After working with the Duke Endowment, Duke Divinity School, and two pastors of the North Carolina United Methodist Church…here is our little story.
With a $12 million grant from the Duke Endowment, the Clergy Health Initiative is helping ministers tend to their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. We met with two pastors in North Carolina, followed their day, and talked to them about how the Clergy Health Initiative has helped them in their path.
I was so inspired. I met two wonderful people, pastors in both Elkin, NC and Poplar Branch, NC. Both pastors on opposite sides of the state, one in the Western North Carolina Mountains and the other on the Outer Banks near Kitty Hawk, NC.
Both with a desire, a healthy lifestyle. They both had been experiencing the stresses of being a pastor. The long days, the home visits where food was always offered. Long hours and poor food choices leading to weight gain, increased stress, and lack of focus on their own spiritual health. The Clergy Health Initiative gave them a path, language to bring this problem to the forefront with a plan…a solution.
Reverend Clyde Moore from Elkin, NC began tackling his weight gain issues by cycling. He bought himself a road bike and attends a regular cycling class at the YMCA in Wake Forest, NC. Reverend Renee Edwards began walking, healthy eating, and focused time walking along the boardwalks of the Currituck Sound. Both, took part in this Spirited Life Initiative attending classes and workshops focused on clergy to help with the trials of clergy life. They took part in physical assessments to evaluate their physical health, charting out a plan for success.
Why would the Duke Endowment find the need to invest in the health of clergy in the United Methodist Church of North Carolina? Well…to inspire and create a healthy change in the life of the clergy is investing in the life of the congregation. Sometimes, their is a need to help those who are helping others. Our clergy, our pastors, our spiritual leaders need guidance and direction just like you and I.
If you watch above, this is their stories. To learn more about this initiative, CLICK HERE.
There is a reason why video and blogs work together…well, it brings personality. People want more than just a reading experience that is based on search-ability and getting information; they sometimes want to connect. As much as they hate to admit it…they want to learn more. They want to learn what makes the writer tick.
Video is such a crazy thing in this world of blogging, online media, social media, and mobile connection. Video provides depth. It takes us further than the textual words, those words that writers work so hard to bring color inside each syllable. Video does that…it brings texture.
There are a few reasons I work with clients to bring video into the everyday web experience, here are a few reasons:
It brings emotion to the screen. People get to see how someone talks, breaths, laughs, sighs, expresses, etc. It reveals the true emotion behind the written word.
It brings texture. The written word is a two dimensional field where we write our thoughts and hope that our ability to craft sentences provides depth. Video provides a three dimensional look into the screen that Brenda Laurel describes as the “theater.”
It connects social platforms together. If video is placed on YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, or any of the other social video sites…it connects rich media outlets together creating a great SEO experience for the user looking for information.
It breaks up the monotony. As bloggers and writers, we get into a habit of just filling the screen with text within our blogs and web experiences. Bringing video into this online experience can bring a depth beyond the words providing connection points. People get to see who they are reading, and hear those words that are typed.
Video reinforces the brand experience. It allows the user to see the branded message in action, connecting those visual cues to the written word.
It takes the pressure off writing too much content. Sometimes it is better for something to be explained visually in video form, those ideas that are sometimes normally hard to explain in the written word. This takes the burden off of the copywriting or creative writing experience; allowing visuals, music, interviews, graphics to take the place of the written word.
There are many times in the world of blogging, people have a hard time articulating thoughts in written form. There are many times that a thought comes to mind, but we are not in a place to write. We are surrounded by devices that allow us to capture video. We can capture a special moment, an interview, an emotion, or we just want to talk into the camera. What ever presents itself, sometimes the camera is better suited to capture the moment than trying to write down the thought.
Use the media, do not be afraid. Video is a powerful tool especially if you want to supplement the written word.
Here are a few people who do it so well in the blogging context:
So bottom-line, do not be afraid to use that camera and integrate some video into your online experience. You can provide the rich insight many people are seeking.
Blogging is so hard to wrap our heads around. Finding our voice is even harder. We sit down to write and nothing comes out…nothing translates to from our head to our fingers. Who are we talking to…who are we trying to relate. Are we trying to write to inspire ourselves or writing to inspire others?
Sometimes it takes defining our motives…looking deep inside to define our voice and and defining those who we are writing with and for.
Do we write to meet a length quota or do we write without recognition of length, unknowingly fulling our space inside the walls of our blog…inspiring thoughts to inspire others. We write for ourselves but we write to be “read”. We want to articulate…we want to connect…we want to be heard.
