I’ve never met Kori Nelson or Paul Leblanc in person. But, thanks to the power of the internet, I recently introduced them to each other. Now, Paul is financing Kori’s trip from Minnesota to New Hampshire, so that she can attend her college graduation ceremony at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) — the same college where Paul just happens to be the President!
I’m also a student at SNHU, which is how I know Kori. We met this past fall at SNHU’s online student center (SNHU Connect) when we were inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success. Even though she lives in Menahga, Minnesota, and I live in Los Angeles, California, we became fast friends. We even made a point to skype at least once a month, and the more I learned about Kori, the more I thought she was great. Not only was she a full-time student, but she was also a hard-working mom of two with aspirations to help victims of domestic abuse. Despite challenges with family scheduling, job changes, and the weather (look on the map, Menahga is basically at the North Pole!), she always remained optimistic and determined to succeed.
That’s why, the moment I heard she needed help financing her family’s trip to SNHU (so that her husband and children could be there as she accepted her diploma), I wanted to help.
Kori had set up a crowd funding campaign on You Caring to raise the $500 her family needed for the trip. I went to the site. The more I read her family’s story the more I wanted to write a check to cover the entire amount. Unfortunately, as a student, I couldn’t afford to do that. But, as a writer, a social media marketing manager, and a friend, I knew exactly how I could help.
First, I re-wrote her story; cleaned it up a bit to make sure it could appeal to any potential donor. Then, I got on Twitter and Linkedin to share her story with my connections and followers. As I was scrolling through my list, I came across Dr. Paul LebBanc, the president of SNHU.
I first met Paul online too, when he retweeted an article I wrote for Borgen Magazine about SNHU’s College for America’s online learning program for refugees living at the Kiziba Refugee Camp, in Kigali, Rwanda. At the time, I had scrolled through his Twitter feed. I remember feeling that he was more than just a figure head of a president; that he genuinely cared about his students and would probably do anything to help them succeed. It seemed like Paul was one of us. He even accepted my invitation to connect on Linkedin! So, with a little wishful thinking, I sent him a message with a link to Kori’s You Caring campaign and a note asking him to, “Please help spread the word!” Almost instantly he wrote back, saying that he “took care of the expenses,” because he was a “sucker for cute kid pics and SNHU students.” Although, I still suspect it was a little more than that; that perhaps, his generosity had something to do with good-old-fashioned human kindness.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that the internet, especially social media, can inspire people to do good things. This is because much of what we hear and read on the subject is filtered through a very negative light. But, good things do come from a connected world. In fact, stories of kindness are popping up all over the news. This week, on NBC News, a hardworking father of two couldn’t afford to help his friend Shajuana (a cashier at his favorite Popeyes) make her $1500 tuition payment for nursing school. But, he started a crowd funding campaign to find others who could. Last checked, Shajuana’s fund was over $14,000. And, this South Carolina teacher raised $80,000 on Go Fund Me to buy every child in her a school a brand new bike!
Even large-scale non-profit organizations understand that not everyone can afford to fork over $100 for every cause they care about. Organizations like the American Red Cross accept vehicle donations, volunteer time and of course, blood donations — giving everyone the opportunity to help those in need.
As for Kori and Paul, he’s asked her to sit on the “right side” of the stage during graduation. This way, when she walks across the stage to accept her diploma in May, he will be the one who hands it to her. And, although she hasn’t said so, I suspect Paul may get a huge hug in return!
Ashley Henyan is a digital marketing consultant, a freelance writer, and the executive director for the American Red Cross of Lowcountry South Carolina. Previously, she held leadership roles in digital communications and media relations with the Red Cross (the 2017 Harris Poll Non-profit Brand of the Year). Ashley has-developed curriculum and trained hundreds of staff and volunteers across the United States in courses like Leveraging Your Story on LinkedIn and Social Media Story Telling. She has been invited to discuss social media marketing and brand visibility on various podcasts and with local and national associations. Ashley has played an integral part in award-winning social media campaigns including honorable mention recognition with the PR Daily Content Marketing Awards and numerous Silver Telly Awards for Branded Content. She holds a B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in English and creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University. Ashley’s work as a ghostwriter has appeared in national and international publications including Yahoo News, China Global Television Network, and The CEO Magazine.
Today I took my dog Chilly, a white miniature poodle, to a brand new groomer named Sally. After I dropped Chilly off, I ran two blocks down the street to pick up a prescription from CVS. I was expecting to wait at least an hour and thought I’d get one errand done in the interim. Less than 20 minutes later, when I returned to Sally’s shop, Chilly was already finished! I laughed, because staring at me through the front window was Chilly and an identical dog. Well, identical except for one big difference. This dog was two feet taller than Chilly! I even joked with the cashier, stating, “I thought for a moment you transformed him into a giant!”
Mikhail Bakhtin was a 20th century Russian philosopher who expanded upon Marxist thought to define the social function of language. His work, forever ahead of its time, stumps scholars to this day. In fact, much of what Bakhtin wrote aligns with poststructuralist thought, a movement that didn’t emerge until just before his death, in 1975. In his 1935 essay “Discourse in the Novel,” Bakhtin draws attention to the way a variety of diverse discourses work together, to explain, “a concrete socio-ideological language consciousness . . . where consciousness finds itself inevitably facing the necessity of having to choose a language” (677). To quote my favorite professor’s favorite Bakhtin, “When we stare at each other, two different worlds are reflected in the pupils of our eyes. Dialogue, the give and take of language, completes these two worlds” (Salyer). But what if the person you are staring at isn’t physically there? What happens to language when pupils are replaced by a message board, a photo, or a post? Is there a virtual give and take between dialogue and reflection in our digital world? Have we become blind to authenticity, communicating now through only that which is implied? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in-between, in the virtu-verse of social discourse.
One could argue that film, the precise blend of dialogue, visuals, special effects, and music, is the ultimate form of communication. As a screenwriter (doing my small part to create films), appropriately understanding and applying the English language plays a huge role: especially when it comes to expressing character thought with accurate and realistic dialogue. As society turns to technology for everyday needs, the English language will continue to adapt and eventually become the ultimate universal language. As a professional screenwriter, I hope to blend the English language with technology and convey heart-felt stories to diverse audiences, worldwide.
Are you hoping your well-thought-out social media content brings in new customers? Why not increase your chances by spending a bit of time understanding your target audience. One technique, taught throughout graduate-level marketing courses in academia and widely practiced by top ad agencies and PR firms, is to create target personas. A persona, or a fictional character created to represent your target audience, can be embedded into facts and stats and all that fancy quantitative data many of us love to employ. But by adding the qualitative element to your research — the persona — you will indirectly be humanizing your brand to, you guessed it, attract more human customers.