This new ad campaign makes me grateful for those people who think outside the box. A Spanish organization, Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation, created ads that open a new world of campaigning. What is not visible to an adult, is visible to a child – the victim, the one the message is really for. Well done ANAR. Not only is the campaign genius in the creation aspect, but it is so profoundly important. I fully support anti-abuse campaigns and hope they result in amazing outcomes. Here is the ad.
For the past several days, I have been looking at and viewing inspiring videos that demonstrate gratitude, perseverance, and inspiring stories…basically, anything that will make me cry because it is beautiful. As mentioned in an earlier post, people are using video as a mainstream way to communicate ideas, feelings, desires, passions, etc. in turn developing a brand in a way that touches the innermost part of the heart. The perception of the product or service changes as these amazing branding techniques send viewership off the charts.
For example, in my post Video Shorts: Great PR, I highlighted one particular video about a young woman raising a child – I won’t spoil the plot for those of you who haven’t watched it yet. I did some searching on the company that produced this touching video and found out it is a classy lingerie company via Mybeautifulwoman.org, and produced for Wacoal. It seems they have jumped on the Dove train and started highlighting women as beautiful, industrious, strong, and powerful. The campaign is moving, and tells a story. Its placement and viewership has been escalating since its release. This branding movement is AMAZING PR – and it is beautiful.
Here are some other organizations and companies that are using similar techniques to make branding an art form – to make it beautiful.
Ministry of Education – Singapore (2 videos)
First Video
Second Video
Pepper&Paul is another company that is shifting the branding paradigm by creating a “cinematic shopping experience where you will be entertained, discover high quality, ethically produced products, and be able to buy them all in the same place.” Quite innovative, brilliant, and beautiful. You should watch the first two videos on their website. They are stunning.
Thank you Coke for being awesome at great PR!
And for a little more serious video, I just had to highlight “I Forgot My Phone” a popular Youtube video that has been floating around and picking up momentum for the past 3 months.
Great PR folks, great PR. I get the message and am not doing this from my phone while I am surrounded by family and friends, but on my computer 
This guy is doing the best PR for your news channel than you will ever realize! This is the best Frozen parody out there. Someone give an award to this guy for his brilliance. Nothing to be ashamed of here….sir. You are a genius, and you are making your station look SO GOOD! Best PR ever!
Last week I read an article that stuck with me to the point where I had to blog about it. It isn’t everyday that I am captivated by education news. That ship for me, sailed a long time ago.
I felt like all these education issues were not being resolved, and that was depressing to me. So, I stopped caring as much because it isn’t something I see being top of mind to lawmakers, policymakers, or the people with the big bucks or big voices that can help turn the tide.
Case and point: I saw this article I mentioned on FB, read it, pondered it. When I went to find it in my internet history, I couldn’t. I searched my ‘likes’ on FB, and couldn’t. I searched for almost 45 minutes online until I put something completely random in Google search, “black and white photo of child finishing homework with education advocate mom.” It was a completely ridiculous search, but I was desperate, and that desperation got me to where I needed to be. However, I was appalled that I couldn’t find it. It should have been first on my search results. Tell me that is not top of mind. I digress.
Everyone, meet Missouri Education Watchdog, a fantastic website advocating for changes in education policy. The article of focus is A New York and Chicago Discover What Standardized Rigor Really Means for Children. What drew me in was the photo, called “Common Core Tears”. Making sure I attribute the photo appropriately, the photographer and contributing author of the article is Kelly Poynter.
My Takeaways:
The rigor of standardized testing, and common core may be too hard on our children. If that is the case, who is there to make sure our children can learn and yet still be children? Case and point: I have a friend with four children, two of which are enrolled in elementary school. Most of the time, the kids come home, do their homework, play for 30 minutes, eat, then start getting ready for bed. Pretty routine, right? Not really, you see, homework time lasts for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours a night, leaving them little quality family time a.k.a play, which means that total schooling has increased from 6-7 hours to close to 9-10 hours. One child would bring home 20-page packets to be complete at home before he went to sleep. Granted, this child is amazingly smart, but imagine families whose children may be struggling. How long do you think they have to spend on a 20-page packet. Tell me this is fair practice….really.
