With the recent rash of tornadoes throughout the US, death and destruction at the hands of mother nature seems to be everyday news this week.
Being new residents of Kansas, my family and I spent two of the last five days in our basement when tornado warning sirens sounded. Having lived in California the better part of the last 30 years, I’d become accustomed to earthquakes and wildfires. Tornadoes though is a different thing.
A few nights ago we were awakened by the blaring sirens and had to reluctantly wake all four kids to run down into the basement to our “safe place.” Luckily, the warning only lasted about an hour and we were soon back in our beds.
On Wednesday, something similar happened but it made this Dad feel a sort of helplessness I’d never felt before.
Tucked away in a conference room at my office with about 15 people for a major business meeting, the conversation was interrupted by an announcement in our building to take cover due to a tornado warning. Having it so fresh in my mind, and the rest of my coworkers being more used to it, we quietly moved to a safe place in our building.
But soon after, I started thinking of my wife and three kids at home, and one at school some 10 miles away. The protector in me suddenly shuddered. What would I do if a tornado was heading for them and I was stuck in the office helpless to do anything?
It was an odd feeling. I’d die in a moment for my family but I stood their completely dependent on nature to not harm my family. I have a strong desire – like most fathers – to always protect my family. It was impossible for me to do it on that day.
Then, as we huddled around the one television, the anchor talked about a tornado possibly touching down just a few miles from my house. I immediately called my wife but the cell network was completely overwhelmed and I could not reach them. Where they safe? Did they know a tornado could possibly be near by?
I had no idea of knowing. I was worried yet I could do nothing to help them.
Luckily, I knew my wife would be safe and that my son was safe at school. It’s times like these that you realize there are larger forces in charge and you have to accept what will happen will happen.
But as a loving father, the helplessness was not something I liked at all.
Just another reason to kiss my wife and kids with even more meaning these days.
As the Director of Social Media at tax giant H&R Block, Scott Gulbransen recently returned to the tax business after previously spending 1o years at rival Intuit working on the TurboTax & Quicken brands. He brings 16 years as a marketing communications professional, and 11 tax seasons, with him to H&R Block and was responsible for the launch of many key social initiatives at Intuit before leaving in 2010. A strategic thinker and business problem solver, Gulbransen has worked for some of the world’s top brands including TurboTax, Sony Online Entertainment, and Applebee’s.
In 2010, Gulbransen became the first Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s, creating the first-ever social media strategy for the world’s largest casual dining chain. While at Applebee’s, Gulbransen lead a small but nimble team responsible for creating a robust and far-reaching social engagement channel for Applebee’s and its franchise community.
In addition to his professional accomplishments at the corporate level, Gulbransen is also a prolific blogger recently named as one of the Top 50 Daddy Bloggers in the US by Cision. Gulbransen was ranked #21.
As a member of the TurboTax communications and social media team for 10 years, Scott helped the TurboTax team launch and sustain the brand’s social media platform. He also drove and was responsible for the launch of TurboTax’s successful content strategy, including the launch of the TurboTax Blog. Recently, he launched one of the most significant social media campaigns in the brand’s history with the @TeamTurboTax Twitter project.
Gulbransen was instrumental in reinvigorating the Quicken brand almost entirely through the use of social media and, particularly, Twitter. By engaging with customers and influencers who talk about personal finance on Twitter, he and his team helped Quicken Online grow from just 200,000 users in October 2008 to over 1.4 Million in just 10 months. This led to a more focused look at the personal finance space for Intuit and, ultimately, the acquisition of Mint.com.
A former print journalist, who, after realizing his paychecks from the newspaper industry weren’t going to get much bigger, turned to the Dark Side – public relations. After working in both college athletics and inside mid-size agencies, he joined Intuit in 2000 and Applebee’s in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the married father of five kids.
Despite his busy personal and professional life, Scott is a digital native who never strays far from social networking. To hassle Scott, or to tell him how great you think he is (or not!), email him at scott@scottgulbransen.com, add him to your Circles on Google+, or ping him on Twitter at @sdgully. Scott also is an editor and writer for Technorati.com.
