I'd like to tell you a little story. Apologies for all the “I”s.
Canadian Cancer Society is a big machine, and has lots of tools in place for communicating with participants and donors. I have been Chair of Communications for the Canadian Cancer Society's Guelph Relay for Life (Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph Ontario June 7, 2013 - 7 pm to 7 am) for the last couple of years.
On a local level, I do my part by publicizing Relay related events in print media using paid ads and free notices in community calendars. I write short announcements and I design print ads. I also use Facebook to promote activities among our subscribers in the hope that they will "share" them, thereby broadening our reach.
Last year I started posting images of print ads on Facebook. One of our highly committed committee members did his bit and "shared" the images, so they now appear on his Facebook timeline. Recently, he attended a Relay For Life Summit in Toronto and met a delegate from Kawartha. They friended each other on Facebook. She saw the PR images I had posted, and asked about them. He emailed me, ccd her, and the end result was that I modified a copy of my original ad, changing the date and contact information, tweaked it to make it better and sent it off to her. It took minutes.
Being the curious person that I am, I Googled her. I discovered she is a cancer survivor, an incredible professional photographer and we have a second mutual acquaintance. We have developed a relationship that I hope will continue as we help one another in our respective Relay roles. This relationship will be sustained via Facebook. I will enjoy seeing her wonderful photography. She may be less impressed with my advocacy shares but will appreciate the work that I do to promote Relay.
The world is small. Sometimes we start with fewer than six degrees of separation and end up with none.
Be brave. It's good to share.
Cheryl Ambrose
Chair, Communications
CFUW Guelph
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