Lenovo’s Work for Humankind public relations campaign in North Carolina lasted three weeks and involved 13 students working with over a dozen organizations in three cities. Lenovo tasked NP Strategy with executing an activation that serves the organization’s values while ensuring an enjoyable experience for the participants and maximizing our storytelling audience. Each detail mattered and required deep logistical planning to formulate an engaging experience for all involved.

HBCU Participation

Lenovo has strong relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina. Elizabeth City State University’s participation was unique. Student groups from the Community Emergency Response Team joined all legs of the journey to offer their perspective on conservation work across North Carolina.

NP Strategy connected with the dean of their Aviation and Emergency Management Department to develop a student selection process, resulting in students from over five different cities joining the campaign.

Students were asked to help capture video and photography content along with writing blog posts about their experiences. While capturing this content, students also kept up with their schoolwork. Being able to capture content, write blog posts and continue schoolwork from remote areas of North Carolina proved Lenovo’s belief that with the right technology, you can truly work from anywhere.

Mountains to Sea Trail Partnership

This was the perfect year to partner with Friends of Mountains to Sea Trail, as 2023 is the Year of the Trail. 40 years ago, Robert Lee, Chapel Hill’s first Black mayor and cabinet official under Governor Jim Hunt, announced an idea to build a trail from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks.

NP Strategy worked closely with the trail team to plan activities at each stop. They connected us with the Ranger Station in Jockey’s Ridge and Cherokee, directors at various museums and community centers like Canetuck in Burgaw, N.C., and helped us understand the possibilities each stop could offer students.

With guidance from the trail team, we determined which three stops would have the largest impact on both the student’s curiosity and Lenovo’s conservation efforts. The goal was to provide students with a conservation volunteer opportunity, enable them to experience the trail and start a lasting project for future hikers.

A Lasting Initiative

After the Work For Humankind activation was over, Lenovo wanted to ensure the initiative had a lasting impact. Each stop used Lenovo technology to create platforms that are useful for years to come.

In the Outer Banks, the data students collected will be used for a project in the fall to develop a flood analysis for the Mountains to Sea Trail team. They will use the information to help determine where the rest of the trail should be built to avoid flooding. Since most students majored in emergency management, an NP Strategy team member who formerly worked in government communications is a taught students how emergency communications work in city governments.

In Burgaw, students were able to build content about their experiences and the area’s rich history. The blogs and photos they created will be stored and shared on Mountains to Sea Trail’s inclusion page – MST For All. The content is meant to encourage people of color to hike the trail and experience the Black history on the trail. During a planned lunch and learn, NP Strategy’s social media manager taught students social media tactics.

In Cherokee, students visited or hiked to seven points of interest then photographed and wrote about their experience for others to nail the perfect shot or select the right trail to hike. Motorola will take this content and build an app called Cherokee: Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The app will be featured for downloads from the Mountains to Sea Trail downloadable guides.

Media Relations

 NP Strategy recognized the North Carolina activation of Work For Humankind had several different stories to tell – from the overall project to the work accomplished by students at each stop and Lenovo’s effort to change the face of conservation.

Knowing this, NP Strategy would rely on tailoring the message, crafting compelling stories, leveraging various media channels, and engaging with the community.

NP Strategy worked to craft compelling narratives that highlighted the North Carolina activation’s objectives, and lasting impact.

The media relations team employed a multi-faceted approach, combining traditional media outlets such as local television news, newspapers and radio stations with digital platforms and social media.

NP Strategy connected with HBCU Pride Nation, an online platform that promotes the significance, importance, and connectivity of HBCU graduates and students, to interview one student per week during an Instagram Live.

NP Strategy’s media team then researched and compiled a list of outlets that may not normally write about Lenovo like a conservation-focused publication or an HBCU-centric outlet. One such outlet, the podcast “Conservation Realist,” interviewed students after their time with Work For Humankind to gain insight into their conservation efforts during the project.

