If you are like most, you are probably wondering how a post-it note can fight hate speak. Often it is not the medium that matters, but rather how you use it. That is the lesson our group learned last Wednesday, when we were give one hour to “create value” using post-it notes. For most of us, it was the first time we had ever been given such a task and we struggled to understand our objective.
As we set out on campus, cameras in hand, we still no idea what we were going to do. We considered making a flip book, but that would take hours. We even considered selling the post-it notes, but surely that’s not what our instructors wanted. Besides, who would buy three packets of post-it notes? Finally we realized it wasn’t about making or selling something, but rather using our new found tools, the post-its, as a medium to promote awareness.
At first, one of our teammates proposed we creating a walling wall for Haiti, but we soon noticed almost every other group we past was already exploiting that tragedy. If we wanted to standout, our idea had to be fresh. Then we noticed the Writing On The Wall project, and an idea hit us. We would help them spread their message using our post-it notes. Our goal was to get students to either pledge to avoid hate speak or write something they found hurtful, with the ultimate goal of causing students to stop and consider the power and impact of their words.
We posted the notes on a wall and began to approach students, hoping they would be receptive to our mission. We were turned down many times in the beginning, but did not become discouraged. After many unsuccessful pitches, we altered our approach and the wall began to fill. As students saw their peers writing on our wall, others came over to see what was going on and this furthered the conversation.
Through this experience, we learned that you do not have a huge marketing budget, lots of technology, or even a physical product to create value. You can attract attention with something as basic and inexpensive as a post-it note.
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