print and double checking your bank balance. It sometimes feels like the war of you versus them ? always wondering if you are picking the correct device, data plan or insurance coverage.
This ?phonespiracy? view is how I felt leading up to my son Oliver?s thirteenth birthday yesterday. A couple of months ago Ollie heard leaks about a new HTC device and has been peppering me daily with information snippets; ?20 MP camera with sapphire camera cover lens Mom, Front-facing stereo speakers with built-in amp Mom and Dolby Audio, Location-detecting home screen Mom, 5.1 surround sound effect to deliver true left and right channel sound for a cinematic experience Mom?. This is what I head: blah blah blah MOM, blah blah blah MOM, spend money MOM, go waste a day at the phone store MOM!
Instead of heading to the den of overwhelming devices I reached out straight to the source. I thought that I had seen a sign for HTC, Inc. on the East Side of Seattle so I did a little research and realized they have American offices only thirty minutes from where we live in Magnolia. After a little research I was happily surprised to realize the company co-founder and CEO was a female and a mom. So I wrote the letter below to Cher Wang:
Hello there Ms. Wang and team (Not sure who will actually read this:-)
I know you are a VERY busy woman – but you are also a mom and I just wanted to tell you a funny story about my son Oliver (Ollie) who is turning 13 on March 19th and maybe pick your brain. ?Ollie often becomes a little bit fixated on certain things. ?My husband and I are SO very proud of Ollie – he has made huge social and emotional growth in the past year. ?He was recently taking astrophysics and astrobiology at the University of Washington here in Seattle but now he is absolutely stuck on the?HTC One M9 and its technology. ?To be honest I am the MOST low tech mom that ever lived and have NO idea what this device is all about – apparently it is the best thing since sliced bread according to Ollie:-).
Anyway – I was wondering if you have any fun information or swag that I could get for Ollie around?HTC One M9. ?Or even a tour of the headquarters? ?We live in Magnolia not too far from Bellevue:-)?
Ollie is such a special kid and it would be wonderful to help him celebrate his birthday in a unique and fun way – Who knows he could soon be an innovator at HTC…
Have a lovely day and thank you for your time,
Cortney
To be honest I expect a form letter back thanking me for my interest in HTC and Happy Birthday to Oliver. WRONG! I got back a lovely email from Erin McGee, Vice president, HTC Americas Marketing, on a Saturday no less, telling me that HTC would love to have Ollie out for a tour when things calm down after the launch of the new device. Incredible, this busy executive, and mother of two boys, carved a moment out of her precious home time to reach out to another mom and bring joy to a complete strangers day. I instantly began working on a birthday letter to Ollie telling him the exciting news about the generous gift of a headquarter tour with Erin. BING another email popped up from Erin:
Cortney:
Great news. I have been thinking about how to help make your son’s birthday special, so I just spoke with our lead product planner, Nigel Newbey-House, to see if maybe we could swing a visit for Ollie’s birthday on the 19th – we could show him the phone, which is not yet out on the market. He loves the idea and has time on Thursday to make it work! He’s really great and also a dad.
If it’s ok with you, we’d love to stop by and surprise him on his birthday with the HTC goodies and visit with Nigel to talk tech.?
Let me know if that would be ok. We can still schedule an office visit for later, too. This way he gets hands on the product for his birthday and our other teams can stay heads down on making a successful launch.?
Thanks – look forward to hearing from you and hopefully meeting you this week.?
Regards,
Erin
Sent from my HTC
Instant warm fuzzies and butterflies ? I think I actually jumped up and down with joy thinking about the look on Ollie?s face when he was surprised with Erin and Nigel?s visit and the ability to in his words after the fact to ?be the first, I mean THE FIRST MOM, consumer to actually touch the HTC One M9?.
Nigel and Erin shut down their devices during an incredibly busy time at work, fought Seattle traffic, and showed up at Catharine Blaine K-8 with warm open hearts to surprise Ollie on his birthday. The birthday boy was called out of homeroom to the office, thinking the whole time that he had done something to send him to the principal?s office. Instead, a white faced Ollie was met by the warm smiling faces of Erin and Nigel holding birthday balloons and a ridiculously awesome back pack of HTC goodies. Ollie was able to carry on a fascinating two-way conversation with Nigel about the exciting intricacies of the new device?I still heard BLAH BLAH BLAH just with out the Mom part! I just got to sit back and admire the pure joy on Ollie?s face talking to someone that spoke his language.
I woke up this morning, the day after still with an absolute feeling of joy and gratitude. What an incredible feeling of connection to other parents, we are ONE Erin, Nigel and Cher! I never thought a skeptical technophobe like myself would say that I am happy and proud to be part of the HTC family. Please world let?s keep riding our bikes for a little personal contact, but with REALLY cool devices.
Thanks for sharing the good news!
?