by Martine Bilodeau
Sports, Music, Art – Social Media: it all brings people together. Not that the Canucks didn’t have to work harder and faster, or visualize better than ever, during Game 5 of the playoffs last night. But we all know that them being in their hometown, with a crowd well beyond Roger’s Arena (100,000 people celebrated downtown), gave them the heart, the lift to win in what was their one chance to turn things around.
The same goes for anything we want to accomplish. We don’t do well when left on our own. It’s the willingness of our support network for us to attain our goals that makes us successful.
A social network (our own fans) comes into play when life is too complex for things to go as planned, no matter how great strategists we may be. Relationships steer us in the right direction, lifting up our energy, giving us more reasons to do what we had planned to do.
When I was running a crew of painters in the Motion Picture industry, it was them, my team, who kept me going, despite the gruesome hours, the communication differences I experienced for being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the demands of being a single mother.
You may be down on your luck, thinking you don’t have anyone who cares about what you do other than your dog. Well, there’s hope. The good news is that a lot of people can relate to that. Pretty much all of us are isolated, trying to pay bills. Lots of those people (and that includes me) use social media. And in social media, it’s not “Word of Mouth” but “World of Mouth”, as Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, would say. Imagine – we have a chance – to use a viral network system in communicating what is close to our heart. One person finds your tweet interesting, tags it and sends it to 200 people. Of those 200 people, 14 might find it interesting, and sends it to his network, etc. Soon, you have enough followers to keep you focused, to keep you on a path that leads you to become more competent, and to lead you to success.
If you find your strengths (I personally found mine in the Clifton`s assessment and focus on what you truly enjoy (and that comes with some reinforcement of course), then you have something very valuable to offer. Bring consistent and dedicated efforts into it, you find success. You have new tools to get the support of people, re-evaluate your course, find your way. You might even have some previous success to draw from, and it’s that feeling every Canucks’ win helps you remember.
In the hockey’s 1954-55 season, Maurice Richard lost his heart for the game, when he got suspended from the playoffs, incensing his fans and leading to the Richard Riot. His barber, a humble man, helped the great hockey player shift his mind. It sounded like this: “You know Maurice, it’s been a long time since Quebec has won anything. Come back next year, we need to win.”
These Stanley Cup Finals have had a rallying effect on the 2nd and 3rd generation Canadians, as I’ve witnessed on the streets of Vancouver. It’s important to know we belong to a common goal. That’s what unites us. Hence, casual fans like me, who otherwise have their nose to the grounds and don’t watch a game because there is no time, will not miss the next two games. The very least we’ll get out of it is the invigorating feeling that we are together in this.
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