Seattle! The biggest surprise on the trip. Drew Meyers deserves the biggest hug and high-5 of them all. Drew and I had NEVER met before the Seattle party. He’s just this terrific guy who reads my blog and is really into microfinance and Kiva (which is how he found me) and we’ve emailed a few times over the past few months. When Doug and I picked Seattle for a party, I reached out to Drew and said told him about the campaign and idea for Cause It’s My Birthday and asked if he’d be willing to be one of the hosts. His response?
“I’d love to help, but the thing is I’m going to Europe for two weeks before the event so if possible can I have everything set up and arranged before I go? I’ll get some friends to help me.”
My response? “Absolutely, sounds great.”
I mean, anyone anywhere who has planned anything ever knows this is like hitting the lottery. Pretty soon Drew recruited his friends Kate, Alex and Taryn and I reached out to a Los Angeles friend Rosemary who had moved up that way recently and everyone went to town. They got a venue, sorted logistics, got raffle items and gift bags. They did everything to make the party amazing and WE HAD NEVER MET!
This brings me back to something I say a lot – inspire people about a cause, give people the tools to do good, and thank them at every turn. That’s the magic. But the luck of the draw is in the people. They have to want it and create a cohesive unit and say, “COUNT ME IN.”
A HUGE thank you to the Seattle community, the Seattle hosts, the Seattle weather gods (the next morning was one of those Seattle days when you think I COULD LIVE HERE). Thank you also to the Whrrl Team for being supportive and to the Copper Cart Cafe in Belltown for hosting our event. Also a HUGE thank you to Jordan Woodworth from New Mode DVD. Jordan came in last minute and did an amazing job on photography. You can see above CLEARLY which were his and which photos are ours. Thank you Jordan!
Seattle – we made great friends. We love your philanthropic and go-getter spirit and we can’t wait to visit you again really soon.
If you like this post, you might like:
Seattle Video Update – cab ride headed to the venue.
San Francisco Video Update – the next day recounting the evening before.