So why do you write. Do we write to fulfill other people’s parameters or do you write with the same passion you find in life. Are we so wrapped up in the technology that we forget to write our thoughts that bring inspiring thoughts to our daily lives. Watch out, we might say something that inspires another person…and create a culture of change.
We must write…write what drives our soul. We must ignore the constraints, forget the technology, forget the competition, and write the inner most passion that makes us get up in the morning and conquer the world.
We are entrepreneurial writers at heart…we believe in our ethic…to write passionately.
This past weekend…I was on the coast. Actually on the Outer Banks near Kitty Hawk, NC. I found myself in the middle of a story…one of many layers. For the past few months, I have been working on a project surrounding Clergy Health in North Carolina…going inside the lives of a few pastors in North Carolina.
I found myself in Poplar Branch, NC on Currituck Sound…just inside the Outer Banks (OBX). My goal, to interview Pastor Renee Edwards and capture her story. Her story is one of amazing grace…finding her place with a congregation on the OBX. But this post is not about the project, but this little moment in time while following her. See this post is the story behind the story! It is about the story that probably will not make in the final project.
As I walked into the Sunday School room…I was so worried that my big camera would take away from the morning’s chat. So I tried to do my best to be like a little mouse, moving all around capturing moments without disturbing anyone. Paston Renee Edwards introduced me as the session began…it was 9:45am and the talk for the day was about a letter.
There were probably 12 or 13 in the class and each wrote a letter to God. One of those exercises that has such a personal place. I was so worried…this small little room and this big ole camera intruding in this little moment in time. My goal was to capture some interaction between Pastor Renee Edwards and the rest of the class…let’s just say I was in the right place at the right time.
Each person had an opportunity to share their letter. A few shared and tears broke through. It was like I was suspended in time watching from a 1000 miles above yet feeling the emotion like I was sitting next to each person reading. One of the gentleman chose to read his letter…as he moved to the toughest part of his letter, he passed it to his wife to finish the last few lines. As I looked over, Pastor Renee Edwards was holding his hand, shedding tears with him. Such exposure, so much trust, willingness to share for all to hear.
As each person read their story, their letter…Pastor Renee Edwards was there to listen and comfort. Letters to God are words from the depths of our souls. Words crafted from our deepest feelings, expressed in ways we have never been able to articulate. Language gave life to these deep thoughts, expressions for all to hear. The tears provide relief and resolve that the burden have moved from their hearts to their pens.
As we moved around the room, I was slowly moving from spot to spot…trying to be prepared to capture the moment. I wore soft shoes that morning and made sure I had the rubber footings on the end of each leg of the tripod. This allowed to move quickly and reduce noice for noticeable movement. Churches have a tendency to creek and echo with the movement of video equipment. I have to have the ability to move fast, effortlessly so that I can be in the right place at the right time…capturing that moment.
A gentleman on the opposing corner from Pastor Renee Edwards decided to share. He fumbled through his book and decided to pass for someone else to read. You could tell he was going to have a hard time reading his deepest thoughts. His son-in-law was sitting next to him and he too past it on for someone else to read. Pastor Renee Edwards was next in line to read this letter. As she agreed and began to read, it was apparent that the letter was about her. As she read the words, her eye-lids began to fill with tears. Tears…those tears that express thankfulness and humility. It was the ultimate compliment, the ultimate moment…to capture the subject of the day reading a letter to God…and it was thanking her!
I am right smack in the middle of this mess. It is a mess and it is so disheartening. I have grown up around the world of healthcare. My mother is a nurse and has worked for Greenville Hospital System as long as I can remember. She has worked as nurse manager in the operating room, worked in the emergency room, became a nurse practitioner, and has served in many free medical clinics.
As a new media marketer, I have clients that have many different positions in this healthcare debate. I work with a hospital association (SCHA) that advocates for the patient, major hospital system, insurance provider, insurance broker, and I am a small business owner paying my own medical insurance. I see many different view-points of this debate.
Each month, I write a big check for my HSA plan to cover me and my wife. It is expensive and for a while Sarah and I went without insurance. I am also an advocate for access to care. I have produced more short documentaries showing those who cannot and will not ever be able to afford health insurance and decent medical care. I also have sat in the emergency departments and listened to my mother tell stories of those who have abused the system…from Medicaid, Medicare, and the list goes on. So why do I write about this topic…because I am human.
