I love to throw parties for my kids. We have six year-old twins, so whenever we have a birthday party, it’s quite a large gathering. And that means that there are a lot of gifts to be opened and a lot of thank you notes to be written.
This year, we held their party at Fresh Brothers, Redondo Beach. (Of course!)
Sadly, I was unable to attend the party because I was in the hospital. (That’s a whole blog post in itself.) My friend, Rose Pierce, an incredible photographer and blogger, kindly documented the party.
I got a hall pass this year on writing thank you notes because I wasn’t at the party. The kids opened their gifts and of course there were no notes kept on who sent what.
I have a confession to make: last year, I was at their party. I helped the kids open their gifts, and still didn’t write thank you notes. I suck.
Yesterday, two social media mavens, Ciaran Blumenfeld and Ana Roco Castro launched a new Iphone & Ipad app called IGiftThanks. This app allows you to create digital thank you notes and share them with the recipient via email, Facebook and Twitter.
Initially, I thought it was a cool idea, but thought that digital thank you notes might seem really impersonal. Or tacky. But the idea of easily sending 50 or so thank you notes easily was really appealing to me. I downloaded the app onto our Ipad. (It’s $1.99, less than the cost of a single greeting card, as the IGiftThanks press release points out.)
To test it out, I used the “Quick Thanks” option. It allows you to choose a themed frame for your note.
I chose the snowflakes and added a picture that my daughter created on the Ipad of a dreidel. This image then goes into an email that can be sent to the recipient along with a quick note of thanks. Hit the send button and it’s off into digital cyberspace. No stamps needed. No worrying about your terrible handwriting.
I really like IGiftThanks. It’s easy to use. It’s very affordable. And best of all, it’s fun.
I will start using IGiftThanks. Will you think less of me for sending a digital thank you note?
Those of you who enjoy using this app on your phone will surely be interested in Thankuz, an upcoming Web app that allows you to send ‘Thank You’ notes to anyone for anything, not just gifts. Not only that, but you can also receive and track notes from others. It’s fun to do, easy to use and shows you care! Feel free to send feedback to http://thankuz.com once the app goes live.
Thank you for the shout out. I’ve been fighting and then recovering from viral pneumonia since the day after Christmas. What a way to end the year.
Love the Skype idea! We may just have to try that next year – we were blessed to be with family in person this year.
Enjoy the cruise!!
Rose, you are so gifted. Thank you for the gift of sharing that day via your photographs. I hope you feel better…
Debbie
I’ve been following your blog since you started. You have made amazing progress. This site is an inspiration for all pursuing a long transition versus the big chop.
- Rob
Hi Lisa – Certainly there are people and situations that require a hand-written thank you note. IGiftThanks is a fun and quick option for more casual situations. Recently, we attempted to add Skyping while opening gifts with family. We couldn’t make the schedules work, but that would add the instant fun of the joy of opening the gift and the heartfelt thanks in the moment.
- Debbie
I LOVE the skype thing, what a great idea!
I’m terrible about thank you cards too, but I also am not sure how I feel about the digital thing. Is it lazy? And as you said, less personal?
However, there is one HUGE plus I see to it, it’s green! I love the less paper, stamps, etc. aspect of digital communications, invites, thank yous, etc.
On the fence, but will still love you if you decide to use them.
And I will try some sort of digital thank you, although from my phone probably won’t work for me, but maybe smilebox is my tool?????
Lisa Vitale
http://www.lisawifemom.wordpress.com