Introducing #TheGoodNewsEcho Series



We’re not going to lie; this is a scary time worldwide. But over the past few days, and in the days to come, our technology community has given us many reasons to be thankful. 

We’ve closed our offices, our schools and, for the first time, our lives are now truly online. Technology is there for us. Sometimes it’s mundane, other times it’s useful, oftentimes (thankfully) it’s silly and most importantly, it connects and inspires us. 
1.
Quarantined communities in Italy are singing on their balconies, coordinated through Twitter.
2.
Virtual dance parties in China are keeping the party going through “cloud clubbing” via apps like Tik Tok.  
3.
To address the dire shortage of ventilators, a group of engineers got together on Facebook and built a prototype in 7 days which will be tested next week.
4.
Religious congregations across the US are broadcasting Sunday service virtually.  
5.
In Spain, a fitness instructor led a workout from his roof, dozens joined together in exercise on their balconies—shared via Instagram. 
6.
Across the globe, dinner parties have been replaced with Zoom birthday parties and FaceTime happy hours.  
7.
Fitness studios are offering free virtual workouts, like yoga and free fitness apps like FitOn, Freeletics and Simply Yoga.
8.
Hospitals across the US are using telemedicine to help screen patients; UVD Robots are helping to disinfect hospital rooms and kill the virus.
9.
To prepare students and teachers for remote learning, Apple released guidelines on preparing devices for online education.
10.
Adding contactless deliveries, Postmates will also be covering medical costs for couriers affected by COVID-19.
11.
Shoutout to Pam of Optify Coaching for the tip that Scholastic is offering free lessons for kids being homeschooled across the nation! The Today Show explores how Scholastic & others are helping parents homeschool their children.
12.
And the beat goes on! Shoutout to Steve Shur, CEO of Travel Tech, for tipping us off to some great music ideas. With the cancellation of concerts and festivals, musicians are providing live concerts for their fans on Facebook and Instagram. Billboard has a full, living list.  
13.
For creative kids across the globe, The Kennedy Center is hosting live drawing lessons with Mo Willems.
14.
This time can be especially difficult for people with older friends & loved ones. To help out, Memory Well has made its “digital intergenerational storytelling" tools FREE.
15.
One thing’s for certain—the elephants are having a good time! While humans were practicing social distancing, a group of 14 elephants broke into a village, drank 30kg of corn wine and passed out in a nearby tea garden.

We are thankful to call you clients, friends and part of our community. And as a testament to that, we want to share how technology is helping us stay connected and sane amidst this strange and sobering new world. We know people are using tech to teach, to keep the economy moving and to innovate new ways of doing things in our pajamas. And we’re damn sure people are using it to make one another laugh because it's what is getting us through these long days. 

So here’s our ask: send us your good news. We'll share it on social media. Please forward this message to others and send them our way so we can share how they're helping, too.
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We may be separated and socially distanced but we are still connected. 
Help us show how.