The Story Behind Hootsuite’s Mother’s Day Tribute
It’s not every day you find yourself in your parents’ backyard in Florida, filming a Hootsuite product demo video in a kiddie pool. But, in April, there I was: just a social media manager doing what we do best—doing whatever it takes to make something dazzling for our social channels.
After an hour of getting ready and organizing my set, I tragically realized my camera wasn’t working properly, that the wind was interfering with my audio, and the script I was reading off of was significantly longer than I thought it was.
“MOM?” I yelled.
My mom poked her head out the back door. “Can I help now?” she replied with a goofy grin.
“Yes. Please come help me.” I said, only slightly defeated that I couldn’t do this alone.
“Show me what to do,” she said, eagerly standing over my tripod.
We spent the next hour rearranging my inflatable pool, two flamingos, and camera until we found the perfect spot. We angled an umbrella over me, and my mom had a great idea to set up a teleprompter on her laptop. We flew through the video only to realize at the end that my mom forgot to check if the camera had been in focus. It was not. We spent the next half-hour redoing it.
Now, most retirees in Florida would probably rather have been playing golf or pickleball than helping their daughter film a strange video for work. But not my mom. She knew how important this video was to me, how passionate I was about making videos, and how badly I wanted to impress my organization. So she stuck by me until it was done.
And then she went to play golf.
The next day, I warned my team that some of the clips from the shoot might include me sassing my mom, my mom bringing her laptop over to me because she didn’t know how to use it, and me having to re-explain to her what the video was actually about.
Surprisingly, the team thought this was hilarious. Picture my mom trying to navigate a bunch of technology she didn’t understand while directing her diva of a daughter who was stuck in a kiddie pool. The idea that, no matter how ridiculous the task might have been, she was right there, ready to help.
Their biggest takeaway was that everyone needs someone like my mom in their corner. Everyone needs a Wende.
The idea for this Mother’s Day video then came from our big ideas guy (and Senior Director of Brand Marketing), Billy Jones. “Let’s make a video that highlights the mothers of Hootsuite employees,” he said. “The moms who don’t care what our titles are, or what we do, but are proud of us and our accomplishments.”
The idea? To shine a light on the moms who are proud to step in and lend a hand when we need one. The moms who are cheering us on from the sidelines and, occasionally, in our Instagram comments.
My mom was thrilled when I told her she had inspired a video. She was even more thrilled to discover she could help me once again by being interviewed for it.
This was certainly not the first time (and won’t be the last time) she helped me with a project. In the 10th grade, when I needed a 1920s flapper dress for school, she sewed one for me. When I needed to create a video about illumination for my university application, Wende lit and blew out hundreds of candles, multiple times, for me. When I needed to film a commercial for work, she let me kick her out of her own home for a few hours. And I owe her a world of thanks for taking hundreds of photos of me on our trip to Australia when I wanted to be a travel blogger.
Regardless of what I’m doing, she’s always eager to help. She doesn’t always understand exactly what I’m doing or what’s going on in my brain, but regardless, she wants to help whenever she can and be a part of whatever I’m passionate about.
Which is why, last year when I told her I wanted to move to Vancouver for my job, I thought I had broken her heart.
After years of being a close part of my life, supporting me through the highs and lows of my career, and navigating a pandemic together, I was leaving. It was hard to hear that I wanted to move across the country for a job I’d been successfully doing out of my family’s home office.
But there we were. Me, nearly a year into my job at Hootsuite, realizing I wasn’t hitting my full potential working from my home in Newmarket, Ontario. And, my mom, having to come to terms with the fact I was not only moving out, but across the country. It took some time, but when the big day came to pack up my stuff, my mom was ready with bubble wrap and boxes.
Five months later, I’m only one week out from my mom’s first visit to my new home in Vancouver.
I want to say that I recognize that Mother’s Day can be a difficult day for some people. So to those, I encourage you to find yourself a Wende. A Wende can come in many shapes and sizes. They may come as a mentor, a friend, or as a coach. They might be a sibling, a guardian, or a grandparent. They might be related by blood, or they might not.
