3 Sep 2008
Some of my duties as online media coordinator for the Green Hour campaign feel like detective-work. I track the website in cyberspace -- find out who is blogging about us, linking to our site or spreading the message some other way.
The industry term for this kind of online buzz is "viral" marketing -- an unfortunate adjective, but a fairly accurate description. To track all of this virtual conversation, I must pore over spreadsheets and graphs -- an activity that makes me crave a Green Hour (or two) afterwards.
But, after three months on the job, what I've discovered is amazing. Through primarily word-of-mouth marketing, thousands of sites have linked to GreenHour.org -- many with touching testimonials written in support of the campaign.
Women have been the biggest supporters -- from countless "mommy bloggers" to Maryland's First Lady, who officially recommends that parents give their children a Green Hour every day. But people of every stripe respond positively to the concept: dads, educators, young, old -- even people who have little outdoor experience.
All this means one thing: we've touched a nerve. Parents and caregivers may be worried that since children are growing up always "plugged in," they face growing rates of obesity, ADHD, and other health problems. But, more simply -- they might realize kids just miss out on so much fun -- fun that doesn�’t require an electrical outlet, batteries or an Internet connection.
You don't have to send the kids to a rigorous wilderness camp or live in the deep woods to reap the benefits of time outdoors. Just give them an hour -- or part of an hour -- every day in the backyard or neighborhood park, exploring the outdoors.
It's only when I take off my "online media coordinator" hat that that I really understand what all the graphs and numbers try to tell me. This weekend, I took my 5-year-old nephew, Luke, for a nature scavenger hunt while walking on the wooded paths behind his neighborhood. Green bucket in hand, Luke scoured the edges of the path for items he'd carefully written down on a list: "Really straight stick" and "a rock that fits in the palm of my hand."
We found plenty that wasn't on the list, too: a butterfly, a centipede, a pine cone. "There's so much out here to find!" Luke said excitedly, as he ran ahead to check out a stream rushing under a footbridge.
What more proof could you need?
Anne Keisman is online media coordinator for Green Hour.
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