Social Media with Susan G. Komen: A Halloween Guide to Making Technology Not So Scary

In the 80s, my older sister was frightened by the likes of a vicious monster named Cujo. I was terrified of Candyman, Jason and a handsome lad named Freddy Krueger. I feel the past two decades have been consumed with a different kind of fear. It is one that doesn’t have a sinister smile or a knack for murdering innocents. This not-so-vicious enemy is also known as social media. I believe the reason why social media is so menacing is because uninformed users feel ignorant when applying it to everyday life. It’s something that must be learned, though because I’m positive this trend in media isn’t just the latest fad. It’s our future.

We live in a society where communication is powered by the most prominent social media. Facebook and Twitter reign supreme because they were some of the first accounts that allowed users to be a part of the story. They started a movement that took the world by storm, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, users could democratize news. As we propel ourselves into the future, we now see online media sites being used in a variety of ways, but all for the same central purpose. Social photo sharing sites, such as Pinterest, Flickr and Instagram, combine images to tell the story. Blogs allow for specialized messages to be passed along to those looking for specialized information. The speed, precision and evolving qualities of social media is what makes it unique in advertising and awareness campaigns.

As we continue to meet with our client, Komen of Baton Rouge, we are still working very hard to promote awareness for a cause. Because October is almost over, they’ve actually requested that we work more intensely with social media to promote Race for the Cure. We are very excited to work with tools we’re quite comfortable with. Komen of Baton Rouge has one person who manages all of their social media, but we hope to introduce them to more technology outlets such as Instagram, Flickr and SCVNGR.

As October is winding down, Cinq Communications and I urge you to spread the word of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Try doing it through social media— I promise it won’t give you a fright! Visit Susan G. Komen’s Facebook page or my personal Twitter to find out more information about how you can get involved. It’s no trick that social media truly is a treat!

PR WRITING, SERVICE-LEARNING, CLIENTELE…OH MY.

“Every person should be treated with the deference and respect you would show your best customer.” –Nancy Brinker, Founder of Susan G. Komen

You can call me Dorothy, for I was lost in the world of AP style and PR writing, but I’ve begun to find my way with the help of my Cinq girls. Megan is my courageous lion because though she hyperventilates when turning in a news release, she isn’t afraid to stand up for any of these third party companies. Clare is the scarecrow because she is smart as a whip. Lea is the classy tin-man, for she puts her heart into every writing piece she develops for us. Little Cyone is the good witch, Glinda. Whenever we feel our most stressed, she is there calming us down with her wisdom and organizational flowcharts. It may also have to do with the fact that Glinda wears all pink. Somewhere over the rainbow I can see our project being near perfect and complete.

Even if we haven’t finished our journey yet, I’m continuing to delve deeper into my SCVNGR service-learning partnership with Susan G. Komen of Baton Rouge. I’m also diving head first into more extensive PR writing.

When I say extensive writing, I absolutely mean it. Over the course of just a few short weeks, Cinq Communications has managed to complete blogs, news releases, press releases, marketing plans, SWOT Analysis, feature releases and much more. Though I never get a perfect score on any of them (for no piece of writing is ever perfect), but I’m doing pretty well with the time and content I’m given. It’s beginning to ensure me that I can do this job. Perhaps I will be ready out of college.

I think my favorite release I’ve written so far was my feature release story. Ironically, it was one of my lowest grades. I think it’s because I cared so much about it, I neglected to pay attention to AP style. For our assignment, we were to take the presidential candidate we most related to and write a feature release about an individual who also supported said candidate. Because Obama is the candidate I’m supporting (dare I say lesser of two evils), I chose to interview my mom for the feature release. I was able to write a compelling story about her being a single parent, and I highlighted very surprising single mother statistics. If every writing assignment could be fun as that one, maybe I won’t go gray every class period!

Despite becoming an elderly woman, the PR writing is preparing Cinq Communications for our service-learning partnership with Komen. We are very fortunate in that our partners are well established. Their audience base is wide, so when creating a trek with SCVNGR, we hope it won’t   be difficult to pull the younger pink generation in. Komen is also filled to the brim with fact sheets, informational brochures and press releases. This is to our advantage, however, because we have a foundation as to how they deliver the information given to their audience. For example, Komen’s fact sheets are filled not just with large numerical statistics, but personal statistics. Instead of using a large number to generalize U.S. women, Komen likes to use more simple information such as the chilling fact below:

We now understand that concept, so when making our brochures and developing our SCVNGR strategy, we are able to give the client what they want. PR writing, service-learning, clientele…oh my? Let’s hope that we don’t get anymore flying monkeys in the form of media advisories and news releases. The Wizard of Oz’s castle isn’t too much farther now. It’s just a matter of following that yellow brick road.

The yellow brick road now has technology in the form of social media. And why stop at just communicating via blog when a twister comes through? Tap your ruby slippers twice and follow my journey with the Komen foundation across the social media lands of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

There’s no place like home,

Sierra