 NP Strategy: We Are Full Service

From the initial brainstorming in March of 2022 to the final click of the van engine turning off in Greer, SC, NP Strategy displayed its powerful capability to be a full-service agency. This project encompassed almost every public relations aspect, including videography, media relations, stakeholder engagement, digital content production, and crisis management.

Nearly every member of the NP Strategy team played a role in the planning and execution of this enormous project. While the participating students were learning that they could work from anywhere using technology and impact local communities, the NP Strategy team discovered new ways to work together with employees in the field while staying connected to the office.

Sometimes you need to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time. It is safe to say that after experiencing and participating in Lenovo’s Work for Humankind campaign, students and NP Strategy participants learned they could take that old quote one step further – run and chew hot dogs simultaneously.

Thank you to the Elizabeth City State University students, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail, the Pisgah Ranger Station, Pender County Government, Jockey’s Ridge Park Rangers along with many other stakeholders – and a special thank you to Lenovo for providing the opportunity of a lifetime!

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed guidance, but couldn’t find it from your usual sources? During the height of the pandemic, I struggled with a decision. Should I stay in the city where I’ve lived for the last 22 years or should I go back to my hometown to be closer to family? Of course, plenty of people had opinions, but it was a long-time mentor who helped me make the best choice. And I wasn’t surprised about that. 

Mentors have been an important part of my professional development since my first job in advertising. As a mentor, you provide guidance that a person can’t get from a spouse, sibling, co-worker, or friend. A good mentor doesn’t have a stake in your decisions, just an interest in helping you gain some perspective and make plans that will work for you.

I’ve been fortunate to have terrific mentors during my career, each bringing something to my professional development that I desperately needed. My first mentor was the Chief Financial Officer of a company I started working for in my early twenties. He could see my energy and potential—and also the huge gaps in my knowledge.

When I made mistakes, instead of dismissing me, he was both firm and kind. I could have bristled at the criticism, but instead I took his feedback and used it. Thanks to his guidance, I not only became great at my job, but I also gained a mentor who helped me shape the career I wanted to build.

Mentoring can happen organically like that when an experienced leader makes time to guide a young team member, and when that guidance is accepted with a willing heart.

Another mentor entered my life when I was more experienced, and he brought a different perspective to my work and decisions. He was an entrepreneur, an independent thinker, and a person whose creative energy and bold action inspired many of his employees, including me.

As my boss, he expected excellent work, of course, but also loyalty and a commitment to his vision. As a mentor, he valued me as a person with my own goals and vision. It was okay for me to say if those goals might take me to the next step in my career. And because he encouraged independent thinking, my co-workers and I weren’t afraid to make big, bold decisions with our careers. For some of us, it was jumping off that cliff and starting our own businesses. He encouraged, supported, and applauded that kind of thinking.

Formal mentorship programs exist in companies and organizations and they can be great. You can also keep it simple, though, and let your mentoring evolve as it’s needed. Look for bright people who can use a little guidance. Provide a friendly suggestion. Let them know they can come to you, that you’ll listen without judgment, and have their back. Challenge them to do a little more, to make themselves better. Connect them to a new opportunity.

Sometimes, your mentee will take up your time, ignore your advice, and make you wonder why you bothered. (Ask my mentors how I know this.) It can make being a mentor feel frustrating. But you might find that mentoring can also invigorate YOU, add a spark to the work you do every day, and help you appreciate the lessons you’ve learned.

Whether you’re interested in joining a global or national association, an industry-specific organization, or a local community group, professional development organizations come with many benefits.

For one, membership typically provides access to learning opportunities and industry-specific information. Some professional organizations offer courses, conferences, labs, virtual discussions, and more, which help you stay in touch with members and cultivate a community conducive to asking questions, discussing trends, and learning from one another. There is so much information at your fingertips and you should use all of the resources that are available to you.