I saw this other great post/picture about school science fairs, and thought it was brilliant. I am not quite sure who to attribute this to as I saw it on FB,
but it certainly captures projects that take more than umpteen hours to complete. In the same article, another woman/mother (also an advocate) describes her experience helping students with an online test they were required to take. Imagine a 5-year old sitting in a ‘testing room’ with a computer monitor with headsets that do not fit their small heads, not being able to ask questions, or if they did gets the pre-designated response of, “Do the best you can.”
The mother posts, “I would imagine, that for many five year olds, this MAP test would be the first time in their lives that they could not talk through problem with an adult, or have an adult use different words that would help them better understand a problem. I understand that the testing field has to be equal, but I am here to tell you, it just feels wrong for a child so young not to be able to ask for clarification.”
Some parents have rallied around the unfairness of a nation-wide standard common core. We all hear “the one size does NOT fit all” phrase all the time, but most parents, community members, teachers, advocates do not quite have the voice they need to produce change, like in some other states.
The Indiana Senate recently passed a bill to kill Common Core, as reported by NUVO, that has given the right to develop academic standards to the state. The article continues, “The bill now moves to the House where Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has said he would prefer Indiana to create its own education standards. This started as two parents in my district concerned with what their kids were being taught and what their kids came home with as homework in their backpacks. I think this is an important milestone in the state of Indiana. I think this is a benefit for all of us.”
Reading this article gives me hope that if there is enough noise behind something that is really out of whack in education, that we can make the changes necessary to improve our education systems. All you amazing people fighting the good fight, keep it up! Don’t give up like I did. It is worth the battle when instead of seeing your child struggle through hours worth of homework, they have less, more quality homework that adds the same value and helps them practice teamwork and success.
This past week, I have seen several posts about the reality of motherhood. I am not sure if the rise in these articles is due to the fact that it is the end of winter, schools are closed down due to the snow, etc., or mom’s are just more willing to talk openly about their experiences. I found these articles inspiring and informative. Not being a mother myself, and often wishing I was, I find that this thing called motherhood is one of the most rewarding jobs ever….at the end of the day. BUT I find that when these amazing women are ‘in it‘, the glitz, glam, and humility of it is sometimes harder to grasp.
When Mothering is Hard and No One Sees, by Faith and Composition blogger Shalene Roberts: I have had some mother-friends talk to me about how they often feel they are invisible. They feel like they are cooks, nurses, psychologists, spiritual guides, a sweetheart’s mother/plaything, maid, dishwasher, accountant, librarian, etc., with so little notice. Apparently feeling this way is a regular phenomenon – so my mother friends tell me.
Some memorable quotes from this blog: “This calling of motherhood is a service unlike anything else, where the privilege of giving life is tempered by a daily dying to self. It’s the very nature of motherhood. Sometimes I do it well, and sometimes I do it poorly. Sometimes I meet my children’s needs with grace and humility, and then other times I look in the mirror and see ugly, selfish pride staring right back. Sometimes this laying down of self is affirmed by slobbery kisses, vice-like hugs and countless “I-love-you-to-the-moon-and-back” sentiments, and other times I feel as though it’s all in vain.”
“When the days drag on monotonous; when the mundane tasks veil the miracle of your calling—this incredible privilege of raising little humans to know Him and serve Him—God is there in the midst of it all, hearing, seeing YOU.”
5 Truths about Parenting, Huffington Post: The post highlights some similar aspects including the 5 truths expanded including:
- I am lonely
- I am scared
- I am tired
- I am grateful
- I am enough
One of my favorite quotes from this article: “I am good enough: Some days I have to talk myself into making that statement a fact. I know that one of the most important gifts you can give your child is a happy you, so I work to be happy and enough, exactly the way I am.”
If only we could have more posts dedicated to helping not just mothers, but posts of often-hidden trials that may help other persons with hidden trials. Coming clean to the realities that surround us is one way to help others conquer misconception, misunderstanding, self-doubt, anxiety, and fear. I am deeply appreciative for talented people who share their worries and concerns in order that they might be better – and in order that I might also find strength knowing that if one person can conquer life’s trials, so can I. It is somewhat comforting to know that even when I am doing the best I can, and don’t think I am good enough, that there are people who still have hope that everything is worth it at the end of the day. That is beyond good PR, that is social PR.
