Ever Change Somebody's Life?

Sure it seems like a pretty ambitious goal to set — trying to change someone’s life. Especially through technology, let alone across the web. But when we set out to make Vox, we wanted to make it a place where connections could form, where something special could happen. With the announcement of today’s winner of the Vox World Tour, it seems like, once again, our community has shown us just how amazing it can be to make connections through blogging.

First, some background: To celebrate the official launch of the service in October, we wanted to do something really special. Since Vox is better with friends and family in it, we decided to host a “Vox World Tour” contest to not only reward members who loved the service, but to also reward members who loved inviting other people to the party. Hundreds of Voxers entered the contest, each writing an essay about how Vox has enriched their life. We chose one winner of the essay contest and, here’s the cool part, we’re giving a trip the world to both the essay writer and the Voxer who invited them.

Kristen, our first winner of the trip around the world, told her story in a way that’s profound and universal. Who hasn’t wanted to travel the world and explore the art and culture of people whom you’ve never met? But the most striking part of her winning essay was at the end:

Vox has not only brought me wonderful friendships and higher self-esteem, the confidence to express myself in words, Vox has brought me closer to my father. If I won, I would take my father. He’s always looked out for me and loved me, even now when I am 1,000 miles away in another state, living my own life. He’s never taken a trip in his life, always working hard instead to provide for those he loves. He’s had dreams of traveling but he’s never been able to because he’s had to sacrifice instead for me. I would take my father, yes, without a doubt. He and I would travel the world and be close, as father and daughter. It would be a dream come true.

That’s a beautiful testament that Vox isn’t about Web 2.0 gadgetry and gee-whiz features, it’s about really helping all of us connect and share with the people we love and care about. And that brings us to our second winner, Cate. Her CupCate blog is one of the most popular on Vox, a home for smart and irreverent — the tags on her Vox say it all, ranging from “bliss” to “stupid people” to “vodka”.

While Cate probably wasn’t thinking “Oh, let me see if I can use Vox to change Kristen’s life”, she did invite her to join her Vox neighborhood just to keep in touch. And those small, thoughtful acts can lead to some profound and beautiful results that none of us could ever predict. So Cate gets to go on a World Tour, too.

Now you’ll want to follow their adventures, and recommend what they should do in San Francisco, Tokyo, and Paris, by joining the Vox World Tour group. (If you’re not already on Vox, joining has been clocked at under a minute.) We’re ecstatic to see that Vox has become a place where people are making meaningful connections, and we hope you’ll join the whole community in wishing them well on their trip, and in perhaps sharing some stories of your own.

Of course, the first step in the adventure is the winners finding out that they’re going. We invite insist you visit the Team Vox post where Mena informs Kristen that she’s going to be taking a little trip…