When you sift through the semantics and the political maneuvering…the bottom-line, we are humans. We as humans should be able to have access to those who can provide care. I remember doing an interview with a woman who had lost her job, looking for work, and all she needed was her high-blood pressure medication. She was so embarrassed to ask for help. This free medical clinic provided six months of medication for her…and let’s think how this has helped. If she did not receive this medication…her risk of having a heart attack increase dramatically. If she has a heart attack, 911 is called, she would be transported to an ER/ED, put into a critical-care unit, and the bill starts mounting up. Guess what…she would not be able to pay. The hospital would have to eat the cost of these services. Simple preventative medication and access to this care can prevent thousands of dollars in written off billing. This scenario happens everyday.
When I mean that humans deserve access to care, I believe in preventative care. Access to preventative care and patient education is key to the success of tomorrow healthcare system. I believe in providing affordable, competitive insurance to those across the board. Why is it that the one sector of business in American, the one that drives this economy, cannot afford access to affordable insurance. Small business like me spend more on expensive insurance premiums, these resources can detract from innovation. Yes…writing the check each month to a insurance provider can seriously destroy the entrepreneurial experience because it is such a huge economic barrier of entry for care.
When I interview these individuals in free medical clinics, or those who have used Medicaid to have a child…I think that could be me. They look like me…they are fighting through this troubling economic time period plagued with the healthcare debate. The more time we spend debating, fighting each other in court…the more money is spent not solving the real problem, providing an affordable healthcare solution to those who can provide to care.
This debate is driving innovation right out the door. Small practices are having a hard time surviving during this debate wondering if they should join the big box hospitals to whether the storm. Small practices that want to be innovative yet cannot survive in this costly debate.
I will say it here…I may not agree with the complete healthcare package but I believe that this package has forced reform. This country needs reform in healthcare. There are too many americans without access to care and they are the same ones who are driving up costs. It is a cycle, lack of affordable coverage that leads to individuals treating the local emergency rooms as primary care physicians. Lack of coverage has led to less access to preventative care. Less affordable coverage is actually the main reason why our premiums are too damn expensive. Please, re-read that last sentence…it may not make sense, but think about it a bit.
Just a few weeks ago, Sarah and I found out we have been able to finally get pregnant. I run a small business and we are crunching numbers to make sure we have our finances in order to cover the cost of the next 7 months…then transitioning to coverage for three people. It is expensive for a small business and an entrepreneur. It is necessary. But, imagine those who cannot even consider to have this conversation. Imagine removing programs that provide care for those who are having children and cannot afford insurance. They are all around us. Young families just starting out and they look like you and I. They are not taking advantage of the system, but they want to have a healthy family. Will removing the access to care help the state and federal bottom-line, if that child is not born in a manner that is provided the best possible care…that child will end up in the ER/ED and drive up costs for unpaid services.
*The image above is from a two-day free medical clinic that provided thousands of people with free medical, dental, and vision care in 2010.
So I was talking with a friend the other day and she shared this story with me. Now for the sake of confidentiality, I am not going to share the name of my friend or the name of the company I am talking about. But, this is a great word-of-mouth story.
My friend works for a major organization, and they were getting ready to hire a bunch of new workers. So they wanted to use some “media” to inform the public about these new jobs to generate interest and find a big pool of applicants. So this organization advertised online with some television and other online media outlets with banner ads that click-thru to the online application process. They spent tons on money on the ads, radio spots, etc. to drive interest for the public at-large to go online and apply. My friend was not convinced this was going to generate lots of “leads.”
So, my friend took the time to make some small cards with with the web address. He took these cards and walked around the organization, passing them out. He gave them to the workers of this organization, asking them if they knew anyone that needed a job to give them this card. He passed out hundreds of cards to anyone inside the organization.
On the online application, he included a field that asked where they heard about this job. It listed different options including the news outlet’s web address, radio ads, tv ads, and also included if they heard from a friend who gave them a card. When they opened up the online process to accept the applications, the number one referral was friend who gave them a card. WOW…all of this mass media used to recruit, thousands of dollars spent on advertising to the masses, and the little cheap cards yield the best result.
Now this is not to say that online media, television, and radio is not a viable resource to spread your message. But here is a situation when someone, who is not a marketing person, took the time to go where the pulse of the people exist and empower them to share with their friends. Think about it, those people took their cards and gave to a friend…probably shared with someone who needed a job. Those applicants will probably retire at this organization…why. Because a friend referred them. The person sharing the card is going share with people whom they know. They are going to share with people whom they think would represent best their organization. Brand ambassadors and word-of-mouth….a powerful combination.
