Storytelling Blog Posts - Page 12 of 28 - Bobby Rettew

Taking Ownership of the Message & Crisis Communication – The Thank You Video from the Cleveland Kidnappings

It just came across this morning. I first noticed it on CNN’s Facebook page, then a local television stations Facebook page (WYFF-TV)….then people started sharing.

CNN recorded the YouTube video from the computer screen, then wrote and produced their own story to fit their news commentary. Many other news outlets just shared links to the YouTube video. But what really happened here…the three girls and their families took control of their message and how they delivered it to the world.

News outlets, journalists, bloggers, and many others have been trying to capture an interview with these three girls after being found in a home, victims of a kidnapping. From the very beginning…the families have contended that they wanted their privacy and have stuck with that strategy.

If you look at the description below the YouTube video released, you will gain more context:

Published on Jul 8, 2013
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight would like to say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world who have offered support to them. They are extremely grateful for the tremendous outpouring of kindness they have received and wished to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages with this video.

The women still maintain a strong desire for privacy and ask that everyone continue to respect their wishes in that regard going forward. Thank you.

NOTES ABOUT THE VIDEO THANK-YOU
The video was filmed on July 2, 2013 at the law offices of Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio. Visible in the background of the video is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The male off-camera voice heard in the video is that of Howard Fencl (pronounced FEHN-sill), vice president of Hennes Paynter Communications. The attorneys, public relations firm, social media strategist and videographer involved in the production of this video are all working pro bono on behalf of the three women.

This was not a price gauging event to leverage this story for the immediate monetary benefit of a law practice, pr firm, and video production company. This was done all pro bono. Now I am sure people will be contacting these businesses and even hire them since they effectively executed a strategy to share this story. But…I want to quickly look at the heart of this matter.

These three girls and their families chose not to be subjected to a press conference, which would lead to a feeding frenzy of who would get the next on-camera interview. They chose not to hold a press conference so they would be subjected to some of the most ridiculous questioning from both seasoned journalists and bloggers. They chose to control the message and share it in a way that made since for their lives and fulfill their desire to maintain their privacy.

Now I am sure the feeding frenzy has escalated since this release. But…the video was shot on July 2, 2013…7 days ago.

They were able to share the statement they wanted to share.
They were able to edit the video to meet the expectations of not only the legal team, pr firm, but ultimately the family.

We have the ability to control our message. Admittedly, there is a need to involve the main stream media for many awareness campaigns; but sometimes it is just best to bypass this process.

As a former journalist…I know first hand how the process happens, especially when we interview people that have experience this type of event. We have time constraints. Whether it is an immediate deadline or the length of the story…time creates a lens by which journalists create and distribute content. Sometimes that lens can minimize the context of a story. Sometimes, the competitive nature of being “the first” to report do alter the message even more.

I have worked with SO MANY large organizations that are consistently challenged by many mainstream media outlets…tired of their story/comments taken out of context. They/We know it best…news outlets chopping interviews into soundbites that meet the needs of their business model and/or deadline constraints. Yes…if you just chop two more words out of that interview…we won’t make the executive producer mad for going 2 seconds over the time limit of their newscast. A 2 second cut can mean the world to these three ladies.

Kudos to Hennes Paynter Communications, law offices of Jones Day, and the video production staff…they put the best interests of these three girls and their families first.

The Clemson Ring, The Bataan Death March, & Col. Ben Skardon

There are days when you are not sure what is going to cross your path…but then there are days when think you are prepared for a good story. Today was a combination of both…one of anticipation yet one of amazement.

I just finished a project telling the story of one Clemson’s most precious graduates, one who has experienced so much, and one that has so much to share. Col. Ben Skardon is that man, class of 1938 and served in World War II. Not only did he serve, but he was a prisoner of war where he did something that seemed so insignificant but has left a tremendous legacy.

As a prisoner of war, he took part in the Bataan Death March:

“Which began on April 9, 1942, was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. All told, approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100-650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach Camp O’Donnell.”

“The 80 mi march was characterized by wide-ranging physical abuse and murder, and resulted in very high fatalities inflicted upon prisoners and civilians alike by the Japanese Army, and was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.”

But what makes this story so fascinating is that his Clemson Ring was the one thing that helped saved his life. He used that ring while a prisoner of war to “buy” food in order to survive. He traded it for rice, the nourishment necessary to stay alive.