Whatever form they take, a Wende is a person who champions you. They’re always ready to assist you with the most bizarre projects. They’re happy to support you when you need it and take a step back when you don’t. They’ll listen attentively when you need to vent or just when you want to talk. And when you need someone to fall back on, you know they’ll be there to catch you.
If you’re lucky enough to have a Wende in your life, I hope you’re patient with them when they ask you for the 100th time what it is that you do. That when they say something that wasn’t entirely helpful, you remind yourself that it was likely coming from a good place. That when they forget to check if the camera is in focus, you take a deep breath and forgive them. And when they question a career path in social media, you dispel their worry and say, “I know what I’m doing”.
So to my Wende, I’m sending you lots of love from Vancouver to Newmarket. Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given me over the years, especially in the last eight months. Thank you for inspiring this idea and many others. I may have dad’s brain, but I got your creativity. I love you very much. Happy Mother’s Day.
P.S. I’ll make sure this gets posted to Instagram so you see it.
The post The Story Behind Hootsuite’s Mother’s Day Tribute appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Related Posts
The Story Behind Hootsuite’s Mother’s Day Tribute
It’s not every day you find yourself in your parents’ backyard in Florida, filming a Hootsuite product demo video in a kiddie pool. But, in April, there I was: just a social media manager doing what we do best—doing whatever it takes to make something dazzling for our social channels.
After an hour of getting ready and organizing my set, I tragically realized my camera wasn’t working properly, that the wind was interfering with my audio, and the script I was reading off of was significantly longer than I thought it was.
“MOM?” I yelled.
My mom poked her head out the back door. “Can I help now?” she replied with a goofy grin.
“Yes. Please come help me.” I said, only slightly defeated that I couldn’t do this alone.
“Show me what to do,” she said, eagerly standing over my tripod.
We spent the next hour rearranging my inflatable pool, two flamingos, and camera until we found the perfect spot. We angled an umbrella over me, and my mom had a great idea to set up a teleprompter on her laptop. We flew through the video only to realize at the end that my mom forgot to check if the camera had been in focus. It was not. We spent the next half-hour redoing it.
Now, most retirees in Florida would probably rather have been playing golf or pickleball than helping their daughter film a strange video for work. But not my mom. She knew how important this video was to me, how passionate I was about making videos, and how badly I wanted to impress my organization. So she stuck by me until it was done.
And then she went to play golf.
The next day, I warned my team that some of the clips from the shoot might include me sassing my mom, my mom bringing her laptop over to me because she didn’t know how to use it, and me having to re-explain to her what the video was actually about.
Surprisingly, the team thought this was hilarious. Picture my mom trying to navigate a bunch of technology she didn’t understand while directing her diva of a daughter who was stuck in a kiddie pool. The idea that, no matter how ridiculous the task might have been, she was right there, ready to help.
Their biggest takeaway was that everyone needs someone like my mom in their corner. Everyone needs a Wende.
The idea for this Mother’s Day video then came from our big ideas guy (and Senior Director of Brand Marketing), Billy Jones. “Let’s make a video that highlights the mothers of Hootsuite employees,” he said. “The moms who don’t care what our titles are, or what we do, but are proud of us and our accomplishments.”
The idea? To shine a light on the moms who are proud to step in and lend a hand when we need one. The moms who are cheering us on from the sidelines and, occasionally, in our Instagram comments.
My mom was thrilled when I told her she had inspired a video. She was even more thrilled to discover she could help me once again by being interviewed for it.
This was certainly not the first time (and won’t be the last time) she helped me with a project. In the 10th grade, when I needed a 1920s flapper dress for school, she sewed one for me. When I needed to create a video about illumination for my university application, Wende lit and blew out hundreds of candles, multiple times, for me. When I needed to film a commercial for work, she let me kick her out of her own home for a few hours. And I owe her a world of thanks for taking hundreds of photos of me on our trip to Australia when I wanted to be a travel blogger.
Regardless of what I’m doing, she’s always eager to help. She doesn’t always understand exactly what I’m doing or what’s going on in my brain, but regardless, she wants to help whenever she can and be a part of whatever I’m passionate about.