When you join an organization, there are countless opportunities to build your network through meetings, committees, events, happy hours, etcetera. Carving out time for these should be a priority, as it’s a great way to meet new people and establish new connections. Take advantage of these events, step out of your comfort zone and spark conversations with people inside or outside your industry. Not only will this build your own professional network, but you may also cultivate new friendships.

Among the myriad of professional development organizations, there are also organizations that merge industry and community service. You may discover new hobbies and newfound passions for social issues.

Professional development is about putting yourself out there, developing meaningful relationships and leveraging the multitude of resources available to you. Get out there, join a professional organization, you’ll discover new perspectives and a newfound appreciation for your community, profession, and yourself.

I’ve long been an avid reader of presidential history. One of my favorite historians, Doris Kearns Goodwin, wrote a book about Abraham Lincoln titled, “Team of Rivals”.  Throughout the book, Goodwin dives into how President Lincoln filled his Cabinet with former foes in order to ensure he had every perspective at the table.

This idea made an impression on me to always consider who you surround yourself with in order to get perspective and insights. Now most of us don’t get to organize an official cabinet, but we do get to create what is often referred to as a “kitchen cabinet”—a group of trusted friends and associates. Those in my kitchen cabinet don’t even know I consider them as such, but they’re a group of people I have met along the way in both my personal and professional life and I value their opinion.

Your kitchen cabinet should be made up of a handful of people you can call on at any time to get advice. They can be personal friends or professional colleagues and if you’re lucky, your kitchen cabinet includes people whose strengths play to your weaknesses and challenge you to think bigger and bolder while being true to yourself.

Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have a kitchen cabinet whom I can rely on to bounce ideas off of and get varying viewpoints. They have guided and encouraged me to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone. At times, they offered a new perspective and changed my outlook on certain issues and ideas. 

With each advancement in my career, the individuals in my kitchen cabinet have shifted a bit as I’ve lived in different cities and held different jobs. But the lessons I learned from them have always stayed with me. A former boss used to always say she surrounded herself with people smarter than her. Turns out, she was the smart one to recognize her own shortfalls and make sure she built a strong team who would complement her strengths and weaknesses and ultimately work well together.

I challenge you to consider who is in your kitchen cabinet. If you identify a missing piece, make this the year you surround yourself with people who make you the best you can be.  

In just four years, TikTok has stormed to the front of the social media landscape – amassing a billion monthly users worldwide with a staggering 138 million in the U.S. alone.

TikTok’s short-form platform and personalized feed has become so popular that Meta revamped Facebook and Instagram to keep pace. Those videos keep users on the app for 95 minutes a day. But is TikTok right for your organization?

With so many users spending so much time on the app, it seems like an easy question to answer. But any organization will need to ask itself – who is my audience? TikTok’s users are overwhelmingly young, with more than 60 percent of users in the U.S. being under the age of 30. And half of those are under the age of 20. If your target audience isn’t Gen Z, TikTok might not where you want to spend your time and money.

Any organization will also need to weigh the pros and cons of creating content for TikTok and what comes with it. Your traditional ads might not work in the fast-paced world of a TikTok feed. Short-form videos require their own mindset to produce and aren’t just a shorter version of a traditional ad. The key to TikTok success, much like many ad campaigns, is partnering with the right people. In TikTok’s case – an influencer.

A traditional celebrity partnership isn’t needed on TikTok with some teen influencers holding followings in the millions. Organizations need to consider who is in an influencer’s following and their engagement when looking for a partner.

However, the Chinese-owned app is also not without controversy.

There have been bi-partisan efforts to ban the app in the U.S. over concerns the Chinese can use TikTok to spy on its users and push certain narratives. In December 2022, TikTok was banned from federal government phones with state governments, including North and South Carolina, in order to keep the app off state-owned devices. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said the ban was to help protect critical cyber infrastructure from foreign and domestic threats. The app has also been banned at Auburn University and the University of Texas.

While the pros might seem to outweigh the cons on the surface, any group should always measure the weight of each factor before committing time and resources to TikTok.