PR Lessons from a Young Professional: Control

Lessons from the job, as I’m learning them–

You can’t control the weather. So, you’ve been planning an event in five locations across three states for a month? It might rain, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

You can’t control politics either. So, you planned your press conference to not fall on an election results day? The top candidates, who’s run has been fraught with scandal, might end up in a run-off election.

(Both of those things happened to me in my first few months on the job).

The media won’t always care about your event or news as much as you do. You can’t make them show up.

Don’t beat yourself up about.

We should probably learn to let go and realize we can’t control anything in our lives ever–and work is no different. If you don’t, you’ll stress yourself about things beyond your ability to control and you’ll get discouraged.

Thoughts from your experiences on this issue?

When teens start a movement.

Save my sisters.

Here’s a first look at the social media campaign my small group girls are doing to raise awareness for sex-trafficking and child sex slavery. Movement makes waves. Details to come.

What’s your story? Part Two

Some things to think about:

How well can you tell your story?

How about the story of how you met your spouse? The story of your beliefs? The story of your passions? The story of your business, your mission or cause?

Do you tell the story well?

Are you telling the right story to reach the people you’re trying to reach?

Just because you tell the story well doesn’t mean it will resonate with anyone.

A well told story, told with the right climax, told to the right people, is impactful.

Actually, few things are more impactful.

Sometimes you have to tell the story completely differently to maximize its reach.

Tailoring the story isn’t pandering–tailoring the story means not wasting people’s time with details that don’t relate, inspire or matter to them.

When you’re telling your story, what are you assuming people know?

What are you assuming they don’t know?

What are you trying to evoke when people hear, read or see story?

Your story is your brand.

If you had to start over tomorrow–make a new product, pursue a new mission, change your focus–your story is still happening.

It’s still growing.

Even if nothing is turning out like you thought it would, your story is still moving along. Your story is still being shaped.

How you tell it matters.

What’s your story?

I never expected that when Nana, who was the glue that held us all together, passed away we’d all be closer than we had been in a very long time. She wasn’t here anymore but her magnetic power was still at work. I met more family members that week, put more faces with names I’d heard all my life, than I could take in. So I started taking notes. Sitting around in Nana’s house the week before she died, I started writing things down, and I continued all the way through the following week. Cousins, aunts, uncles, long-time family friends—they poured in and out of the house all week. And everyone told stories. I don’t think I had laughed as much as I did that week all year. It was healing. I learned my very unique family heritage one tale at a time, and somehow I drew strength from the weakness we all felt. My moment to tell a story would come later on, and it would take more strength than I had in me alone to get through it. I can’t begin recount all the things I heard, the things I wrote—but I’ll share just one.

Grandpa’s gun made him notorious. On his way home from work one payday, he got off the bus and began walking across the bridge. In what turned out to be a very bad idea, a group of my cousins, his grandsons and great-nephews, had decided to wait for him where they knew he’d get off. They knew it was pay day and planned to jump up behind him and pretend to rob him. According to plan, one yelled, “Hey you!” from behind, and without even glancing over his shoulder, Grandpa whirled around shooting that pistol towards every one of them! They all ducked for cover, astonished that he’d shot at them. When Grandpa stopped and realized it was them, he looked them in the eyes and said, “You never jump a man on payday.”

What’s your story?

10 Things to Think About When Telling Your Story, coming next.

A Truth About Inconvenience

I was thinking today about how Facebook has changed birthdays. We’ve all been there by now: Birthday morning, you check your email to find 157 notifications from Facebook that someone has written on your wall. You check Facebook and find 157 “Happy Birthday” one-liners (Hope it’s great; Have the best birthday ever; Can’t believe you’re ___ years old!; etc.)

I don’t know about you–though I have a gut feeling you’re with me on this–all those birthday wishes are spoiled by this simple thing: Facebook told them all it was your birthday. They didn’t remember; they didn’t even have to think about it. It took them precisely four seconds to see your birthday on the upcoming events widget AND type a tres court message on your wall. The convenience of it all steals the excitement.

One handwritten happy birthday with a Sharpie on construction paper means more.

I think there’s an important truth to be noted here:

Convenience is often the enemy of impact.

Think about the last time someone mailed you a note (thank you notes don’t count, since everyone expects those to be handwritten and mailed). I’m not trying to be passe; I’m a blogging, email and Twitter-addict like the rest. Here’s my point: The simple time it took to write a note, buy a gift, make a call… the inconvenience you are willing go through to make a certain gesture…still means something to people.

Now obviously there are times when convenience reigns. But inconveniencing yourself enough to honestly THINK about what would impact someone is the only thing that really will impact them.

Take some time to think about your clients or the people you serve; ask yourself what they expect from you. If you’ll spend some time dreaming up ways to go beyond those expectations, you might just change some relationships for the better.

Abstract messaging

I recently read a great post by Katya Andersen over on her nonprofit marketing blog with four tips for better communicating the heart and soul of your mission. Below is a recap of her suggestions:

• Think of your mission as art work: What would a painting of your mission look like?  Imagine the story, the colors, and style. Fill the frame.
• Katya says “Fill that frame with a hero that demonstrates the best of your work.  Who is that person?  What are they doing?”
• From the visual in your mind, describe your organization, your brand.
• Here’s the hardest part: Express the complete story of your organization in less than six words.

