Conventional wisdom says to stay offline when trying to reach central city young adults and teens. Last Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, this wisdom was challenged when up to 200 men participated in “tell it straight” and recorded their positive “Get at You” videos and shared them on Facebook with the goal of reaching between 100,000 of their peers online in a single day. A few topics the videos covered included: why it’s bad for older men to get with younger girls, fears of being a young father, how to respect women, and the most important things men want their kids to know about healthy relationships.
Serve Marketing developed this grassroots strategy for United Way of Greater Milwaukee’s teen pregnancy prevention initiative. The tactic utilizes social media to ignite discussions about critical issues, like the link between teen pregnancy and statutory rape. It also includes a contest for the best video based on votes online. The winner will receive an Apple iPad.
To get things rolling, the first 200 participants to attend a Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative Summit session on parent- child communication and record a “Get at You” video will receive an official NBA basketball. Online video contest submissions are due by October 31, 2010, 11:59 p.m. at www.getatyou.org. Judges will pick five finalists and viewers can vote for their favorites November 4-10, 2010. The winner will receive an iPad and the runners up will each win an iTouch.
The Get At You video campaign combines honest messages and social media to reach out to the young men of Milwaukee with positive advice. Men talk candidly about many topics ranging from; their fears of being a young father, thoughts about older men dating younger women, things they wish I had known and what they would tell their young selves about being a father.
“If you have a kid, a real man provides for his family, takes care of his kids, a real man accepts responsibility,” musician Ray Nitti says in his “Get at You” message. Nitti was one of the first people to tape a message for the video campaign. He understands the importance of social media to reach an audience. Nitti has a social network of about 19,000 people alone.
The Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative Summit focused on bridging the communication gap between the older generation and the younger generation of men. Some of the workshop topics included, Child Support Assistance, Drivers License recovery, and Men’s Health.
Each workshop or session was titled with sports lingo to engage men in critical discussions that are applicable on the court of life.
