Twitter Gives Light to Community Outreach

What was life like before Twitter? I can hardly remember the days before I received HotAmishChick’s updates (example tweet: “Tobias: ‘Wow! How many bonnets can one girl own?!’ Me: ‘Four.’ We lead a simple life.”), and Meanbot’s mean-but-funny retorts (Meanbot is “seldom misquoted by her children. In fact they usually repeat word for word the things she should not have said.”). But all jokes aside, Twitter had proven some very real worth in the business world, and it has also opened the door to some great things going on in the field.

Case in point: While perusing Twitter this month, I saw some tweets about an event aiming to help school age children in Texas get healthy. For some reason or another it caught my attention, and I decided to dig into it to see what it was all about. Some quick research showed me this: The National Dairy Council, in conjunction with numerous other organizations like the Houston Independent School District, spearheaded a “Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools” summit this past weekend. This working session brought together forward-thinking individuals willing to take charge in eliminating childhood obesity. Suggestions were made, projects were defined and challenges were addressed – all in an effort to help Houston-area students be more fit and healthy.

A recent blog post by Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/) included this paragraph: “Just like every powerful tool, the impact comes from the craftsman, not the tool. Marketing has more reach, with more speed, than it has ever had before. With less money, you can have more impact than anyone could have imagined just ten years ago. The question, one I hope you'll ask yourself, is what are you going to do with that impact?”

In my eyes, the National Dairy Council decided to use its impact to do the best type of marketing: the type that helps others. It is a great principle on many levels, as the National Dairy Council will be affiliated with a summit that is all about creating change – and members of the council are taking time to educate people in the hopes of bettering their lives. The council attained quality face time with the community, but the fact they are taking time to make a difference is something great to have associated with its name. Companies can often seem unattainable and impersonal, but through efforts such as this, they can attach a community-outreach persona to their name while helping our youth improve their futures. I’m glad to see there are still some organizations out there that are promoting good.