Case Studies | Best Practices | Fanocracy
When I was on my thru hike of the Long Trail in September, I hiked an average of 8 hours a day for 26 days. There was no possible way to carry enough calories, so when I had an opportunity to eat in a restaurant, I went. And I ate a lot!
One place was iPie Pizzeria in Killington VT where I enjoyed some delicious pizza, a root beer, salad, and a brownie. I loved the meal.
What happened after was delightfully unexpected. Well, not at first because I lost my hiking wallet. I knew I had my wallet when I paid for my meal at iPie Pizzeria but it was gone when I next looked for it a few hours later.
I tried to retrace where I had been to find it, but no luck. I figured it was gone for good.
Fortunately, I was traveling light because of my hike, and I only had a few things in the lightweight wallet. I cancelled the single credit card I carried and ordered a new drivers license.
Then, a few days later, I got an email. “Hi David, Someone found your wallet on the parking lot of iPie Pizzeria in Killington and brought it in. We have it here at the shop. Regards, Oleg”.
Oh, awesome! Oleg must have searched my name and found my email address (a benefit of using my middle name is that I am the only David Meerman Scott in the world).
I called Oleg and asked if he could mail it back. He said sure and a few days later, I got a priority mail envelope with my wallet. It had about $150 in cash, and it was all there. Oleg went to the post office and paid $12 of his own money to send it to me.
Right away I sent him a check to cover the postage.
Building fans one at a time
I’m a huge iPie Pizzeria fan.
Sometimes, simple acts of unexpected kindness is all it takes to build fans.
When I am next near Killington, I will be back at iPie Pizzeria! And I will be careful of my wallet next time. Thank you Oleg.