The only thing he has left from that experience was the spoon he used to scrape food together, his dog tags, what was called a “chop” that was used as currency, and the identification card that was made after he was released.

I am have embarked on a project to tell his story and finally I can share…one that I will remember for a lifetime. A few years ago, I sat down with him to capture the first part of his story, here is the completed project…in his own words.

*Reference information from Wikipedia.

Our students are following that passion…

It was just the other day…I received another note in the mail from one of my students. I love it. They always let me know how they are doing, where they are going, and the dreams they are chasing.

There is this massive debate…how can we take South Carolina’s educational system and turbo charge it, innovate, and move ahead of the pack.

I think it is pretty simple…quit teaching and start inspiring. Move away from the regurgitative learning process and aim towards engaging conversation. If we want to create change, build a brighter South Carolina…why not inspire students to do more than just be students.

Institutional learning has it’s place…but there is a new student emerging in South Carolina. More and more students I work with in higher education…the more I realize there is an underlying need to take part in social justice. These students want to be a part of the solution…they want to create not only “their” tomorrow but also solve age old problems.

It seems so simple…but this is so hard to execute. Why, we have to change the way we think, we teach, create curriculums, the way we grade, the way we prepare these students for industry, and on and on. But what do we have to lose…nothing!

We have so much to learn from this new class of students…we should take off our teacher hat and put on our student hat. We should start learning from those who are inspired to learn. That is why I am sharing the video above…I learned so much from Riley Csernica.

Riley had a few dreams:
1) 3 degrees by the age of 23
2) Start a business in South Carolina

We educators, business people, legislators have a lot to learn from the Riley’s of the world. We better get out our note pads, take some notes, because her class of innovators will be leading us into the next century.

Here is a story from the GSA Business concerning the first MBAe Class at Clemson. Riley was one of those students and I had the tremendous pleasure working with…each of them were extremely special!

——-

From GSA Business
Clemson students recently finished competing for $40,000 in seed funding to launch their businesses.

First place: Brenda Morris-Wilson’s received $20,000 for her company to continue developing a clothing line for baby boomers residing in assisted living and nursing home facilities.
Second place: Riley Csernica of Tarian Orthotics received $6,000 to further commercialization of a more mobile and functional brace for those with shoulder dislocations.
Third place: Team Dabble, comprised of Carlisle Kennedy, Brendan Lopes and Josh Lopes, earned $4,000 to help expand the team’s mobile application from Clemson to other universities across the Southeast. The app aims to connect college students through events.

The students had to apply to the MBA program with a business concept in mind. The yearlong program aims to equip them with the resources needed to launch their concept. The students will graduate in August.

“The goal is to help these young people launch a successful business,” said Gregory Pickett, the director of Clemson’s new MBA program. “Each student comes into the program with an idea that gets them started. Throughout the year, they evaluate that idea and refine it, or pivot from it.”

Students learn from business people, both in and out of the classroom, about software and app development, intellectual property laws and financing, for example.

Students also work to secure capital and build on their business plans. They put the MBA concepts into practice, getting a head start on their startups while earning their degree.

http://gsabusiness.mappsite.com/news.php?link=http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/47872-clemson-students-compete-for-40-000

Remembering Ruth Bell Graham…I love her words!

I remember working on this project over seven years ago…before Mrs. Ruth Bell Graham passed away. I never had a chance to meet her, but had the pleasure working on a series of projects to tell her story.

I liked this little video we put together over seven years ago. We found an old video tape where she was telling her story. We took her words and put it to pictures. It is short because it was meant for a small part of television show sharing Billy Graham’s legacy.

She died six years ago this past Friday, so I thought I would pull it out and watch again.

I love her words.
BR

we need storytellers…photojournalists…

I just received the latest edition of News Photographer Magazine in the mail. It is the May 2013 edition. I have subscribed to this publication probably since 1998, my early days as a news photographer at WSPA-TV.

I opened…flipped the pages…and I was overtaken by the powerful images captured in the month of May. The Boston Bombing, The George W. Bush Library Dedication, and even some images from the last year including a funeral from the Aurora movie shooting…powerful stuff.

I have no words to describe the images, the feelings, the emotion behind these images as they take us back…remind us. That is my point…these images reveal the unspoken language from these memories that we all sat back and watched.