Thank you mothers for all you do. You are not invisible to me.
And here is one for the road – what every mother should see!
I just found this gem: and am now updating this post to reflect this fabulous finding.
A Husband’s Amazing Response to “She is a stay at home Mom? What does she do all day?, by Matt Walsh as published on Sunny Skyz.
Favorite quotes:
“Yes, my wife is JUST a mother. JUST. She JUST brings forth life into the universe, and she JUST shapes and molds and raises those lives. She JUST manages, directs and maintains the workings of the household, while caring for children who JUST rely on her for everything. She JUST teaches our twins how to be human beings, and, as they grow, she will JUST train them in all things, from morals, to manners, to the ABC’s, to hygiene, etc. She is JUST my spiritual foundation and the rock on which our family is built. She is JUST everything to everyone. And society would JUST fall apart at the seams if she, and her fellow moms, failed in any of the tasks I outlined.
Yes, she is just a mother. Which is sort of like looking at the sky and saying, “hey, it’s justthe sun.”
“We get a lot of things wrong in our culture. But, when all is said and done, and our civilization crumbles into ashes, we are going to most regret the way we treated mothers and children.”
Over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a lot of great PR using Youtube as the source for short video clips. This fad has taken full swing as I have even read articles that potential producers of shows are using ‘shorts’ as a medium to raise money for their potential blockbuster hits. While some haven’t gotten that great of a start including Minecraft-makers cancel film inspired by game – a BBC article, some have fared quite well. I have included some articles below, that while outdated, probably started the impetus for using Youtube as a mechanism to begin making a name for aspiring filmmakers.
Youtube connecting with indie filmmakers at Sundance: L.A. Biz
Handsacre filmmaker’s stop-motion murder mystery goes online to view this week: Lichfield Mercury
Youtube Success Lands Filmmaker a Real Hollywood Gig: ReelSe.com
How to build an audience for your film using Youtube (the right way): nofilmschool.com
The Community as an Indicator of Success: Filmmakers on Youtube: Goethe Insitute
The Filmmakers Guide to using top social media sites: Shari Candler, Marketing and Publicity
Perhaps one of my favorite ad campaigns also happens to be on Youtube. Break out the tissues ladies and gents. This is fantastic PR:
I read this article about how one SME doesn’t think that TED talks are very effective.
In the Yahoo News article Ted Talks Don’t Work, says TED talker, it says: “At a societal level, the bottom line is if we invest in things that make us feel good but which don’t work, and don’t invest things that don’t make us feel good but which may solve problems, then our fate is that it will just get harder to feel good about not solving problems. In this case the placebo is worse than ineffective, it’s harmful.”
I think that Bratton hit the nail on the head. Not only is this true of investing in things that help us solve problems, but it is also true of life. I find that just cruising around and doing things that make me feel good is great. However, when I continue to cruise through life, always taking the easy way out, and stop seeking out challenges, it leaves me feeling empty. How does society expect to progress if we are not actively involved in trying to figure out how to solve problems? How far would we have come if we didn’t try to solve the same problem over and over again until we found solutions and success because we stuck with it, all the while challenging ourselves to find the answer?
I remember attending presentations where the speakers suggested several way to improve different areas of life including finances and relationships. He gave 5 steps to be more effective in these areas. How many of those in audience took home the suggestions and acted on them? If they didn’t act, what stopped them? What stops me?
While I haven’t really researched this next thought, I found it interesting to ponder. After attending the American History Museum, I was astounded at how much we have progressed since the early 1800′s. It seemed that innovation, discovery, and technology was stymied for hundreds of years until the years of enlightenment. What was it that brought on so many successes?
Looking at our society now and how innovation works, are we prepared to take risks, or to fail in order to find the successful answers? While the research jobs allow for discovery and failure, a lot of corporate America has somewhat of a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to failing in order to find success. Our media seems to focus on the failures of society – highlighting failure as something that is unacceptable.