Great tips, Katya! I believe thinking like this can help you move from analytical messaging to evocative messaging, which can make all the difference when you’re trying to compel people to care, to give and to volunteer!

Nonprofits: Getting the Need Across

Last week I met Spencer Spellman at Coffee Underground for lunch to discuss the SC Guardian ad Litem program (Have you ever heard of it? I hadn’t.) and ideas for getting young people involved. Spencer had been following my updates about my senior class project for the Upstate Homeless Coalition and stumbled across a blog post or two I wrote last month on the subject of engaging young people in nonprofit causes.

Guardian ad Litem is a state-run program that matches a volunteer up with each child or teen that has been taken from their parents due to abuse or neglect. The program really helps to provide stability for the kids through the difficult times, which can often include court appearances and moving between homes. Spencer said the program was started in the 80s.

I was two when the 80s ended, therefore, I never heard of it’s conception… And many people my age didn’t either.

So ultimately what Spencer and I discussed was how to get the word out about this program now. Guardian ad Litem has a lot of great senior-aged volunteers, but in order to expand and perpetuate the program successfully, it has to start reaching the next generation. Volunteers have to be at least 21, which makes targeting college juniors and seniors seem relevant.

The cause is worthy and the need is critical (Spencer referenced that there seems to be a correlation between the worse economy and more incidents of child abuse and neglect).

We tossed around some ideas, which I might share later, but I’d like to know what you think. If you’re under the age of 30, have you ever heard of Guardian ad Litem? What do you think what compel the heart your friends to get involved with a program like this?

The finished product.

I haven’t had much time to write over the last two weeks as we finished shooting, editing, and screening our film. We had about 100 people come out to watch the debut at Clemson last Wednesday. I was humbled and thrilled.

I learned so much throughout this semester. I was essentially the leader of our group, and I had amazing partners to work with. I learned a lot about motivating people, keeping organized, and responsibility. I feel like I also learned a lot about the value of keeping the vision in front of you. When it came down to editing the final cut, we had so much we could have said. Making the decision to cut it down to the best clips that expressed the message we wanted to help the Upstate Homeless Coalition get out was tough–and incredibly valuable.

The people’s stories we heard were altering, and I wish we could have included them all. Then viewers would have better understood the way this project changed us. Below is the finished project; may it cause you to think, see, and listen.

Invisibly abused.

I recently learned of the violence against homeless people in Greenville by members of the police force that has been in the news over the last year. It’s sad to me that I hadn’t heard sooner–might just be proof that what happens to homeless people isn’t the kind of news that ends up on everybody’s lips at dinner conversations. Might also mean that before this class, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the invisible.

After an internal investigation, four officers resigned and two have pled guilty to the federal charge of deprivation of civil rights. WYFF 4 reported about the sentencing of one of the officers, quoting police chief Terri Wilfong’s statement:

“As chief, I want to reassure the members of this community that the men and women that comprise this agency are dedicated to treating everyone with respect, dignity and equality and integrity with this agency is not negotiable.”

It’s good to know that the leadership of our police force won’t tolerate homeless people being treated as second-class citizens. I’m glad that the people charged with seeking justice won’t get away with injustice.

The police haven’t released the name of the homeless man who was injured by the officers, but I hope he finds out that what happened to him was important enough to be addressed and righted.

Homeless, Past and Present

Last Thursday, Stephen and I went to interview two men with Jordan from the Upstate Homeless Coalition. Henry is currently homeless in Greenville, SC, and Bobby was formerly. Bobby now has a beautiful home through Greenville’s Homes of Hope program. The whole experience was incredible, and we got lots of great footage.

Henry said some things that really got me thinking but might not end up in the film we’re making. He addressed the need for a place to take a night-time shower in Greenville. He said there are many places to take an early morning shower, but if you’ve found some work, you can’t get to the shower and to the job on time. He said homeless people can’t go to night school or to a job interview without a shower, but they also can’t eat without working or going to free meals that are all on very specific schedules. I thought his point was valid.

Henry also brought up this: Living on the street makes people forget what “normal” life is like. He recounted a story of a man he knows picking him up, taking him to a buffet dinner, and then taking him to movie. He said the whole experience reassured him that someone cared and reminded him what life in society is like. Henry encouraged people to get involved directly with helping a homeless person, rather than indirectly giving to them by donating clothes or food to other organizations. He said the homeless get used to getting free clothes and meals, and it stops meaning so much to them. But, a person who stops, see them, asks them to dinner, and treats them with respect could change their life forever.

That day, Henry was on his way to get his teeth fixed (His front two were knocked out one evening he spent in jail by a young man who wanted his sandwich. The police didn’t get him any medical attention for the gaping hole in his mouth, and eventually developed a staph infection on his head that lasted for years). The dentist was going to pull a few, clean the rest, and start preparing to replace his missing ones. Huge day for Henry. I was privilege to be a part of it.