Get to know the child as well (if not better) than the child's story! That's a lesson that took me some time to learn.
Madison Austin will always be one of my favorite kids! She's all personality. One of my favorite moments from our last CMN Radiothon was seeing Madison again! In my time at CMN in Springfield, IL, Madison was one of our Champion Children and was an absolute star. I was amazed how we would walk into a CMN partner business (Panda, Walmart, Ace, etc.) and Madison immediately started talking to the staff. They all loved her!
On our way to a photo shoot for Madison, I decided at the last second to grab my camera. It was a smart move. Madison's personality really came out during the shoot and the video we put together was one of most watched CMN videos we ever posted. 8300 views!
Madison's outtakes video really taught me to rethink how you tell a story about a child. The video really gave you an inside look at her personality, I can honestly tell you that we visited a lot of partners in the next two years and I'm betting most of them couldn't tell you about Madison's condition, but they absolutely were familiar with her personality! They loved Madison and their affinity for her came from showcasing her personality as opposed to pushing out her hospital story (still important, but not as important).
Fast forward to my time with Compass for Kids! During their Match campaign, we featured 7 videos. Guess which one got the most views, a ton of engagement and the most feedback? The outtakes of Seanise and Tanise practicing a line! Sure it's important to tell the story of Seanise and Tanise, but more important to give you an inside look at their personalities.
Any chance you get to showcase a child's personality (it doesn't always have to be an outtakes video), it's absolutely worth it.
Here are four of my favorites from the Children's Miracle Network and Compass for Kids. They all show off their big personalities!
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