Great Post! Sending holiday cards seems to be a bit of a lost art these days. I really appreciate it when I receive a greeting card in the mail. It brightens my day. I commit to sending holiday cards every year. It is not always easy but I know it is appreciated.

Bobbi

Christmas became a time to keep in touch with friends of my pre Australia days. When phone costs were prohibitive to UK, mail was the only way we kept in touch. Despite good intentions and initial more regular contact, Christmas became the time for an annual letter and card. Keeping up with this has meant that I have more recently been able to connect with many old friends, mostly via Facebook, even though it is over 20 years since I last saw most of them.

Will I keep sending them cards even though I now have online contact with them – yes. I can’t say I enjoy doing this, life is busy enough at this time of year and it can be a tedious task. but for my part I feel that taking that extra time and effort is an indication that you care about someone. There have been years when I have not been organized enough to send them off in time. Then I have either created cards to send via email or via a webpage on my personal site or sent letters or newsy emails soon after as a way of compensating.

For blogging friends for whom I have no address, an online greeting had to suffice although I did do some Christmas link love posts and have been doing some extra stumbling of their posts etc.

As for companies sending out cards, the cynic in me comes out and I just think of them as a direct marketing technique.

Generally I agree with Rob that it’s the message the counts more than the form is delivered. However, I insist that there’s something magic about a printed, palpable card.

Unlike Theo, I do not find sending Christmas card hypocritical. On the contrary. I find that Christmas brings to light the best in us.

The messages I sent online… were coming from the heart, yes, but I also feel ashamed I sent no printed cards this season, Deborah. I cannot hide – but I don’t judge people who didn’t send either. I only promise myself that Christmas 2009 will find me hand-writing season greetings on self-designed cards for all my friends, colleagues, family and business partners.

But I’m not so certain that the custom declined strictly due to the electronic age. I can even remember my parents cutting back their lists over the years due to rising costs, and the obligatory status that they had, similar to gift giving at Xmas.

We always send hard copy cards to our customers, but very few people that we know do not have computer access, and we always send e-cards to them at Xmas. We exchange hard copy cards with family and close friends other than virtual which are given to each other when we see them over Xmas.

Does it lessen the message that it was sent online and costs were nothing more than our time? After reading this post, I actually feel a little shamed by it. I can say that I spent as much time and possibly more by sending e-cards this year, and time is also a valuable thing for most people these days. As the saying goes, isn’t it the thought that counts?

I find myself feeling a little ashamed in having to validate why I send them virtually instead of the old fashioned way But I do agree that it’s always nice to receive hard copies to display and hold on to after the season is over.

Deborah’s last blog post..The Secrets of Santa Claus Revealed

Rob Jongschaap’s last blog post..Neuromarketing and Buyology