30Second Mom Meet-up! by Elisa Schmitz

This post is about gratitude. I am so grateful for the amazing contributors to 30Second Mom! Have you ever met someone in real life that you had only known online? What was it like?

Today, I had a coffee meet-up with four 30Second Mom contributors (left to right): Jan Mostrom, Shannon Guernsey, (Elisa All), Meredith Sinclair and Cheryl Leahy (with her beautiful baby). I had met two of them before (Jan and Meredith), and I met two of them for the first time (Cheryl and Shannon). Ironically, the two that were there already when I walked in were the two I hadn’t met before. And yet, I walked right up to each and gave them hugs. Seeing their faces, I felt like I knew them already. It’s such an interesting, and wonderful, phenomenon!

Without missing a beat, we started catching up like old friends. It felt like we were closing a loop on the full picture, making the connection even deeper. I love how social media brought us together, drawn to each other by similar interests and a passion for moms and kids. I love how they joined the 30Second Mom contributor team based on their faith in something they believe in, led by a person they had never met IRL, until today.

So I want to say thank you to the 30Second Mom contributors who are sharing this amazing journey with me. I am grateful to those of you who hopped on board based on what you saw online and in social media. Thanks for believing and contributing to the 30Second Mom vision. And I am grateful to those of you who did know me before and are contributing because of our past experiences together. Your continued support is appreciated so much!

Please share your own experiences with meeting an online friend/colleague in real life. We would love to hear it!