The Bailey Blog

You may have heard the saying that if you put a million monkeys in a room with a million typewriters, eventually you get Shakespeare. Well, what do you get if you put a million humans with a million camcorders in a room with a million computers? YouTube.

YouTube is exploding faster than anything else: from a standing start a few years ago to more than 100 million videostreams a day. Until recently, almost all video-entertainment content was produced and distributed only by Hollywood. That time is over.

A recent Accenture study of 1,600 Americans found that 38 percent of respondents wanted to create or share content online. Advertisers have taken note – so did Google, when they purchased YouTube last year in one of the largest online deals in history. Even the election has been YouTubed.

YouTube has become the ultimate democratic medium. Many advocacy groups are smartly trying to take advantage of the popularity and use of videostreams. Why not tap into the creativity of your advocates by seeking their videos highlighting the importance of their issue?

This week, one of our clients – the Campaign for Smokefree Air – decided to do just that. It launched a contest across the state seeking entries for the Michigan Smokefree Video Challenge. Residents from across the country (or even worldwide since the Internet knows no geographic boundaries) can submit a video to YouTube telling state senators why they feel Michigan should go smokefree. Contestants can submit a two-minute video and are encouraged to be creative.

This contest will provide extensive exposure for the smokefree issue and the campaign, through media coverage, the video submissions and advocacy communications. It’s a smart tactic to employ.

The Internet has forever changed how communication works, in speed, messaging and usage. YouTube is one of the more recent developments, but it’s certainly not the last. Having been in the mainstream vernacular just a couple of years, it’s already seen as an “older” medium on the Internet. It’s up to communications professionals to stay on top of the ever-changing mediums and help guide clients and contacts to using the most appropriate tactic. Whether its blogging, podcasts, e-newsletters, or in this case YouTube, there are a lot of options out there. Just make sure you dig up the right one.

For more information about the Michigan Smokefree Video Challenge, you can visit www.MakeMiAirSmokefree.org.

The holidays are here and this Christmas Eve I won’t be nestled all snug in my bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. I’ll be dreaming a very different dream of healthy Michigan residents and employees, of a healthy economy, of a decrease in deaths caused by cancer and heart disease – a dream of a smokefree Michigan…

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the House (of Representatives), not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. House Bill 4163 had been sent out by the committee chair and there was a great yell of triumph from the Campaign for Smokefree Air.

Children with asthma were wishing for the best, of visits to restaurants with clean air in their chests. And mamma in her apron could work for a living, without the worry of cancer the secondhand smoke was giving.

When out in the Capitol lobby, there arose such a clatter, the people all wondered just what was the matter? Ohio has done it, and Illinois, too, so many states were smokefree, why is it so hard for Michigan to do?

Then it became clear, there was smoke in the air, from opponents who warned lawmakers, “You’d better not dare.” “We have,” they said, “our own science for you; just listen to us, so you’ll know what to do.”

But it wasn’t enough, and CSA found their excuses easy to snuff. In a flash, we showed them the truth: smokefree air is needed at every worksite – from office, to factory, to bar and to booth.

The people of Michigan called out in the night, “please Mr. Lawmaker, please make it right!”

We want what they have – in Arizona, Arkansas, California and Colorado. Why can’t we be like Connecticut, Florida, Georgia and Idaho? From Louisiana to Maine, in Maryland, Minnesota, Montana – why they’ve even bet on smokefree air out in Nevada! New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, the Dakotas – residents are protected and smokefree, just like the folks in Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Out west in Utah, up north in Vermont, in rainy Washington and political D.C. - they’ve figured it out, so why, why, oh why can’t we?

So the lawmakers voted and did the right thing, they proved to constituents that they had been listening.

But then I awoke with a terrible start; I grabbed for my pillow and clutched at my heart. For I had only been dreaming of a smokefree Michigan, and I know those who want it will have to try again and again.

You see, the House has now passed it, but the Senate’s no cinch. We hope that it’s not our own Christmas Grinch.

So write to your lawmakers and tell them to vote; tell them you’re watching and you’re taking note. It’s good for me and for you, good for health and business too; be you naughty or nice, a smokefree Michigan is the right thing to do!

Ronald M. Davis, M.D.
President, American Medical Association
Director, Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
Henry Ford Health System
One Ford Place, 5C
Detroit, Michigan 48202-3450, USA
Tel: +1 313-874-6276