I can’t help but think that this fear of failure is preventing us from being the next Alexander Graham Bell, or Einstein, or (insert famous inventor here).
My Takeaway
- Dare to fail in order to succeed, and encourage it
- Use educational and inspirational conversations to take the challenge and put them into action
- Develop accountability measures or rewards for taking the challenge
When did Thanksgiving become a day of shopping and planning for Christmas? I was appalled this year that Thanksgiving became a holiday where people left their families to work and shop. And to be honest, I realized it a little too late. My turkey barely set in my belly, I chose to go out and about to get my amazing 30-peice tupperware steal for $6.89 (insert sarcasm here). My justification: I was shopping with some of my family, therefore it was ok, despite my earlier protest of the hate for consumerism during the holidays. 
I feel like such a hypocrite. It wasn’t until I was in the trenches that I realized what a hoax this whole “Black Friday” thing really is. After witnessing mean and selfish consumers, the thought of the pending holiday being driven by prices and steals made me sad. It wasn’t until I went back to my family’s house and saw the news that I realized the impact of what has become the worst and most selfish holiday. What happened to gratitude?
PEOPLE of the United States, look at us: Crazy Black Friday Fight
Investment Watch reported:
“It’s Black-eye Friday! Man stabbed in row over parking space and shopper shot for his new TV as violent bargain-hunters come to blows
- The rush for Black Friday bargains has resulted in outbreaks of violence as shoppers clash over reduced price goods
- Police in Virginia have reporting a stabbing incident after two men got into a fight in the car park over a space
- In Las Vegas, thief shot shopper in his leg and stole his television, while cops in Chicago shot a man as he scuffled with a police officer
- Shoppers cutting in line sparked a Black Friday Brawl at another Walmart
- Several clips have already appeared on YouTube of the carnage at various Walmart stores
- Some retailers opened their doors as early as 6am on Thanksgiving Day”
Shooting people for discounted prices, really??
In the USAToday article, We’re past Thanksgiving, time for Thanksgetting, I was blown away by how true this article rings about what it means to be ‘an American.’ Essentially, the article talks about how being a true American is one who doesn’t focus on the things that they have already, but the things that are wanted/”needed.” I won’t even go into how the average household has accumulated so much debt just to get what is wanted/”needed”, or how our nation’s idea of spending is intoxicating. I digress.
The article states it best:
“Thanksgiving is un-American. Thanksgiving is obsolete. Thanksgiving needs to be eliminated.
In our culture, we tell our children that it is o.k. to be pleased with what you have done, but never be satisfied. You need to keep your eye on the prize, do not rest content with what you have. To be content is to stop moving forward, to stop moving forward is to quit and winners never quit. Only losers are content and contentment with what you have is the basis of thankfulness.
Maybe in the Norman Rockwell mythological 19th century America we could be truly thankful, but in today’s America, we need to keep on needing. To reflect on how much you appreciate what you have instead of considering what you lack and thereby still need is to undermine the entire basis of our economy.
To stop and reflect on the sufficiency of what you have violates the true spirit of what it is to be an American which is to always need the newest, the best, the biggest. No matter what you have, someone else has more or better and to be grateful to be less than the top banana is unacceptable.”
I found myself hating this holiday where I should be remembering, giving, thanking, loving….
I wanted to know if anyone else out there felt the way I felt. I found this article, How Thanksgiving Really Makes Us Feel: The Verge. It said, ” The holiday [Thanksgiving] varies from person to person and family to family, causing real problems for anyone who wants to contemplate the True Meaning of Thanksgiving. Has the national celebration of football and shopping overtaken the giving-thanks part of it all? Is Thanksgiving kind of a downer? How would you even know?” The article dives into the psychology of how people view this holiday.