These images were taken by experienced storytellers, photojournalists who risked so much to capture these images.

We see groups like the Chicago Sun Times fire their whole photography staff. I am not sure the motives behind this business move…but the numbers do not add up. This is a common trend in the industry. One of the main reasons why I am self-employeed…we photojournalists have a unique skill set that does not fit inside any job decription. We pay the bills with our passion to capture a story…the story as we view it…through our lens.

Michael Borland, President of NPPA, wrote in this edition his message titled “NPPA By The Numbers.” A few of these numbers stood out.

There membership is down roughly 3500 people resulting in a revenue short fall of about $374K. Is this because more and more news organizations are reducing photo staffs and those loosing jobs are not re-engaging in the organization in a post-news profession. I wonder what the percentage of these numbers are independent/self-employeed individuals like myself?

Am I a news photojournalist…no. But the organization I have been associated since 1998 is one of the few that provide the guiding principles for the way I run the creative side of my business.

Photojournalists bring life to our magazines, television, iPads, iPhones, video screens, and movie screens. We capture the slice of life that many forget to capture…those moments in time that help us remember. These images create change, provide a voice, give context, help us make decisions, and create a platform for public servants to advocate.

So let me ask you…the next time you are funding a project, do you want just a picture, just a video, just an image? Or do you want a story. Do you want an moment in time captured so when it is time to sell/adovocate with your next pr/marketing campaign…your audience connects, engages, and sees the story through “your” eyes.

Time to start investing…in the forgotten South Carolina

We have a chance as businesses, entrepreneurs, health care leaders…to continue to push! Push the needle. There are so many faces across this state from the uninsured to the those who are looking for jobs. The working poor…those workers that we depend on…we have to find more ways to invest in their future.

We as business owners, advocates, citizens…it is our state and all of us are citizens of this place we call home.

Thanks to Doug Pardue and Chris Hanclosky of the Post & Courier for taking on this production and bringing this message to us!

life, business, entrepreneurship…give me those 2 outs…

my life…my journey…my approach has been surrounded by what people said i could not do. from the earliest days as a child…i was so shy. i was so scared…timid…worried what people would perceive.

i remember being that kid in high school that was that kid who did everyone’s algebra homework. i was more of a creative kid, taking private art lessons and going to one of the first summer governor’s school programs.

when i found myself in the middle of college athletics working my way through school…i learned about fighting for everything. i learned about determination and the will to succeed.

it was the summer of my sophomore year and i was about to fail out of school. yes…my grades sucked. my parents were getting a divorce and life had no focus. i had people telling me that i was not going to graduate from college. it was that day…i grew a backbone. i gave them the middle finger and proved them wrong.

i got my act together and with the help of clemson athletics, i got back on a great academic path, earned my degree, and found my first job.

i remember getting into television because i loved technology…i also found my creative passion of telling stories. i remember starting out as video tape editor for a weekend newscast…small job, long hours and i wanted more. i was told i would not get to the big markets.

i worked my way up into the photojournalism staff and landed a job at one the best photojournalism stations in the country…KPHO-TV in phoenix. i gave those nay sayers the middle finger.

off i went to the wild west to prove to myself and others…life is full of opportunities.

i remember being told i would not win a lot of awards…i would always be subpar in my profession. i just love proving people wrong. one year i walked away with some of the most awards in my region. i had to buy a large suitcase to fly home with all of those shinny statues. i gave the nay sayers the middle finger.

i remember being told i would not go to graduate school…mainly because of my lack of focus during my undergraduate years. i earned my masters in one of the toughest programs in the country…one that has changed my professional life. once again…i gave the nay sayers the middle finger.

i was told i would not own my own business or work for myself…i would fail. i did…and i failed and i succeeded and i failed. but….i have found my niche…getting back to my roots and telling stories. i am following my passion and getting paid for it! and again…i gave the nay sayers the middle finger.

i do not know Warren Morris…but here he is with the weight of his program on his shoulders. i am sure many were saying, screaming into the television screen…he is going to strike out.

from nola.com
“Morris’ story deviates, just slightly, from the popular fantasy in one crucial aspect. While children around the country may typically hit their fictional winning homers with a 3-2 count, Morris crushed the first pitch he saw.”

