Using Social Media To Rally Support for Those in Need

In the social media, marketing or communications industry we all talk about social media in terms of how it is about people, about relationships really.  Despite talking the talk however, we often don’t walk the walk. It is the reason why many of us have to constantly “poke” our colleagues to remind them what social is really all about.  It is not about push communications.  It is not about one-sided advertising.  It is about individuals and human-beings who have basic needs.

Over the last couple of days I have witnessed wonderful examples of how social media is used with people in mind.  In fact, when done correctly we notice it.  Often times there is an emotional or gut response to the situation. (Thanks for this idea Krista.)

Here are two examples from just the last two days that have resonated with people in my local community:

Finding a cherished pet

If you are a pet owner, or as I like to think of it, a pet parent, your dog or cat is not just a pet.  My dog, Seven, is an important part of our family.  We would be devastated if he went missing.  That is why I always share status updates that I see about missing pets. 

Just this week one of my Facebook friends posted about Maui, a lovely dog that has been missing since New Year’s Eve.  I am not alone in doing this.  I saw this status update reshared numerous times by other friends.  I just hope she is found.

If you have seen Maui, please call 453-0887.  She went missing in the Hanwell area.

It Takes a Community

Just Friday night, and the second time in recent months, a restaurant in Fredericton caught fire.  While this in itself is unusual for our City - thankfully don’t have many fires - it is not unusual to see how our community reacts.  Within hours, efforts were under way to hold a fundraiser for the staff.  And, just how were organizers getting the message out?  Well, Facebook of course.  This is yet another example where Facebook friends rose to the occasion and shared and shared.  People care enough to want to make a difference.  They took the old adage of you tell two friends and they will tell two friends and so on to a new level with Facebook. 

A fan of the Garrison Ale House?  They wouldn't be who they are without the staff.  So checkout: 

http://www.facebook.com/FundraiserForGarrisonStaff

Prior to social media and our fantastic digital networks we have developed, we did not have the same reach and capacity to make a mark.  I truly love how people leverage social media to accomplish what was intended.  I will say it again.  It is all about people and it is all about relationships. 

How are you leveraging social media for the betterment of others?  We would love to hear your story!  

My Top 5 Buzzwords from 2012

As yet another month, and year quite frankly approaches its conclusion, I wanted to do something a little different for my post.  I wanted to take a look a few buzzwords. 

You know, those little words or phrases that appear and just seem to bore into the brains and vocabularies of every person with a voice, a pen or a keyboard. A good indication to know when something has become a buzzword or buzz phrase is when you can’t go an hour without a colleague using it or you read it in blog posts regardless of where you turn.  Sometimes, the reaction is a physical twitch that emerges without control.  You will see someone have some sort of physical reaction and wonder, what the heck is up with him?  That would be the reaction to overused buzzwords.  It happens to all of us, so we should at least have fun using them.

Interestingly enough a lot of these buzzwords appear to have started in the social media space and transcended to the rest of the business environment.

Anyway, there are a lot more, but here are 5 that I find interesting:

1.      Cadence

This little gem is surfacing just about everywhere.  From the cadence of accountability to the cadence of software releases, “we” as a collective, want to make sure that we march to the same beat I guess and therefore, need our cadence.

It will be interesting to see if this word follows us into 2013 as a popular buzzword.

Image compliments for racepoint.com

 2.  Community

Community is not new.  Prior to social, we all thought about community in terms of where we lived.  Big business who want to be involved in their local communities often set up Community Relations or Community Liaison Committees, so this is definitely not new.  Then of course came social where community became something different and much bigger.  It was your customers, every possible prospect, your fans and your influencers to name a few. This is really the exciting part and expanding your horizons to embrace new people, is thrilling.

  

3.  Engagement

We apparently all want to engage with someone:  community, employees, prospects, customers, etc. You name it and there is someone, somewhere trying an engagement strategy of some sort.  Not a bad thing actually.  Being engaged means that you are participating and contributing, so a good thing really!

4.  Leverage

  

In addition to wanting to engage with everyone and their dog, we also want to leverage relationships, knowledge, industry and partnerships.  We don't seem to be leveraged out yet, so let's stay tuned for that one.

