To Sum It All Up

Social marketing is defined as a strategy using marketing theories and concepts to sell ideas intended to promote change to people, community, or to the society, in general. Every community has its own concerns to tackle. An individual has its own ways and means to make a difference. Unfortunately, only a chosen few will be able to pull of a herculean task of gathering as many people as people to teach and promote change. But the good news for me, I think, is that it may be possible, as long as there is a short term and long term goal of my selected cause are in handy.

After participating in the discussion forum, writing the assignment portfolio, and the social marketing project, my thoughts never left work, or at least what I am really tasked to do in our office. Being in the research and publication office made me think endlessly on what other things we should do to involve practically everyone in campus to take part on research, and at the same time help them learn how to not to hate that part in their college life. Sad to say that in my more than half a decade stay in the office, nothing much has changed with the mentality of faculty and students, much more the volume of output given by these mentioned groups to the office. A frustrating thought, but I have to admit that I have myself to blame on this outcome, as well. At least, for the lack of it.

At least after experiencing all the hard work (and my hard battle with my lazy bones) I have realized that there is indeed a way to reach that very old goal of the office. I am hoping to put the things I learned from this course as my inspiration and groundwork in making the entire college involved in our cause. Aside from the fact that our office is mandated by the Commission, whatever output they give us and we produce out of it will be for their own good. I know that they are also well aware of that fact. But how to make them do something out of that idea, I would like to take it as sort of a challenge. And it is going to be challenging, considering that most of the faculty and students in the college give more importance to their percentage and ranking in the national boards over the number of researches and publications the professors made in a year.

I was thinking of getting/ catching their interest through the medium they most frequented, the world wide web. We tried to do it once this year, but to no avail. I know that there are a lot of things lacking in my attempt to reach out to them in cyberspace, but due to the lack of time (and some resources), nothing happened. I want to concentrate on this. I want that the faculty and students share the same enthusiasm they have over gossips and good news on wall posts with what we work for everyday for the college. I want one day that when they visit us, they would not tell us they were advised by their professors to do so, but because they want to learn more at their own pace at their own time. Our office want them to be involved.

I will start noting them now and slowly build this idea in order for it to materialize the way our college envisioned it to be. I know it is still not too late, but this also means that there is no more perfect time than now to start it! So help me God.