About a year ago, we received the following note from Nikki Pope, one of our wonderful Yahoo! Groups users:

I just wanted to tell you how much my family has relied on our Yahoo! Group to keep us updated on where all of our displaced relatives have landed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We’ve had our group for years and it’s seen us through births, deaths, weddings, moves, graduations, and our biannual family reunions. Not until the past two weeks, however, did we realize just how much we’ve come to rely on our Message Board to keep us in the know.

We’re one of the luckier families. Although many of my relatives have lost everything they own (we hail from New Orleans and the surrounding area), no lives were lost. Everyone is accounted for (finally) and we can all breathe a little easier. Now that the scary part is over, we’re using our Message Board to help our family members find housing, jobs, and comfort.

Thank you so much for this wonderful service. Oh, I almost forgot, we’re having our next family reunion in July 2006 right here in the Bay Area. Of course we’ve been using Yahoo! to coordinate the event (it’s always a huge blast). I know this sounds crazy, but if you or someone from Yahoo! would like to stop by while the family’s here, I know we’ll want to thank you in person…

We didn’t think that sounded crazy at all! Joanna Stevens and I, both of Yahoo! Corporate Communications, were more than happy to attend the recent Smith family reunion in San Jose, California. In fact, we learned a little more about just how useful Yahoo! Groups can be. Nikki’s extended family (all four generations descending from Lena and John W.B. Smith, who had 11 children!) has been using Yahoo! Groups for many years to share photos, plan reunions, and generally keep track of each other as they scatter farther around the globe.

As soon as we arrived, Nikki gave us our very own reunion shirts (with the Smith family logo, no less) and said we could be honorary Smith Family members — yay! And then, the storytelling began, and we heard firsthand accounts from cousins Rhonda Greene and Henry Turner of the family’s experience after Hurricane Katrina.

After being stuck at the Superdome in New Orleans for over a week, Henry was finally able to make his way onto a bus heading to Dallas. Only when he got to Dallas was Henry able to call Rhonda, who lived nearby. The whole family was sick with worry about Henry by this point, and Rhonda was relieved to end their agony by posting a quick message on the family’s Yahoo! Group saying, “We found Henry!” — probably the most meaningful message ever received by the more than 100 relatives who were Group members.

After meeting everyone and taking some photos, we had a yummy lunch catered by Uncle Frank’s BBQ. The brisket, Cajun corn, and cornbread were D-licious. I love being around big, fun, welcoming families like this one. Maybe I can find a way to make it to Houston for their next reunion.

Meagan Busath
Senior PR Manager for Yahoo! Groups (among other things)