Commitment, Kony and Slacktivism

I am often asked to volunteer for local nonprofits or for a fundraiser they are holding.  I am more often asked to  promote an organization or event within my personal and professional network.  I am most often asked to give money.

I do not take any of these requests lightly.  I look into the mission and core values of the organization in question.  I evaluate their digital presence, read their press, look at their funding allocation and check out their leadership (Board and executive team).  Then I decide on my best course of action, because once I commit, I'm all in.  I subscribe to the "go big or go home" school of volunteerism.

When the Kony video began burning up the internets, I took this same tack.

First, I ignored the video.  Since M, I've become hyper sensitive to suffering of children and often cry at reports of illness, injury or abuse.  I'd heard reports of the LRA's practices and didn't think I could take watching it.

Then, B asked me what I thought about it.  He's notoriously skeptical about ... well, everything, so if he felt I needed to see it, I knew I should.

What hooked me was the "what will I tell my son when he asked me what I did to help" line.  B and I regularly struggle with "how will we explain xyz to M" questions.

Next, I looked up Invisible Children (their mission/goals, outside assessments of them, their financials) and I looked up Kony (Amnesty International and the UN).  I decided I would promote the video and the goal of making Kony the most famous man in the world.  I chose not to purchase any products or donate money.  I was on the fence about the "Cover the Night" plan ... it could easily be framed as vandalism, graffiti and litter, leading to a backlash and muddying the stated goal.

Now that April 20 has come and gone, I'm confused that so many have written off the campaign as a failure.  It's true, the night was pretty sparsely covered, however, Kony did become the most famous man in the world for about 72 hours (eons in news cycle time).  I think their biggest mistake (other than the obvious breakdown of the person who was their public face) was the time lag between release of the video and release of the poster plastering troops.  The digital attention span is short; the GenY attention span is even shorter.  Had it been five days after the launch, I think we all would have woken up to orange covered streets.

I'm also confused on the slacktivism accusation.

Don't get me wrong.  As a GenXer, I've got no love for GenY (or the Boomers ... uh oh, my Jan Brady/middle child issues are showing).  However, making it as easy as possible for people to "engage" has been a practice of nonprofits for as long as there have been nonprofits.

For example, as a member of Amnesty International, I regularly receive prewritten letters/post cards for me to sign and mail (postage paid) to members of Congress, the UN, leaders of other countries, etc.  Seriously, I can be uber-lazy AND feel like I'm helping to save the world.  Every time I sign and mail, I think "well played Amnesty International, well played".  Of course, this is an organization I vetted long ago and wholeheartedly believe in their mission.  When they ask me for help, I want to help.

Is that really so different from asking someone to "share" a video and hang a poster?

I would love to see everyone generously giving of their time to support an organization they believe in.  I've been in volunteer recruitment mode for my various nonprofit projects since 2008.  I estimate 20 percent of people I ask say "yes" and maybe 10 percent actually follow through.  It's not that these people don't care, they just get caught up in their daily activities and it's hard to see how they can add more to the mix.

So if an organization can advance their goals forward by asking people to do something that they can easily fit into their schedule, then good on 'em.

Oh, by the way, I'm still recruiting for the ACS Cancer Prevention Study 3 ... if you want to "share".

Addiction addiction?

I wrote a creative non-fiction piece for a writing workshop a few years ago about the instructor of a yoga class I took.  She was one of the meanest people I've ever met and it horrified me that she was introducing yoga newbies to their practice.  She berated and verbally abused us.   Our breathing was too loud, too quiet, too deep, too shallow; we did it all “wrong, wrong, wrong”.  At one point, she told a gal she was too fat to do a headstand.  I should have stood up to her (that's what you do with bullies), but for reasons I may detail at another time, I didn't.  

Dorcas and I dubbed her the yoga Nazi. I thought I crafted a funny and interesting piece exploring the juxtaposition of this woman’s vicious temperament with the inner peace one usually gains from meditation and yoga (and, her name was Joy ... I mean seriously, I couldn't have made up a better character).  When it was my turn on the writer’s hot seat, I got the usual generic feedback from the other writers (I had a bad habit of ignoring most of the participants except the three I thought wrote very well).  Then, the guy I thought was the best writer in the workshop spoke. 
“No matter how mean a yoga teacher is, she’s no Nazi and it weakens everything else you write to stoop to a cliché pop culture bastardization of it.”
 He was right.  I’ve never used Nazi for any reason other than when referring to an actual Nazi since.  And, I bristle a bit every time I hear someone else use it to describe anything less than genuinely Nazi-like behavior. I’m starting to have the same response to the increasing use of “addiction” talk. In the past three days, I’ve heard about addictions to Angry Birds, chocolate, shoes, silver jewelry, sugar, sewing, Facebook, books/reading and sports. (Sewing?  That’s new.) Don’t get me wrong.  I really, really love a lot of things.  But to define my wanting to eat a whole lotta Jelly Belly sours (and I can eat a whole lot) as an addiction just doesn’t jive with me. At the risk of getting all PC Police about it, doesn’t the proliferation of this word dilute the life impairing, life limiting dependence of an actual addiction?  I understand pleasure sensors of the brain are triggered by certain foods or behaviors, causing someone to indulge in said foods or behaviors as often as possible.  However, does indulgence or even over-indulgence, rise to the level of addiction? More and more, I think not.