While the article spouted data complete with how many tweets said ‘grateful,’ it also determined the following, “It makes sense, given the long-standing correlation between gratitude and positive affect — but the study didn’t stop there. Once researchers controlled for gratitude, imagining a Thanksgiving-like day without the bump in that sentiment, things got messy. Levels of related readings like life satisfaction and “meaning in life” plummeted. Negative affect jumped up. This makes a certain sense too: Thanksgiving is filled with stressful factors, whether it’s travel, family conflicts, or high-stakes cooking, any of which could easily chip away at a person’s sense of well-being. The result is a kind of Thanksgiving parable in research form. Without all the gratitude in the air, the holiday stress became overwhelming.”
The article does acknowledge that the findings are flawed based on how it was gathered, but cultivates a sense of hope that people really are more grateful during the holiday, despite what we see on the news.
SIDE NOTE: I have been in a fight with media lately. I do not like the focus of gloom and doom, and all the bad things that happen in the world. What if we highlighted the good of Thanksgiving instead of the cat fight at Walmart? I know that stations report what they think viewers want based on viewership. The long internal debate continues – by my highlighting these things on my blog, I am also part of this “mediaship.” I am a a hypocrite for highlighting these things in this blog. I am just adding to the viewership….I get it.
Regardless, I hope I have illuminated and stirred some caution when it comes to the holidays. My hope is that we will begin to recognize the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas by not buying into what the media or sales people portray as what is important at this time of year.
Skype or online video camera interviews are becoming more and more common. I thought I would write about how to have one successfully – perhaps something I should have researched before my very own Skype interview.
13 ways for nailing a Skype interview: USA Today
7 tips to nail a Skype interview: Forbes
I always thought I was a great at/with phone and in-person interviews. When I was unemployed, I had a lot of practice – and when I was the right fit, it all worked to my benefit. My confidence was right where it should have been, and I was hired! Regardless of my practice for in-person and phone interview, I have not have not had a lot of practice with Skype.
Perhaps if I were someone who used facetime all the time, or google video chat, I would be better. At the time. I was concentrating so hard on not looking at myself that it threw off intelligible responses and thought processes. Practice would have helped me focus on the questions being asked, and on the best responses. I also wonder if covering the screen would have helped me better.
There are a ton of other articles that cover similar tips. However, I read about one that is also important from Simplyhired.com’s article 5 Tips for Making the Most of your Skype job Interview: “Don’t forget to log off! This might seem like a no-brainer, but it bears mentioning here. No matter how professional an environment you’ve created, you can undo all your hard work if you “lift the curtain” by failing to log off. “It gets really funny because the other party can keep watching whatever you do,” says Deborah Sweeney of consulting firm My Corporation.”
I was going to put a list of pros and cons to Skype interviews and make the claim that I am absolutely against a 15-minute first online video interview. I can’t in good conscious knock the organization I wish wouldn’t have video-cammed (made up word) me before speaking with me on the phone or meeting me in-person. At the time, I felt like it was one more way an organization could profile me without actually meeting me in person. I also felt that video conferencing is an unnatural way to get the most out of an interview – particularly as it caused me insurmountable pressure; I couldn’t help but thinking “Not only are my interviewers judging my every word, but now I get to see myself do it too?” I am already hard on myself, why do I want to see myself perform in front of my own face? We are our own worst skeptics….I am over this video conferencing thing.
I was going to bust on organizations who use this as the sole mechanism to interview, but to be honest, I just need to learn how to deal with it, because this is where technology is going.
So, I turn to The Pros and Cons of Video Job Interviews – for Dummies that says, ”
- Performance pressure: When it’s your turn to speak up, you have very little time to look away, down, up, or sideways to process your thoughts. When the “green light” goes on, the pressure on you is somewhat like a contestant at a quiz show: talk or walk.
- Learning curve: Being judged in front of a camera takes some getting used to. Glimpses of awful screen tests of actors who later became famous confirm the point. While camera success may be ducks-to-water for a few people, more typically candidates start out feeling unnatural. Time and practice make them less so.”
OK, fine….I get it! It is ME, not THEM. I can’t blame anyone here but myself. I am sure by now you can guess that I bombed it. C’est la vie. I hope this post inspires you to do research on how to knock the socks off your Skype or online video interviewers.
Good luck out there! You can do it!
Additional Interviewing Techniques
- 10 ways you should never describe yourself – Inc.com
- Top 10 interview techniques – About.com