Who said nothing good comes from the Interwebs

Unless you’ve been in Antarctica for the past year and have limited access to the Interwebs and you’re a blogger, than you know this weekend is BlogHer.  It’s a big ol’ blogging conference that’s being held in NYC this year.  I had wanted to go but with being 7 months pregnant and two upcoming vacations, oh, and no money, I didn’t know how I was going to swing it so I didn’t really look too seriously into it.  But now it’s here and everyones tweeting about it and blogging about it and unless I want to give up the Internet and my phone for the weekend, it’s hard to avoid.  I’m bummed I’m not there but two interesting things have happened before the conference has even started.

First for the light and fluffy…

I spend FAR too much time on Twitter but I have found some really cool links there and gotten some good advice and tips from people I’ve never met, or have met once or twice.  I’ve even made some online friends through twitter and have seen some sad things and some amazing things.  Shawn from Backpacking Dad (I think it was Shawn, I’m not 100% sure so if I’m wrong, I apologize to the genius behind this) started the hashtag #HomeHer10.  Sure it’s not NYC but it’s been highly entertaining and I’ve found myself at home, laughing over silliness.  It’s nice to spend some time with myself (huh?), laughing with other people about being at home.  I mean, how do jokes about peeing alone and laundry remain so funny?   I guess because if they aren’t funny, you might cry. I guess I feel a little less lonely, maybe a little less left out and this week, I need it.

Now for the really amazing thing…

Catherine Conners of Her Bad Mother has been on a crusade for her nephew Tanner who has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and won’t be with us much longer.  You can read about his journey there, it’s heart breaking that any child, and any family, should have to go through something like this.  Catherine started Tutus For Tanner, people running 5k’s (in tutu’s, duh) all over to raise awareness for DMD and helping Tanner fulfill his biggest wish, to die at home.  How’s that for a wish?  This morning at BlogHer, there will be a 5k in which who-knows how many men and women will be running in tutus to raise awareness and hopefully a little money.  Tanner will be there to see it happen.

Now, here are the really AMAZING things that can happen with the power of social media.  First, Tanner, his mom, and Aunt flew from Canada to NY on Wednesday on Air Canada.  Tanner spends his waking hours in a $15,000 wheelchair, custom made for his body.  Air Canada broke the chair. BROKE IT.  At first they were saying it would be fixed by MONDAY, as in 5 days later.  Tanner isn’t mobile without his chair.  That’s unacceptable.  Through the power of Twitter and then the media, Air Canada was held responsible, their nose held to the fire, and did the right thing.  Quickly.  And, they’re going to pay to send Tanner and his cousins to Disney World, another one of the items on his life list.  And it all happened a hell of a lot faster than would have happened if social media weren’t involved.

The other AMAZING thing…  Scott Stratten of Un-Marketing.com held a tweet-a-thon this week for Tanner to raise money so he could live out that final wish.  In less than 30 hours, he raised over $25,000 for Tanner’s family so they can equip their home to accommodate Tanner and hire a home nurse for what’s to come.  That’s the power of social media.  How would you do that otherwise without some celebrity name behind you?

People think that Facebook and Twitter and some of those other “silly” sites are time wasters or they just don’t get it.  People don’t understand how you can form a “family” or friendships with people you’ve never met, but you can.  You can relate, get help, give hope and make a HUGE difference in the life of someone that you’re probably never ever going to meet.  So yeah, maybe I spend too much time on Twitter, but in the end, it’s all for the better.