We, as Americans, have something that many in the world do not – the freedom to say what we want, when we want, about almost anyone or anything we choose – also known as the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Today, the First Amendment is being utilized by a consistently growing number of people.  Blogs, tweets, facebook pages, you name it and it’s being used to express opinions that, in many other countries, would cause the law to knock on someone’s door.

The moral of the story – become engaged.  Speak your voice.  If you care about something, anything, and you want others to care too, let them know about it.  The tools are there, you just need to find the right ones for you and run with them.

Sally, Chris and I will be posting more thoughts about NCHCMM soon, but I wanted to highlight a few points from John Whyte’s closing plenary. He’s the chief medical expert at Discovery Health Channel (you can read his blog here) and had some great insights about actually reaching the public with public health and social marketing messaging.

Three key points:

- Social Media/the Internet is important and growing, but broadcast media (television) is by far where people spend most of their leisure time.

- Stories actually make an impact. Nothing engages people like a story, and harnessing this power can advance a public health message more than a water-tight, perfectly crafted traditional marketing campaign. Consider using primetime television as a vehicle for your message.

- Empower, educate, and entertain.

We’ve been discussing the power of emotional, story-based social marketing with clients for years, and so it was nice to have this perspective succinctly backed up by Dr. Whyte. To underline this point, here’s an oldie-but-goodie Banyan favorite that drives home the need for social marketing and public health messaging to engage and entertain:

It is the easiest thing in the world for me to go to Twitter and, within 140 characters, announce that I have just been abducted  by aliens and that they come in peace to save our world, (only if I’m installed as Supreme Being, by the way).  But since I posted this declaration in a social media space I don’t have to explain the alien’s plans; share how they got here or where they are from; show why I’m the only one who can see them – I don’t have to be responsible for anything pertaining to what I’ve said.  That’s the down-side of one way communication.  Now, I really don’t think many people would take my claim very seriously, (since I’m prone to delusions of grandeur, or so says my Psychologist), but if I was a Congressman, Senator, radio talk show host, religious leader, or TV pundit – you know, people we all used to respect and whose opinions we valued – and I used social media to talk about fear instead of solutions or ideologies instead of ideas, I could probably influence a lot of people in our nation to become afraid, angry, unfocused, and hopeless – without being responsible for explaining myself or looking at how these type of statements do more harm than good.

I guess my point is, when it comes to social media, go ahead and embrace it, use it, love it – just don’t believe everything you read. Not everyone is as reasonable, balanced and well intentioned as you or I.  And don’t forget – look to the sky, the time is nigh upon us, which is why I’m having my crown fitted tomorrow.  Why wait ‘til the last minute?

The other night we awoke to this tremendously loud roar from outside, sometime around 3:00am.  A helicopter hovered just above our window, close enough to see the numbers clearly printed on its underbelly.  Police lights were bouncing off the walls from various directions.  We couldn’t see what the reason was for all the activity.  The helicopter just hovered there in place for over two hours, then slowly made its way up the river and disappeared.

The next morning, emergency personnel – fire trucks, ambulances, and divers – crowded the harbor directly across from us.  Harbor police and uniformed men in kayaks floated up and down the river, obviously looking for something.  It was a rainy, cold day and all the people that regularly walked around the area were gone except for a straggler or two walking a dog.  It was really quiet except for all the activity from these men.

A policeman explained to us that three young men in their twenties had stolen a small row boat and floated it up the river at around 2:00am.  They had been drinking and were “messing about” as the policeman said.  One of the men fell out of the boat and couldn’t get back in.  His two friends jumped in to help him, capsizing the boat.  One man was washed up to shore further down the river; another clung to another boat until he was rescued.  But, the first man who fell into the river couldn’t get out.  We’re told his friend who washed up to shore saw him wave for help and then he called the police.  But, they didn’t arrive in time.  The emergency crews that morning were actually looking for his body.

Several hours later, we saw everyone on the emergency crews run quickly to one part of the river.  Moments later, they carried him in a body bag up from the water and into a waiting van. It was shocking.  It was sad.  And, it clung to all of us each day as we thought about this poor man’s last moments and how distraught his family must be.  One silly decision had such tragic results.  That someone lost his life as we slept close by, also made no sense.  Wouldn’t the force of that moment wake us all up?  How could we sleep while someone fought so hard for his life?

That afternoon, not two hours after the last emergency truck drove away, a wedding party arrived absolutely unaware of what happened.  Resplendent in fancy dress, the wedding party and children lined up for photographs at the same spot this man’s body was recovered.  They were laughing and hopeful, climbing into a boat that would take them down the river.  Life goes on.

In the evening now, when the water rises and falls with the tide, it has a more somber affect on us.  Less is it about the beauty of the tide washing in and out; more it is about the force of nature and our very small place within it.

There are so many lessons in life we want to teach our children – don’t smoke, don’t drink and drive, don’t use violence….etc.  It would seem inconceivable to have to tell someone…don’t get drunk at one in the morning, steal a boat, and play about on the river.  We cannot cover each and every possible lesson that prepares our children for all the dangers they may face.  So shouldn’t we focus some of our social marketing and social media activities on teaching them that making a smart decision “in that moment” is the best and wisest way to live?  Teach them that to have the confidence that making a good decision won’t lose you any friends.  Be able to walk away from temptation knowing you’re doing the right thing.  Maybe if that young man had asked himself, “Is this smart?” he could have just decided not to do it and would be alive today.  Maybe not.  But, the message for me is clear.  We need to teach our kids to be independent thinkers so that no matter what opportunities face them, they make the right choice.

Here’s link to the story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5955414/Search-teams-recover-mans-body-from-river.html

When our social media folks told me that I could “tweet” in real time from my phone – and be “re-tweeted” across the internet (if I had something interesting to say, that is) as well as instantly linked to my Facebook account – they said I looked at them like they told me that aliens had just landed on the front lawn.

The next thing you know we’ll have the technology to watch one TV show while recording another…

[Photo Credit: Mytypewriter.com]

It was sleek and smooth, with cool buttons…actually, kind of pleasant to hold.  “Nowhere near as rewarding a real book though, right?,” I thought, as I patted the book next to me.  Except that book was actually very dull – I hadn’t been enjoying at all.  Just slogging through it because I had some warped idea that because I started reading it I HAD to finish it.  I turned to my Kindle and within minutes figured out how to download samples of new books, for free.  (Great thing about Kindles is they are ready to use right away – you don’t have to charge them for 12 hours first.)  Ken Follett, James Patterson, Agatha Christie, T.S. Elliott…I read through a series of samples and finally decided on “Death on the Nile.”

Four hours later, I was deep into the Nile when I realized…I was hooked.  With the satisfying tap of the “Next Page” button throughout, I was fully and totally engrossed.  I never would have imagined that the physical experience of reading a book could so easily be replaced by something digital.  The characters were just as entertaining, the story line as intriguing…and the experience of escaping to a different world was absolutely complete.  My ability to explore the digital world was limited only by my perceptions of that experience.  In fact, I was just being stubborn; making a personal stand for traditionalism.  But, just like anything else that is new — like social media or a new digital technology – you have to try the experience before casting a judgment.