This story below was shared with me by a great friend, mentor, and tremendous entrepreneur! Thanks for sharing Leighton! I am not sure where this story came from…but it is one that should be shared so much more! I am not sure who to credit…but to the person that captured this story, here is to you!
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At a Touchdown Club meeting many years ago, Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant told the following story: I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player, and I was having trouble finding the place.
Getting hungry, I spied an old cinderblock building with a small sign out front that simply said “Restaurant.” I pull up, go in, and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I’m the only white fella in the place. But the food smelled good, so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, “What do you need?”
I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today?
He says, “You probably won’t like it here. Today we’re having chitlins, collard greens and black-eyed peas with cornbread. I’ll bet you don’t even know what chitlins are, do you?”(small intestines of hogs prepared as food in the deep South)
I looked him square in the eye and said, “I’m from Arkansas , and I’ve probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I’m in the right place.”
They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, “You ain’t from around here then?”
I explain I’m the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I’m here to find whatever that boy’s name was, and he says, “Yeah I’ve heard of him, he’s supposed to be pretty good.” And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach.
As I’m paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one, and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay. The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I’d been there. I was so new that I didn’t have any yet. It really wasn’t that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I’d get him one.
I met the kid I was looking for later that afternoon and I don’t remember his name, but do remember I didn’t think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought. When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn’t forget it. Back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. The next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, “Thanks for the best lunch I’ve ever had.” Now let’s go a whole buncha years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and I’m back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y’all remember, (and I forget the name, but it’s not important to the story), well anyway, he’s got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he’s got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on to see some others while I’m down there.
Two days later, I’m in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it’s this kid who just turned me down, and he says, “Coach, do you still want me at Alabama ?”
And I said, “Yes I sure do.” And he says OK, he’ll come.
And I say, “Well son, what changed your mind?”
And he said, “When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn’t going nowhere but Alabama, and wasn’t playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y’all met.”
Well, I didn’t know his granddad from Adam’s housecat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, “You probably don’t remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he’s had hung in that place ever since. That picture’s his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him…”
“My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that’s everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I’m going to.”
I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don’t cost nuthin’ to be nice. It don’t cost nuthin’ to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breaking your word to someone.
When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he’s still running that place, but it looks a lot better now. And he didn’t have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that would make Dreamland proud. I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don’t think I didn’t leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football.
I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they’re out on the road. If you remember anything else from me, remember this. It really doesn’t cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable.
Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant
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Editor’s Note: Coach Bryant was in the presence of those few gentlemen for only minutes, and he defined himself for life. Regardless of our profession, we do define ourselves by how we treat others, and how we behave in the presence of others, and most of the time, we have only minutes or seconds to leave a lasting impression. We can be rude, crude, arrogant, cantankerous, or we can be nice.
Nice is always a better choice.
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The other night while interacting with folks in the #Blogchat community, one person asked: “Can someone explain conversation?” As I was watching this Twitter dialogue fly by…this update caught my attention. The context to this question, how to build a community of conversations on your blog.
Let’s define a conversation: “Informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken words; oral communication between persons; talk; colloquy.” Thanks Dictionary.com.
So how can you have conversations on a blog, you might ask. Well, to have a conversation…there has to be an exchange, a dialogue, two or more people have to engage in social discourse. People have to engage in conversation.
Before there is exchange of dialogue, there has to be the introduction of a thought. Someone must take the time to write something that invokes a conversation. So how do we write to engage in a conversation on a place like a blog? Well, we must write passionately. Some of the most successful blogs that I read are ones that write straight from the heart. They write about topics they are passionate about. These blogs are the written form of their advocacy. They have a reason to write, they have a strong sense of ethics.
These blogs have a system of measurement. When I mean measurement, they do not necessarily mean that they measure the number of clicks or actions. They measure something that quantifies what they write touches another person in a way that engages a response. Whether it is clicking, referring, sharing, commenting, etc…they have some sense of measurement.
These bloggers/writers know who they are “writing for” or “writing with.” Hmm…what does that mean (writing with)? Well, they have determined in their mind who they are talking “to” or “with.” And as the conversation around this topic increases, the writing moves from a one-way monologue to a dialogue of conversation allowing a community to write with each other.