What I do think is we've become addicted to calling things addictions.  Consider this my intervention for our "addiction" addiction.

Plan is not a four-letter word

Okay, it is ... I mean, I can count and there are four letters.  My point is, developing a strategic MarCom plan is not a vulgar and profane act to be avoided.  Nor is it dull and boring and a waste of time.  In fact, if you wanna rock the house?  Plan for it.


After six weeks of failed attempts at schedule coordination with my friend Joel (one of my favorite people), I finally got to see him yesterday and have a proper chat.  


Joel is a real estate broker who is very busy and doing very well in a purportedly wretched market.  I asked him why he thought he was doing well at a time when others struggled painfully.  He talked about a lot of factors he felt contributed, but I think it comes down to two things:
1.  He works really, really hard to do what is in the best interest of his clients.  The boy's got a lotta integrity.
2.  He never stopped marketing.  He watched as those around him chose to slash their marketing dollars, but never fell into that trap.


Joel's a savvy entrepreneur and marketer.  And that's why I was surprised by what he said next.


"I need to get on Twitter."


"Why," I asked (as I always do when someone says this).  


"I've been told I need to."

I love Twitter.  I follow smart, creative, get-it-done people on Twitter and learn from them everyday.  However, I firmly believe successful marketing depends on strategic planning.  Strategic planning depends on answering the five W's and How first, then taking action.  And if you don't know the what, why, when, where, who or how of your Twitter plan, you don't have one.


Don't engage in a MarCom social media platform just because someone tells you you should.  You know your business, you know your market.  Check it out.  Will this medium reach your target audience and, if so, how?  If not, it's okay to stay open to it, but don't invest time you don't have in a half-baked campaign. 


So, when it comes to your marketing, plan, prepare, perfect and perform.


And, if you need a broker, call Joel.

We're #1

... and that's not good enough.


Riddle me this, Batman.  How is it the US gets so low a return on investment in health care?  


The US spends about $2.6 trillion annually on health care.  We're number one for spending in the world, more than any other county.  However, we don't crack the top ten of countries with the healthiest populations.


Why?  The lack of emphasis we place on prevention, wellness and health promotion efforts.  Healthy public policy is proven time and again to improve the health metrics of a population while simultaneously saving money.

The study For the Public's Health: Investing in a Healthier Future spells it out neatly:

The poor performance of the United States in life expectancy and other major health outcomes, as compared with its global peers reflects what the nation prioritizes in its health investments. It spends extravagantly on clinical care but meagerly on other types of population-based actions that influence health more profoundly than medical services. The health system’s failure to develop and deliver effective preventive strategies continues to take a growing toll on the economy and society.

Definition: We as a people are reactive, not proactive when it comes to health.  We eschew the ounce of prevention for the pound of cure.  We're so occupied attacking symptoms with the tenacious voracity of a badger that we forget to engage in the activities that would avoid the badger's fangs to begin with.  Our healthcare system is a hammer and we only care about the nails.


Ben Franklin idioms, badgers and hammers aside, the point is, time and again, funding for health promotion activities are cut.


Health promotion is defined as "the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health" and "the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health".


We need to change how we spend our healthcare dollars and demand a better return on our investment.  We need stable funding for health promotion efforts to make a fundamental, and lasting, shift in our population's health.  We need to tackle the social determinants of health and give people the ability to have real control over their current and future health.


Or, take another $2.6 trillion in aspirin and call me in the morning.

(Almost) never say never

The biggest pet peeve of my 30s were the "why are you single" and "don't you want to get married and have kids" questions.  Maybe not the questions, but the implication that I couldn't be living a happy, fulfilled life just as I was - unwed and childless.  And the pity.  Wow, the heaping helping of pity some pile on the singletons in their social circle is suffocating.

The odd thing is, many coupled people complain (a lot) about the exhaustive work of marriage and children, then seem gobsmacked that anyone choose a different life path.

I enjoyed my life as a singleton (and a Singleton).  Choosing to remain so was nothing more than simple cost/benefit analysis ... do the benefits of being in a relationship with this person outweigh the costs?   Will I get back enough to make up for what I give up?  Usually the answer was "no".  Rarely did I meet a guy I wanted to spend dinner with, let alone 30 or 40 years.

