I’ve never seen the movie Six Degrees of Separation, but from what I understand it’s based on a theory of the same name. A few weeks ago, I had a personal experience which is why the movie and theory are on my mind.
A client asked me to locate several driving schools in a certain European city. He wanted some basic, yet specific, information….always an adventure, this client. Right away I recognized I was working with a probable language barrier and a certain seven hour time difference.
This meant even if I were lucky enough to reach someone by phone who spoke English, I’d have to place the call at 1:30am my time. Uh unn…no way. While I do operate my practice during non traditional office hours, it’s equally true that the only digits I’m dialing at that hour are in my dreams! :-)
I needed to find someone in this country that spoke English and could provide the information I was looking for. I emailed a travel agency who said they specialized in visits to the country. No reply. Next I tried to find a US Embassy. Nada. Of course I did an Internet search for driving schools in the area, but the websites I found were not in English. I was spending too much time to have gotten so little information.
“Who do I know that can bridge this gap for me”, is now what I was thinking. For all you AssistU VAs, this is where your Team 100 List comes in handy. :-) I was certain that I could find someone or someway around my blocks. I did. I emailed a former client of mine who lives in Singapore. I know she speaks several languages.
It turns out she was not fluent in the language of this country where they speak German, French, and their native language. With the little bit of German she spoke, she did a Google search using the German term—fahrschule for anyone who wants to know—for driving schools. While I was most grateful, it got me more of what I already had. A bunch of websites with words I couldn’t read.
After this though, it got interesting. My lady in Singapore took it a step further and contacted a friend of hers in Switzerland. Her Switzerland contact ultimately led me to a driving school site with a link for English. Yay!
Now I had a list of several driving schools in the country with information I could read. Four of those had a direct email link, and, of course, I emailed all four with my request. Out of the four, one guy (at least I think it was a guy) responded, in English, from the national tourist office, with some of the information I was looking for.
When I had a moment to reflect on how events had transpired, I thought how cool! I contact someone I know in Singapore who contacts her friend in Switzerland, and as a result of all this, someone from an entirely different country contacts me with information I need. All done via email over the Internet.
I remember talking with a friend, and I said that no matter where you go, you’re likely to see someone you know. She didn't quite agree, and her response was, but this is a big city, and I said, but it’s a small world.
Indeed, and with technology we're virtually right at each other's fingertips.
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