Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Something happened last week that confirmed my belief even further that twitter means business !!

I know that  ”I’m feeling so sleepy” or “I miss my dog” type tweets get on most of our nerves. Even now most of us junta uses networks like twitter and facebook to tell the world about things we are better of not knowing. But these very networks can also be a powerful tool !! Just like that knife in the hands of thief or the robber theory.. Read on..

Having read and liked Rashmi Bansal’s last book Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish and after interacting with the author last week I decided to buy her latest book Connect the dots considering the good reviews it been getting. Being the lazy guy I am I prefer buying books online plus you get a good deal online these day.

Not being too happy about the online book store http://www.infibeam.com since their last delivery Maharajas came in a not so  nice a condition after being partly drenched the rain but still usable. In spite of which I decided to order this book through them because they were selling an autographed copy. Since I my  collection of Author signed copy book is slowly growing I decided the small increase in price compared to the other online stores was justified, So i went ahead with the order.

The Book was delivered (I must say is very good condition this time) but my repeated efforts of trying to find some ink on paper was in vain I felt cheated that they dint keep up their word on an  Author Signed copy !

You know I am not the ones who keep will quite.. right I looked up infibeam.com on twitter and found them , It helped that I also found their rivals flipkart and the author Rashmi Bansal on twitter. Tweeted about my bad experience with infibeam.com something I hadnt faced (so far) from flipkart. Also gave them my order number asking them why I dint receive an Signed Copy.

10 mins after this tweet I get a phone call from their Customer service. They apologize for their slip up explaining that they had run out of the signed copies. They offer to ship me one as soon as they got stock. I refuse saying that its not about another copy (and cutting more trees for books) Its about failing to keep up your word. They accepted it, offered me a refund of the amount (I dint ask for it) for not keeping up their promise. In the next hour I get a mail with the refund credit and the news that they have removed the Author Signed copy offer. I was impressed with their swiftness !! Now with the refund they are forcing me to try their service again, They have a chance of winning back a customer if they get their acts right. Smart move there !!

It was nice also to heard back from the Author about infibeam.com running out of Signed copy.

So the next time before tweeting about your girlfriend’s dog or neighbor’s daughter.. Thinking again about twitter power !!

Last one, Since we are taking about books and buying them online, this is one simple and great site which is give you the best prices online. Great service for book lovers

The person who has single handedly made twitter popular in India , Mr Shashi Tharoor A tweetup in Bangalore on the 4th of Nov was a great way of  meeting this person up close. And if you have been tracking his columns, reading his books and following him on twitter you would even travel from Mysore like how I did to be a part of the action. Thats the Tharoor power over the younger generation.

Once at the venue Mr Tharoor took off seamlessly over how he joined politics and what got him to twitter. Mr Tharoor’s unassuming self, his amazing sense of humor with his brilliant timing at it and his positive attitude would grab anybody attention. I found him appealing because he was normal, more for the sense in what he spoke rather than how he spoke and more of the Aam Aadmi around him rather than security guards. so unlike our other netas, here was a leader I could connect to. A refreshing difference in our political class.

Mr Thaoor got to fielding questions varying from Politics and Cricket to Social Causes, It was great watching him at ease and how well he tackled the question around his twitter controversy. Sample some of these..

Audience : You should suggest that twitter should make manditory for all minister ?

ST: “I’m not the right person for the job”

Audience : How do you manage to stay so positive in spite of being in the Indian Political arena?

ST: “If you want to make things better you have to believe that things can get better and stay positive”

Audience : How would you want the younger generation in India to change

ST: “I’m not the sort of  person who would  want to change people”

Audience : Describe yourself in 140 chars ?

ST: “Lets not even get there”

Now with the time for Questions over and he was getting ready to leave to Mysore for the TED Conference, I asked the minister “Can i hitch a ride back with you to Mysore ?” And genetly came the reply with smile “Sorry, Its a official car..so I wont be allowed” So there I missed my ride to Mysore with the Mr Tharoor. But what a tweetup it had been. And I managed to get his book The Elephant, The Tiger and The Cellphone (Which i bought the day I quit my job to start Royal Mysore Walks .. and have been using much of its stories to keep my guests entertained on India Autographed, another reason I was at the tweetup.

It was a great effort by dhempe, tinucherian and santoshp to bring together the tweetup. A lovely choice of venue at TERI, Domlur. It left me thinkning, we need more minister like Mr Tharoor  because being normal is a rarity these days !!