This blog has focus, a passionate focus. Each blog post has a passionate focus. With this focus to the overall message with each and every post, consistent writing follows. Consistent writing establishes and reinforces the credibility in this ever growing space, allow the search engines to index more words spreading the reach. This focus allows audiences to connect with content, and a relationship begins and grows. This blog is the type of community that mirrors a tight community like Facebook, but has the mass appeal of Twitter.
People engage with the passionate content and respond by returning to read more. Then…maybe they take the time to nudge over the hump and comment. They might even sign-up to subscribe to the blog, then reply via email. People read, react, and engage with the content of a blog. Passionate writing invokes a change, the change to see a point-of-view differently thus wanting to further the conversation. They reach out.
Conversations build and multiply. As more and more people respond and comment to passionate writing, community of conversations build in the comment section. People not only comment about the passionate writing of the author, but also respond to others’ comments below the post. Those who came to connect with the author of the post connect with other commentors…a community is building.
It all started with passionate writing. Someone writing from the heart, consistently. Conversations.
According to AccessHealthSC.net, “According to the most recent data, roughly one in six South Carolinians has no health insurance. The number one reason they give for not having health insurance is that they cannot afford it.”
AccessHeathSC.net also states, “And that’s a problem for all South Carolinians. People without health insurance are more likely to delay needed medical care until they become very ill. They are more likely to go without screenings or preventive care. Often, emergency rooms are a primary – and not always appropriate – source of care. In 2007, South Carolina’s hospitals provided $1.3 billion in services for which they were not paid. Businesses with insurance are paying increasingly higher premiums to underwrite the cost of care to the uninsured. High costs are forcing many small businesses to stop offering health insurance. Today, only 33 percent of private sector employees with fewer than 50 workers offer insurance to employees.
According to a survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 46.3 million Americans, or about 15.4%, did not have health insurance coverage in 2009, representing a slight increase from 2008. Nearly 60 million, or one in five, had gaps in insurance coverage over the course of the year, according to the survey data.
They are all around us. They might be you and I. From small businesses, entrepreneurs, and even big-box companies; millions of Americans do not have access to care because the lack of insurance. These Americans are all around us…for every five people around you, one does not have insurance. They are in our emergency rooms, free medical clinics, places that offer services when they have no where else to go. This hurts, it breaks my heart. I know…I had no insurance for close to six months and it was stressful.
As one of the most prosperous countries in the world, we cannot even provide affordable health care to those in need. As I worked with the Duke Endowment and the NC Association of Free Clinics to produce the video above, so may are scared. They are scared of hospitals and doctors offices not only because of the medical outcomes that surround them, but wondering if they will be turned away because of the lack of insurance or resources to afford the services.
The system is broken and there is need of reform. There are those that abuse systems with programs like Medicaid and Medicare. But for those who abuse the system, there are those that are flooding the Emergency Departments everyday with simple needs that have lingered so long it has turned into critical medical issues.
Let’s think for a second, if one person could have access to high blood pressure medication, it could save a hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary costs and resources. That preventative care could keep that person from a serious heart attack, which leads to CCU and ICU care in a hospital. That care for an uninsured individual could run hundred of thousands of dollars, and could be prevented with access to simple medication. This is just one of the many examples.
Did you know that in North Carolina $167,629,250 in free health care services were delivered to uninsured patients totaling more than 200,000 patient encounters during 2009, thanks to the efforts of 6,200+ volunteer health care professionals and other community volunteers donating more than 262,000 hours of service.
So how can you help?
Volunteer your time to Free Medical Clinics in your area.
Give your money to Free Medical Clinics in your area.
Educate yourself about how health care reform is really going to impact you and the people around.
Share this story with others using Facebook, Twitter, and any other outlets that you have access.
Write your representative on the local, state, and federal levels to let them know you care.
I have had numerous people ask me, what is your approach to your business…your creative approach. Well, I could talk or even lecture about my approach. It comes from years and years of experience, training, education, and teaching. So…here it is in two paragraphs.
Bobby Rettew, llc – Creative Approach to Storytelling
Storytelling has been and will always be the major focus of how we work with our clients. Every organization has a story to tell, so it is up to us practitioners to find and tell that story. We work with organizations to identify the audience, the purpose, and the delivery of each and every message. Then we create a plan that best identifies the message within the organization, and work with the organization to deliver that message.
We bring a documentary approach to production, looking within and allowing the individuals within the organization to become the voice of the message. We have the ability to write and craft a traditional-style message, but we find that if the organization and its members are a part of the message, then the audience connects with the organization. We use the storytelling approach to building relationships.