“All I was thinking is, ‘I’m going to go into this aggressive,’ which is probably why I hit the first pitch,” he said. “More than anything it was good for me that is was the first pitch, because I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it.”

it was 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th…

“Morris didn’t have much time to react to the pitch. His coach, teammates and the thousands in attendance weren’t given much notice that the game had ended. As Morris caught it low in the strike zone, the ball took a fast, low-flying trajectory toward the right field stands of Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium before disappearing just a few feet into the crowd.”

2 outs…first pitch…history was made…national champions…clutch

sometimes we should approach life the same way…treat it like there are 2 out and freaking swing for the hills…prove to all those nay sayers and give them the middle finger.

life is to short to listen to the nay sayers and sometimes our own conscious…just swing away!

Storytelling is about advocacy – stretching the emotions…

If you have not laughed, cried, cussed, or just gotten plain mad…then you need to check yourself at the door. Storytelling is about believing in something…standing up and allowing the emotions, the passion of the story to dominate your ability to articulate.

To bear the burden of an emotion…the emotion of crafting a story…you must take a position. You must advocate and see the life of the prose through the eyes of the story.

It must stretch you, make you shift in your seat, keep you up at night, and help you question why you chose to explain this reality.

When we craft…we share…we share something inside that is dying to escape.

We advocate…because we believe the words we write, the images we capture, the sounds we produce…they will help those feel the inner advocate we strive to share.

When we find, craft, and tell stories…we are advocates for a theme that needs an audience.

It needs to make those who receive *this* message share the same reaction when you were struggling to bring voice to that very story. We want our audience to get mad, happy, cuss…shift in their seats, stay up at night…so they can continue the mission we set out to achieve…to advocate.

Good stories creates powerful advocacy…stories of sharing. That is powerful word-of-mouth. That is powerful storytelling.

stories make us cry…

For some reason…I shed some tears this morning. I saw this picture posted on Facebook and I could not help myself…my eyes filled.

I was about to run out the door, but had to stop, click and read more. I remembered this picture below.

I remembered the emotion surrounding this tragedy and how that moment in Boston opens old wounds from 911. I just returned home from New York. Sarah and I visited the 911 Memorial. We remembered that day when we were both in grad school. As we walked around the memorial, we did not say a thing.

We even noticed we could not even hear the city of New York, the sounds of cars, trucks, horns, etc. The hustle and bustle of this large metropolitan city was drowned out by the southing sounds of the waterfalls fill the holes where the towers once stood.

We remembered. And so I clicked around…more. I even Google’d “Jeff Bauman First Pitch Boston Red Sox”. When I saw this picture…I remembered the picture above when Carlos Arredondo helped push Jeff Bauman in a wheelchair to safety.

Now Carlos was pushing him out to the pitching mound to share the first pitch, both now smiling as “we” looked upon them as white doves bringing peace to this day of baseball.

Stories…sometimes make us cry…for no reason other than we have no other reason…but to cry.

I hope you enjoy this video.

Image Credits: WCVB.com, bleedingyankeeblue.blogspot.com, and USAToday.com.

Remember…we have to reach our audience.

Distribution…Distribution…Distribution…it is just as important as the content we create.

Harvard Business Review Blog just posted a “The Rise of the Mobile-Only User” and says:
“The rise of smartphones means that more and more people are going online from a mobile device. According to Pew Internet, 55 percent of Americans said they’d used a mobile device to access the internet in 2012. A surprisingly large number — 31 percent — of these mobile internet users say that’s the primary way they access the web. This is a large and growing audience whose needs aren’t being met by traditional desktop experiences.”

I was just sitting with a client talking about all the content we had created over the last three years, and we were thinking through new ways to leverage this content for a few upcoming campaigns. All this video content is great but has no impact if it does not reach the intended audience(s). A part of that strategy is more than just a content creation strategy…you have to distribute the content.

Especially with video…there so many ways to meet the needs of the campaign/initiative which should include distribution. If you look at the numbers above, it is stating the obvious…more and more people are dumping traditional computers (laptops and desktops) to consume and share content. We have to think past these paradigms.

HBR blog goes on to state:
“Google reports that 77 percent of searches from mobile devices take place at home or work, only 17 percent on the move. Meeting the needs of the mobile-only user also doesn’t mean sending them to the desktop website on their smartphone.”

Yes…we must think message and audience…but we have to think about distribution. You can have great content but if no one is engaging with the message, the content is worthless.