Marina Maher Communications

Giving back to your community is a very rewarding activity. It is even more rewarding when you make charitable work a family affair. Not only are you giving back to your community, you are also teaching your children good values and working together with your family in what will hopefully be a bonding activity that transcends generations. Sounds great, but not quite the reality when you have teenage children.

During the past three years, my sixteen year old daughter Lauren has been involved with the Midnight Run, a volunteer organization in Westchester that distributes food, clothing, blankets and other necessities to the homeless in NYC. Through its network of over 150 community organizations, Midnight Run sponsors over 900 “runs” a year. Lauren does one run a month with her high school. Twenty students from her school prepare 15 meals each and meet at the base of operations for Midnight Run where they pick up other donated items to distribute to the homeless. They then create a caravan of cars into Manhattan where they make three to five stops to distribute food and other necessities to the homeless. This late-night relief effort creates a forum for trust, sharing, understanding and affection. That human exchange, rather than the exchange of goods, is the essence of the Midnight Run mission.

This past weekend, I was reluctantly invited by Lauren to be a driver for the Midnight Run. Apparently, they were in desperate need of a driver and I was my daughter’s driver of last resort. I learnt very quickly that this monthly activity was more about Lauren’s independence than an opportunity for me to bond with her. Throughout the evening, I was known as Lauren’s Mom. The trunk of my car was loaded with the soup, coffee and other beverages. As soon as we arrived at each location, the students left me with my car to meet up with the homeless that they have known from their many Midnight Runs. They understood that the real objective of Midnight Run is human exchange. So, I was left by myself to ladle the soup out of the trunk of my car.

From the vantage point of my car, I saw a group of responsible, independent and dedicated high school students who were willing to give up a Saturday night to help others. It wasn’t quite the bonding experience I had in mind – but I am so proud of Lauren and her schoolmates.

As the COO of our agency, Social Media is not my area of expertise. However, I am thrilled that we are using Facebook to effectively recruit graduates and interns. I am intrigued by the ways our account teams are using Social Media to connect consumers and brands on behalf of our clients.

Personally, as a member of one of the fastest growing groups of Facebook users” baby boomers, I both watch and participate in the growth of Social Media with fascination. I have reconnected with my high school friends, joined the alumni group for my graduating class, connected with camp friends, and posted pictures of my family on Facebook. Also, as a baby boomer professional, I have been using LinkedIn for quite a while to stay connected with my professional network.

As much as I enjoy Facebook and LinkedIn, what I find even more intriguing are some of the more targeted social networking sites. I love to knit. I love everything about knitting – shopping for yarn, deciding what to make, designing patterns, and talking with other knitters. That’s where Ravelry comes into play. I am one of 300,000 members of this rapidly growing social network designed for knitters and crocheters. Just like Facebook and LinkedIn, I have a profile. I also have a notebook where I share my knitting projects, my “stash” – all the beautiful yarns I have purchased but not yet used, and my queue all the projects I want to knit (if only I had the time). Ravelry is an open community in that all users can view other user’s notebooks. I love my knitting community on Ravelry.

However, there are members of the knitting community that are missing on Ravelry, the yarn manufacturers, designers, retailers and magazines. I consider them to be part of my knitting community, but they aren’t talking to me on Ravelry. Sure, they are advertising on Ravelry, but they aren’t participating in our dialogue. They aren’t sharing trends in the industry, providing us with tips on how to use their product, what inspires them, or even responding to some of our frustrations and problems when we use their products. I am glad that Ravelry is a community and is not overly commercial; however, as a consumer I would like to share this community with the brands that represent the knitting world. It’s time to expand the social digital knitwork!