Which is why, last year when I told her I wanted to move to Vancouver for my job, I thought I had broken her heart.
After years of being a close part of my life, supporting me through the highs and lows of my career, and navigating a pandemic together, I was leaving. It was hard to hear that I wanted to move across the country for a job I’d been successfully doing out of my family’s home office.
But there we were. Me, nearly a year into my job at Hootsuite, realizing I wasn’t hitting my full potential working from my home in Newmarket, Ontario. And, my mom, having to come to terms with the fact I was not only moving out, but across the country. It took some time, but when the big day came to pack up my stuff, my mom was ready with bubble wrap and boxes.
Five months later, I’m only one week out from my mom’s first visit to my new home in Vancouver.
I want to say that I recognize that Mother’s Day can be a difficult day for some people. So to those, I encourage you to find yourself a Wende. A Wende can come in many shapes and sizes. They may come as a mentor, a friend, or as a coach. They might be a sibling, a guardian, or a grandparent. They might be related by blood, or they might not.
Whatever form they take, a Wende is a person who champions you. They’re always ready to assist you with the most bizarre projects. They’re happy to support you when you need it and take a step back when you don’t. They’ll listen attentively when you need to vent or just when you want to talk. And when you need someone to fall back on, you know they’ll be there to catch you.
If you’re lucky enough to have a Wende in your life, I hope you’re patient with them when they ask you for the 100th time what it is that you do. That when they say something that wasn’t entirely helpful, you remind yourself that it was likely coming from a good place. That when they forget to check if the camera is in focus, you take a deep breath and forgive them. And when they question a career path in social media, you dispel their worry and say, “I know what I’m doing”.
So to my Wende, I’m sending you lots of love from Vancouver to Newmarket. Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given me over the years, especially in the last eight months. Thank you for inspiring this idea and many others. I may have dad’s brain, but I got your creativity. I love you very much. Happy Mother’s Day.
P.S. I’ll make sure this gets posted to Instagram so you see it.
The post The Story Behind Hootsuite’s Mother’s Day Tribute appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
Related Posts
Categories
- 60% of the time… (1)
- A/B Testing (2)
- Ad placements (3)
- adops (4)
- adops vs sales (5)
- AdParlor 101 (43)
- adx (1)
- algorithm (1)
- Analysis (10)
- Apple (1)
- Audience (1)
- Augmented Reality (1)
- authenticity (1)
- Automation (1)
- Back to School (1)
- best practices (2)
- brand voice (1)
- branding (1)
- Build a Blog Community (12)
- Case Study (3)
- celebrate women (1)
- certification (1)
- Collections (1)
- Community (1)
- Conference News (1)
- conferences (1)
- content (1)
- content curation (1)
- content marketing (1)
- contests (1)
- Conversion Lift Test (1)
- Conversion testing (1)
- cost control (2)
- Creative (6)
- crisis (1)
- Curation (1)
- Custom Audience Targeting (4)
- Digital Advertising (2)
- Digital Marketing (6)
- DPA (1)
- Dynamic Ad Creative (1)
- dynamic product ads (1)
- E-Commerce (1)
- eCommerce (2)
- Ecosystem (1)
- email marketing (3)
- employee advocacy program (1)
- employee advocates (1)
- engineers (1)
- event marketing (1)
- event marketing strategy (1)
- events (1)
- Experiments (29)
- F8 (2)
- Facebook (64)
- Facebook Ad Split Testing (1)
- facebook ads (18)
- Facebook Ads How To (1)
- Facebook Advertising (30)
- Facebook Audience Network (1)
- Facebook Creative Platform Partners (1)
