Jump on the JA Train
Clara Clorey // November 30, 2012
Working as the Program Assistant for Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia has already proven to be a really valuable experience. As a student looking to gather every last bit of knowledge I can from my final work term, Junior Achievement could not have been a better fit.
JA is the first non-profit organization that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Their mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy by delivering programs focused on entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, and financial literacy. Seeing first-hand the impact JA’s programs have on students as well as working closely with dedicated volunteers is eye-opening. My work at JA extends beyond writing and communicating with others to contributing to an organization which truly inspires students to reach their highest potential.
In my first two co-op work terms I didn’t have the chance to implement social media for an organization. When my manager asked me to take on the role of “social media guru” for JA Nova Scotia my first thoughts were: finally – Facebook at work! Just kidding. To be perfectly honest my initial thoughts were that this would be an excellent add-on to my portfolio. This was followed quickly by – wow, that is a lot of passwords to remember.
My first task with social media was to become familiar with the look and feel of JA’s presence on their primary social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I set my work term goal at the beginning of the semester to gain 50 new likes on Facebook, 200 new followers on Twitter, and 25 new group members on LinkedIn. I am hoping to achieve this goal by the end of my work term in December.
Next I was asked to create a recruitment strategy for generating engagement and interest in JA for primarily high school students as well as JA’s wide base of volunteers. I started brainstorming different ideas and finally I came up with a slogan which created an overall theme for the plan. I approached my boss with my communications plan and slid it across her desk.
“How do we feel about… Jump on the JA Train.”
She gave me a skeptical eye as she pondered the idea and I sat there nodding and smiling like a typical overeager co-op student.
And with that, the Jump on the JA Train recruitment campaign began. When I originally came up with the slogan I was thinking of it as a hashtag (#jumpontheJAtrain) which ideally would be shared and used by both volunteers and students.
So far, the campaign has been very successful. Most notably, JA has gained nearly 250 new followers on Twitter over the past three months.
Overall this has been an amazing social media experience and it is really rewarding to see the conversation that has started online among JA’s publics. I look forward to going to work every day and sharing content on behalf of JA – I will miss it come December. Not to worry, I am confident that JA can look forward to me joining the dialogue as a new keen volunteer. They can’t get rid of me that easily!
Chugga chugga chugga chugga #jumpontheJAtrain
