Let me tell you the story of Elise and her message in a bottle which I found on the bank of the River Thames at the beginning of January. It was I believe Sunday January 4th when I did my usual walk along the River to blow away the New Year celebration cobwebs and as I looked amongst the washed up debris I noticed a small plastic bottle with a rolled up piece of paper inside. I could see there was some writing and a drawing, so I picked it up and put it in my rucksack to be opened on returning home. I do like to include a bit of anticipation when I find a message – and keep it unopened – so that I can be excitedly curious about what it will say.
Elise's message in a bottle
I was delighted to find this letter from Elise from Norway and was extremely impressed with her grasp of the English language. As well as this, I was introduced to the term “indoor bandy” which was completely new to me (a form of indoor hockey, which I found out by doing some research). Now, although the writing was clear for the most part, Elise did put an address down, but this was slightly obscured by some water which had got into the bottle. I could just about make it out and so wrote her a letter and posted it to what I hoped was her address in Norway.
And then…. I waited for a reply……..ho, hum.....
And it would appear that patience is not my virtue (well, actually I do already know that – but this just proved it). After waiting just over 2 weeks and not hearing anything, I was convinced that Elise had not received my letter and so feeling a little bored on a Friday evening at home, decided to shake things up a bit so.....I threw her message in a bottle out into the virtual sea of twitter. Well… I certainly did not realise what the response would be......
And then…. I waited for a reply……..ho, hum.....
And it would appear that patience is not my virtue (well, actually I do already know that – but this just proved it). After waiting just over 2 weeks and not hearing anything, I was convinced that Elise had not received my letter and so feeling a little bored on a Friday evening at home, decided to shake things up a bit so.....I threw her message in a bottle out into the virtual sea of twitter. Well… I certainly did not realise what the response would be......
After one day the message was retweeted 1200 times! Eek!
I was not prepared for the overwhelming reaction of the twittersphere. There was such a frenzy of retweets that I could only watch with a little bit of alarm at how quickly Elise's letter surfed the waves of tweets to Norway – in a matter of moments. So many people took up the challenge of detective and Elise, the unsuspecting 12 year old, who threw a simple message in a bottle, was not going to be able to hide anywhere!! By Sunday, after a couple of newspapers also embarked on the search, the nonplussed, reluctant celebrity Elise had been found and I received an email from her Mum to say that she…. had indeed received my letter but had not yet replied! Oops. I apologised for turning her into a semi celebrity, and I understand that she was not too upset about all the attention she was getting.
So, there are several lessons I can draw from this:
1. Patience! Perhaps I could have waited a little longer to receive a letter back from Elise before kicking off a worldwide supported search for her!
2. Twitter is an amazingly powerful tool and a lot of people love joining in a search, and solving a mystery.
3. The consequences of just one tiny action, can render big results - Just one small message in a bottle ended up being read by over 1,500 people. Now everyone knows that Elise’s favourite food is stew (well done by the way, I wish my daughter would eat stew!).
4. Everyone loves a message in a bottle!
And one lesson for Elise and indeed any child! You know, us middle aged grownups aren’t very patient about waiting for letters, and so if you’ve got a thank you card or letter due for any Christmas presents, get writing, as if not, the long arm of twitter might just come along and give you a big prod! It can be done. We’ve just proved it!
I’d like to finish with a big thank you to Elise for her lovely message in a bottle, for her teacher who threw it in the River Thames, and mostly to ALL of the people who helped track Elise down! I hope the experience and the outcome has been a fun one and that I have not embarrassed you Elise!
It’s really quite magical.
Love Nicola X
oh, and ps, now having found Elise, there is still the small matter of finding Madison from London (see my previous blog entry before this. And....there is a reward for that one!! ). Get hunting!!
So, there are several lessons I can draw from this:
1. Patience! Perhaps I could have waited a little longer to receive a letter back from Elise before kicking off a worldwide supported search for her!
2. Twitter is an amazingly powerful tool and a lot of people love joining in a search, and solving a mystery.
3. The consequences of just one tiny action, can render big results - Just one small message in a bottle ended up being read by over 1,500 people. Now everyone knows that Elise’s favourite food is stew (well done by the way, I wish my daughter would eat stew!).
4. Everyone loves a message in a bottle!
And one lesson for Elise and indeed any child! You know, us middle aged grownups aren’t very patient about waiting for letters, and so if you’ve got a thank you card or letter due for any Christmas presents, get writing, as if not, the long arm of twitter might just come along and give you a big prod! It can be done. We’ve just proved it!
I’d like to finish with a big thank you to Elise for her lovely message in a bottle, for her teacher who threw it in the River Thames, and mostly to ALL of the people who helped track Elise down! I hope the experience and the outcome has been a fun one and that I have not embarrassed you Elise!
It’s really quite magical.
Love Nicola X
oh, and ps, now having found Elise, there is still the small matter of finding Madison from London (see my previous blog entry before this. And....there is a reward for that one!! ). Get hunting!!
combing the shores for messages in bottles!
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