- facebook marketing (1)
- Facebook Marketing Partners (2)
- Facebook Optimizations (1)
- Facebook Posts (1)
- facebook stories (1)
- Facebook Updates (2)
- Facebook Video Ads (1)
- Facebook Watch (1)
- fbf (11)
- first impression takeover (5)
- fito (5)
- Fluent (1)
- Get Started With Wix Blog (1)
- Google (9)
- Google Ad Products (5)
- Google Analytics (1)
- Guest Post (1)
- Guides (32)
- Halloween (1)
- holiday marketing (1)
- Holiday Season Advertising (7)
- Holiday Shopping Season (4)
- Holiday Video Ads (1)
- holidays (4)
- Hootsuite How-To (3)
- Hootsuite Life (1)
- how to (6)
- How to get Instagram followers (1)
- How to get more Instagram followers (1)
- i don't understand a single thing he is or has been saying (1)
- if you need any proof that we're all just making it up (2)
- Incrementality (1)
- influencer marketing (1)
- Infographic (1)
- Instagram (39)
- Instagram Ads (11)
- Instagram advertising (8)
- Instagram best practices (1)
- Instagram followers (1)
- Instagram Partner (1)
- Instagram Stories (2)
- Instagram tips (1)
- Instagram Video Ads (2)
- invite (1)
- Landing Page (1)
- link shorteners (1)
- LinkedIn (22)
- LinkedIn Ads (2)
- LinkedIn Advertising (2)
- LinkedIn Stats (1)
- LinkedIn Targeting (5)
- Linkedin Usage (1)
- List (1)
- listening (2)
- Lists (3)
- Livestreaming (1)
- look no further than the new yorker store (2)
- lunch (1)
- Mac (1)
- macOS (1)
- Marketing to Millennials (2)
- mental health (1)
- metaverse (2)
- Mobile App Marketing (3)
- Monetizing Pinterest (2)
- Monetizing Social Media (2)
- Monthly Updates (10)
- Mothers Day (1)
- movies for social media managers (1)
- new releases (11)
- News (79)
- News & Events (12)
- no one knows what they're doing (2)
- OnlineShopping (2)
- or ari paparo (1)
- owly shortener (1)
- Paid Media (2)
- People-Based Marketing (3)
- performance marketing (5)
- Pinterest (34)
- Pinterest Ads (11)
- Pinterest Advertising (8)
- Pinterest how to (1)
- Pinterest Tag helper (5)
- Pinterest Targeting (6)
- platform health (1)
- Platform Updates (8)
- Press Release (2)
- product catalog (1)
- Productivity (10)
- Programmatic (3)
- quick work (1)
- Reddit (3)
- reels (1)
- Reporting (1)
- Resources (30)
- ROI (1)
- rules (1)
- Seamless shopping (1)
- share of voice (1)
- Shoppable ads (4)
- short-form video (1)
- shorts (1)
- Skills (26)
- SMB (1)
- SnapChat (28)
- SnapChat Ads (8)
- SnapChat Advertising (5)
- Social (153)
- social ads (1)
- Social Advertising (14)
- social customer service (1)
- Social Fresh Tips (2)
- Social Media (5)
- social media automation (1)
- social media content calendar (1)
- social media for events (1)
- social media management (2)
- Social Media Marketing (49)
- social media monitoring (1)
- Social Media News (4)
- social media statistics (1)
- social media tracking in google analytics (1)
- social media tutorial (2)
- Social Toolkit Podcast (1)
- Social Video (5)
- stories (1)
- Strategy (737)
- terms (1)
- Testing (2)
- there are times ive found myself talking to ari and even though none of the words he is using are new to me (1)
- they've done studies (1)
- this is also true of anytime i have to talk to developers (1)
- tiktok (9)
- tools (1)
- Topics & Trends (3)
- Trend (12)
- Twitter (15)
- Twitter Ads (5)
- Twitter Advertising (4)
- Uncategorised (9)
- Uncategorized (13)
- url shortener (1)
- url shorteners (1)
- vendor (2)
- video (11)
- Video Ads (7)
- Video Advertising (8)
- virtual conference (1)
- we're all just throwing mountains of shit at the wall and hoping the parts that stick don't smell too bad (2)
- web3 (2)
- where you can buy a baby onesie of a dog asking god for his testicles on it (2)
- yes i understand VAST and VPAID (1)
- yes that's the extent of the things i understand (1)
- YouTube (13)
- YouTube Ads (4)
- YouTube Advertising (9)
- YouTube Video Advertising (5)