Twitter Stars Interview with @Dayngr

markdavidson: I want to feature on Twitterstars.com how you are using Twitter to support American troops. I’d like for our interview to serve as a guide to what can be accomplished with a single account on Twitter.

Dayngr: Bless your heart. Thanks!

markdavidson: I read a blurb in your timeline about how you are now at 30% of your goal for Operation Soldier Care. My purpose for Twitterstars.com is to inspire people to use Twitter as a tool to do great things. Let’s just chat like we would if we were on Twitter. Please feel free to give me any background information about how you are using Twitter to support our troops abroad.

Dayngr: Well, let me tell you a little about eMOM. Our website is eMailOurMilitary.com. Basically, we support the troops via email, postal mail, and care packages.

markdavidson: Which is awesome!

Dayngr: I thought it was pretty cool. I wanted to do something after 9/11 but I couldn’t just drop everything and run to NY to volunteer. Through Twitter we’ve teamed up with companies like Qipit, Utterz, and BabbleSoft to help support our troops.

markdavidson: Ah see, that’s the story I’m looking for! That’s perfect!

Dayngr: Guy Kawasaki has donated his books to our troops along with Matthew Ebel donating his music. All this made possible through Twitter.

markdavidson: Yeah, that’s the exact kind of thing I’m looking for. I want Twitter Stars to be about community. Also, I like the idea that Twitter is being used to affect social change for the betterment of other people.

Dayngr: That has been my experience.

markdavidson: Social Media is a great tool, I’m hoping we are using it right and it looks like you are!

Dayngr: Last year we raised over 1000 for care packages to the troops, mostly using Twitter! Podcasters have volunteered to create promos for us and we also have podcasters that use those promos during their shows.

markdavidson: So tell me about how you use Twitter.

Dayngr: To raise awareness, build a support community, raise funds, and partner with great companies, people, and organizations. Take a little peek at this: Serving Our Country Through Social Media.

I’m not afraid to market myself or my organization to others. I ask for exactly what I’d like. If I want to work with them to get their music to the troops I ask, etc.

markdavidson: Trish, this is great! You are doing something really important and special here.

Dayngr: Flattery will get you everywhere! *Wink*

markdavidson: lol. So, I’m told! But it’s also the truth! And you started this in 2001? By yourself?

Dayngr: Yes!

markdavidson: How many people do you have now? Is it still just you?

Dayngr: We have 7 key volunteers who work with us to get the behind the scenes stuff done. Me and one volunteer in the office and thousands of civilian and military members. Oh and one virtual assistant we found on Twitter.

Dayngr: Before I forget too, here’s a great example. We had some issues with a web team we’d hired. I send out a tweet and asked if there were any designers out there. We got tons of responses and @illig offered his services through his company Brainstormbrand.com at no cost to us! He and his team are redesigning our site right now. Here’s a link to all the folks who’ve featured us, most are from Twitter:

http://emailourmilitary.blogspot.com/search/label/Featured

markdavidson: What’s the process from start to finish? How does it all work?

Dayngr: So you ask, how does it all work? The site/service you mean? But of course Darling!

Service members register for support and are matched with civilians who have registered to support them. When a service member registers they include some basic info like hobbies and interests and age, etc. We try to match them with someone close in age or region or with the same likes, etc. Then they communicate on their own as often or as little as they like. We have a wide range of activities for everyone to support our troops regardless of age or how much time they have.

markdavidson: That’s great. What press have you been featured in and do you have links?

Dayngr: Here is most but I don’t think we have everything up yet:

http://www.emailourmilitary.com/media-popup.html

markdavidson: It’s amazing what someone can accomplish with a Twitter account! I’m going to embed your ChipIn widget and re-post the details of your August drive to raise funds for skin care packages on behalf of our troops.

I know a lot of people are skeptical about what can be accomplished by using social media. Trish is actively demonstrating a highly effective use of social media to affect a positive change in people’s lives. I encourage others to model what Trish is doing with her Twitter account and add their own flavor to the mix.

I’ve always felt that conversational media sites are no different than using a telephone or email as a communication tool except for one key difference. A telephone is useless without a list of numbers to call. An email account is useless without a database of email addresses. With a social media site like Twitter, there’s an entire network of people built right into the system.

Having spent a number of years in phone sales, I’m no stranger to call reluctance. Social media tools like Twitter help to remove the psychological barriers that exist with other forms of communication. Anyone with an idea like Trish’s can immediately begin changing people’s lives, developing relationships, and enjoy the process while doing so.

I’ve embedded a ChipIn widget for eMOM below. Please feel free to ask @Dayngr questions about how she’s used Twitter to raise funds to buy care packages for our troops or about eMOM. If you have a charity and you are using Twitter to raise funds, I encourage you to leave a link in the comments section. I will not consider it to be spam and I may even consider interviewing you for Twitterstars.com.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emom/

Thank you @Dayngr for leading by example. I appreciate your time and giving me the opportunity to interview you.

Operation Soldier Care - August 18th Deadline

We’re in the final week of our Operation Soldier Care project. Operation Soldier Care is a collaborative summer project between eMail Our Military (eMOM) and Mary Kay Sales Director, Nancy Sutherland to get sun care and skin care packages to our troops dealing with the desert heat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. You can read more about this project on the eMail Our Military Blog or add your dollars toward purchasing care packages for our troops!