5.  Curate

On top of cadence, community, engagement and leverage though, I think that the top buzzword for 2012 has got to be curate.  Regardless of which industry you are entrenched, we all want to tell a story.  We need to curate, or take time to create content or a story worth telling and sharing.  I love the idea and it sounds somewhat romantic to curate..doesn't it?  Am I wrong here? 

So, that sums up five little words that are a part of my everyday vocabulary regardless of whom I am chatting with.  What are your top buzzwords for 2012?  I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Oh and just one parting thought for today...why not try to use each of these words in one sentence all together at least once a day for a week?  Who will be the first to call you out on the overuse of buzzwords?  It is a challenge and it could be fun.

Can you Celebrate Acts of Kindness?

Recognizing and Celebrating Acts of Kindness

This week I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco for work.  I was going to a pretty darned interesting and neat customer event where I was presenting on "Building Community."  It was a great event with close to 8,000 people in attendance.  I got to meet a lot of great people, share information and learn more about my many colleagues.

While this post may appear to be about travel, it is not. It is about what we can learn from people - strangers - who remember that we are human beings sharing a space and sharing a common goal.  It is times like these that I learn more about humanity and the fact that we all need to take a minute to think about someone else and not just ourselves.

The travel to and from San Francisco meant very long days, but it was worth it.

YFC Fire Fighter in Background attending to fire

Arriving at the airport on Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. I thought of my former colleagues that I used to work with at the Airport Authority.  There had been freezing rain overnight, but despite the labour issues plaguing the workers, they were out making sure that things were safe for all of us travelling that morning.  Thanks guys!!  I think of all of you often.

The flights to San Francisco were uneventful, which quite frankly is just fine with me.  However, my journey home was a little more eventful.

Act of kindness - Act I

The journey was very long and interesting.  On the first leg of the flight there was a man who had a very orange and puffy winter coat (think George from Seinfeld) and while he did not wear it sitting in his seat, he decided that he would put it on every time he went to the washroom.  He went a lot.  After about the 5th visit - I am guessing - he ended up on the floor.  Not sure what happened.  During the close to six hour flight, he was on the floor at least three times and hidden behind the curtain in the back of the plane at least three times.  I have to congratulate the way that the flight attendants handled the situation.  It was very professional.  They were calm.  They kept him calm.  They kept the passengers in the vicinity of these "events" calm.

At the end of this flight, I had a short connection - which really is the theme of this trip.  I was in the second last row of this lovely Airbus and wanted to get through Customs and make my connection to Ottawa so that I could get to my last flight.  I want to recognize the kindness of the many people who willingly let me pass by them so that I could get out before them.  In fact, a whole Rugby team who lived in the Greater Toronto Area, let me go ahead of them.  I wish I could acknowledge the team here, but I didn't have time to ask who they were.  Despite this, I say a full hearted Thank You!

Act of kindness - Act II

More often than not people like to tell their stories of how bad something was.  How bad customer service was, how mean people are or how a product failed to live up to expectations.  I think that Airlines no doubt get the brunt of bad feedback in public forums.  I, however, want to focus on an absolutely kind and customer-focused Flight Attendant of Air Canada Flight AC 460 from Toronto to Ottawa on the night of March 16th. 

While he was responsible for Business Class passengers and I was not one, he was amazing to both me and my colleague.  Due to a delay caused by a broken overhead bin, which needed to be attended to for safety reasons, we were left with about 10 minutes to make our connection - the final leg of 10+ hour journey.  Not only did he retrieve our carry-on luggage and bring it to the front of the plane - and properly store it for safety - but he also made sure that we were the first two passengers out of the plane - again an Airbus that was completely full.  He ensured that the ground crew had been radioed in advance and there was someone there to meet us and direct us to our gate.  Ultimately we made it home!

So, this made me think when was the last time I helped a stranger?  Now I will challenge you: When was the last time that you helped a stranger, a friend or a colleague?  If you can't remember, I hope that this will spur you on to help one person a day.  Think about how you would feel if you were in their respective shoes. 

AC logo courtesy of AC website and YFC photo from 2009 Annual Report