And I was/am no peach either.  I admit it, dating me was work.  And, I kinda think I'm an acquired taste.  A guy had to be willing to put in the effort and few felt being with me was worth it.  That was fine.  I didn't want to settle and I didn't want someone else to settle for me.

I developed a pat answer to the inevitable questions about my singleness.  "I'm really, really happy single.  Never say never, but I don't think I'm the marrying kind."

The more tenacious would advocate for marriage and mommyhood.  The truly brave would offer to fix me up with their neighbor, coworker, husband's golf buddy, etc.  After a few of these disastrous evenings, I established the rule.

The rule of fix ups: Everyone gets one.  Every friend/family member was allowed to set me up for one blind date.  However, they had to tell me three reasons this person and I would enjoy spending time together AND they needed to know I would deduce their opinion of me based on the person they imagined me partnered with.

Implementation of the rule was golden and eliminated 99 percent of "I know this guy ..." conversations.  If you too are plagued with loved ones that feel the need to get all Yenta on you, I highly recommend it ... or something similar that works with your personality.

But I digress ... what was my point ... pet peeve ... nagging by random strangers to marry ... breed ... right.  This.

I was clever enough to know getting married would only amp up the "when are you having a baby" chatter.  However, I wasn't prepared for the "when are you having another" grilling.  Or to have my answer of "we're very happy with just the one and are stopping there" to be met with all the reasons to proceed immediately with baby number two.  A few of the more common:

• The "spare child" argument (or "back up baby in case M dies)
• The "he needs a playmate" argument
• The "only children are spoiled" argument
• The "two are no more work than one" argument
• The "pregnancy is easier the second time" argument
• The "he'll be all alone when you die" argument

None of these sway(ed) me.  A couple of them horrify me (seriously, how can anyone think having a second child could make losing the first one anything less than devastatingly heartbreaking?).

I often feel overwhelmed by how much I love M.  He's amazing and wonderful and magical.  B and I believe we are blessed.  But one and done, seriously.  I'm changing my "never say never" tune.

So, if you're wondering, before you ask, just know, never.

Tick, Tick, Boom

They say it's all who you know, not what you know.  It's time for me to find out who I know.

I do well with deadlines, project management, editorial calendars and strategic plans.  It's a good thing, because I've got a big one looming and I need your help to beat it.

I have agreed that if B doesn't find a position in his field by July, we'll move to Australia.

I know, right!?

When we decided to marry, we had to choose which county to settle in.  The US won out for many reasons.

B was confident his education and professional experience would transfer easily and he would have no problem landing on something as soon as he has a Green Card in hand.

I was a little more cautious considering the difference between our two healthcare systems.  After all, in the US system of for-profit healthcare, little is invested in prevention, wellness and health promotion.  However, I believed a Master's Degree in Health Promotion + seven successful years in the field and Bachelor of Science in nursing and more than ten years practicing as an RN made him a highly desirable hire for one of the few health promotion positions.

We were both wrong.

Two years of applications, interviews, writing sample grant proposals and sample project/campaign outlines haven't yielded fruit.

So, I'm ready to test the "who you know" premise and find out who I know.  And ask if the people I know can facilitate introductions or help B uncover opportunities that aren't common knowledge.  Basically, who do the people I know know.

B likes to frame our possible relocation to Australia as following in the tradition of our forefathers ... leaving England for a land of opportunity.  His family immigrated to Australia, while mine crossed the pond to seek their fortune in the U.S.  And, he argues, between the two counties, Australia is the land of greater opportunity.  I would love to prove him wrong.

This is me, asking you for help.

Burgermeister Meisterburger

Okay, this is really hard for me to ask, because for years I've railed against sending kids out "peddling their wares" in order to raise money for schools, sports, band, choir, clubs, etc.

However, please consider buying a "FunRaiser! Book".

For a paltry $5.00, you get three free meals and one free sundae (plus several "buy one get one" coupons).  Bargain, right?

I know, I don't eat at Burger King either.

But, I do support my nephews.

And, I support what the Peninsula Wrestling Club is doing for the community.

Our club has many benefits for the body both physically, mentally and spiritually. Physically through calisthenics they learn the development of their body, working of muscles, flexibility, endurance, self control and how to compete. Mentally, they learn to interact with their peers, self-confidence, self-discipline, respect, sportsmanship and self-esteem. Spiritually they learn to love, give and believe.  Our club also offers every person a chance to experience joy, fun gratitude, appreciation tenderness, love, accomplishment and victory as well as pain, sadness, fear, loneliness and to act spontaneously.  With in our wrestling club young people find in themselves the capabilities and commitments to make positive choices and changes in their lives. We step outside of conventional guidelines to make sure of true success. The stronger we are as individuals and families, the stronger we are as a nation.  We are a large comprehensive family program.

So, mull it over and let me know if you want one.  I've got a supply on hand.

Just don't get too excited if you score the travel Connect Four game as your Kids' Meal prize.  It's not what B and I had expected.