I have been thinking a lot lately about the business behind content and how it has become more important everyday to truly tell our story. We are finding more and more every day, content is your communications’ most equitable position; the more you tell, the more you share, the more you have in the content cue, the larger the brand bucket for your organization.
Sometimes capturing moments does not necessarily mean we disregard other perspectives. Do you ask your self…which images do you choose to share and which images do you choose to disregard? Do you save the disregarded images to revisit at a later time? Do you spend time reviewing the images that were not made public? Are the images you share those that paint a perception of your reality that necessarily disregard an untold truth, bringing a larger texture to broader narrative?
Yes…I said it…give them the middle finger and prove them wrong!
What is your passion?
Many times, I am asked to speak to college students and they always want to know my path. They want to know what I do and how I was able to get where I am today. I always ask them, what is their dream job? I ask them to tell me, what would they do if money did not matter!
Many students struggle with that question, having a hard time to frame the wisdom of what tomorrow might hold, given the frankness and reality of their upcoming graduation. I ask them…what is you passion?
You see these hands…they have scars from years and years of cameras, cold shoots, 1k and 2K light burns, cuts, bruises, broken fingers, years of typing with carpel tunnel and consistent camera movements…they represent the battlefield.
It is our battlefield and it is something we hold dear to our hearts. The mere process of finding, telling, curating, sharing, and engaging interactive narratives is more than just an experience…it is years in the making.
Many of us storytellers have learned from our personal experience, failures, and experiments. We have learned from numerous mentors as we have spent years in the apprenticeship process. We have cobbled together lots of job descriptions, career tracks, educational experiences to get to where we are…and we protect our knowledge base(s), we hold it close.
What is your ministry? What do I mean?
I met a very cool person this past weekend, his name is James Morrison. James has a simple mission, chopping firewood for those in need this winter. He has been volunteering his time to AIM in Anderson, SC for the past 25 years. Yes…for 25 years he has chopping firewood.
James has a simple passion, simple ministry…to use his God given natural talent to help others. This passion has led him to find others with similar passion. Now he has attracted a group of men to help him every year. He has volunteers in the community donation wood, logs, and limbs; wood he transforms into firewood for many individuals that depend on this resource to keep their homes warm during the winter.
Yes…500 homes! Can you imagine building a home, two homes, or even 500 homes?
500 homes represent 500 families who have been impacted through safe, & energy-efficient, affordable housing in the state of South Carolina– that’s 500 stories of true life change. All this organized, cultivated, and executed by an amazing organization called Homes of Hope in Greenville, SC.
We had a tremendous opportunity to help tell three stories and help share this excitement. First, we created a promotional video showcasing the 500th home celebration.
Nursing is more than a job…it is a passion. I fully understand this statement first hand, I am a product of a nurse’s salary growing up. I remember my mother as a nurse from the moment I could tie my shoes, she taught me right from wrong from a nurse’s lens.
My mom is now a Nurse Practitioner who put herself through school while I was in high school. She graduated with her BSN two years before I graduated from high school. She put herself through graduate school and then put me through graduate school. Nursing is a part of my DNA.
There is nothing more exciting than to see one of your clients being recognized by world wide brand. I was asked to join our friends at Anderson University to watch a special announcement. On Thursday, February 12th, Apple came to Anderson University to present a special recognition.
Anderson University’s Henderson Auditorium was packed with faculty, staff, students, community leaders and they had a few special guests on stage. Two representatives from Apple came to present Anderson University with the Apple Distinguished School designation for 2014-16.
I have been thinking about this idea of “brand journalism”. I think it is funny terminology that is almost a paradox, conflicting, and has no merit to the pairing of the two words.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a group discussion and one of the ladies from our church looked me and asked, “Bobby…I am trying to figure out exactly what you do.” I had always told people I am a storyteller and I work with organizations to find and tell stories.
This past week, she asked me again, “Bobby…I still am trying to figure out what you do.” I replied jokingly, and with a bit of a smirk in my tone, “sometimes I wonder the same thing.” One of my friends, noticing I need some help in this conversation, pepped up and and helped me with a response, “I think he is a brand journalist, he helps brands tell stories.”
At first, I thought her response sounded smart…but something did not seem right. What are the ethics in brand journalism?
