Today I was in Sydney for the official launch of an amazing new online venture www.wrappingup.com
Wrapping Up is a project that has evolved from a written study on the process of wrapping up someone’s life after they have died. I am not going to go into the entire history of that project; you can read more about the background of how ‘wrapping up‘ came to be.
The site / project that was launched today has taken this concept and expanded on it in a bold and unique way that combines the best elements of online communities and addresses what has been a massive gap in our lives to create something special.
Many people struggle with death and particularly with the death of their nearest and dearest. It is a difficult time. Sadly too often it gets handled in the simplest and briefest ways possible – simply through a lack of knowledge.
Kelly Chapman and Della Churchill have brought this project to life and I am happy to say that ireckon has had a special involvement in this project. From the very first moment I met them both and heard the story of ‘Wrapping It Up’, I felt it had something of real value for the community, not just in Australia, but also overseas.
Having worked with them to scope out the project, I was able to see its potential and during their initial funding rounds, proposed that ireckon become a partner in the venture. In conjunction with two other partners, one being Screen Australia, ireckon has invested in this project and helped to bring the site to life, becoming the technology partner in the entire project.
Over the last few years we have invested in several projects that resonate with us as providing value to their communities over and above any commercial value they may offer, and several have been in a market demographic that is, shall we say, an older age group. My Life Change targets the Baby Boomer generation as an information portal helping educate people to enjoy the rest of their life, and Wrapping Up steps in later on in the life cycle to help assist people in wrapping their own lives, or for those trying to wrap up the life of a family member.
Wrapping up is a rich media web site full of video dramas helping portray real life scenarios, a full community behind the wall, where members can safely find others and discuss such sensitive issues and get practical advice, as well as a comprehensive resources directory to help point members to local people able to assist.
Wrapping Up just made sense to us. We are proud to have been part of it up until now, and extremely proud to see it live and already getting a steady stream of new members. We look forward to being part of the journey as it grows and evolves.
As a continuation of ireckon’s development of its own projects and partnerships such as these, we continue to strive to build rich online communities and publications as well as tools to improve the way people communicate.
We reckon that Wrappingup.com is a fantastic way to kick off 2011 and hope, in your time of need, you will find it an invaluable resource.
