Social Media Saves Lives
This weekend I had the opportunity to discuss how social media helps Lifeline of Ohio save lives. I joined my friend, Kelly Misevich from Coca-Cola Enterprises, on a social media panel at the 2010 Public Relations Olympics at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio.
I was so impressed by the number of students who attended this event and their level of professionalism and engagement. The event was organized by the Otterbein College PRSSA group and included some heavy hitters in Columbus. I was humbled to be among them!
Students in the Social Media Panel
Students who attended our panel learned how social media has completely changed our lives in the past year! Lifeline of Ohio was engaged in Facebook and a few other networking sites in early 2009, but when social media outlets like Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube really took off, we knew we had to be a part of the conversation – or it would happen without us.
Today, we use our accounts to discuss organ and tissue donation, serve as a resource on the topic and empower our advocates to champion the cause. As a nonprofit, social media outlets have allowed us to stretch our capabilities and promote events and share information that otherwise wouldn’t have a forum.
The tangible results of our efforts have been: increased traffic to our website and conversations taking place in social mediums.
The intangible result is also powerful: buzz. Just a few weeks ago I was meeting my husband’s new co-workers and when I was explaining what I did, one of them said, “I heard that more Ohioans think they are registered donors, than actually are.” I was elated, because that information stemmed from our blog post, tweets, facebook status updates.
Social media outlets have given us a new way to continue our mission to save lives. They are invaluable to the work we do, allowing us to share stories and facts and, most importantly, register donors. It has added excitement to my daily work and I feel like the possibilities are limitless!
Thank you, Otterbein College PRSSA for letting me be a part of this awesome event! If you have questions about our social media outreach or want to learn more about how we connect, email media@lifelineofohio.org.
-Rachel Lewis, media relations/community outreach coordinator
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