Each April brings Autism Awareness Month and the reminder that advancements in autism awareness, acceptance, and integration are still critical to create a more inclusive world for everyone to live, work, and thrive in. As the External Communications Coordinator in early 2019, I worked with AutismUp to develop a two-prong community engagement campaign that would focus on autism education and integration in (1) younger generations of students and (2) community workplaces.
I collaborated with our agency's intern and the education resources from AutismUp to develop and launch a campaign using educational scavenger hunts to engage young community members in Autism Awareness Month. By following clues to hidden puzzle pieces on college campuses across Rochester, and completing prompts to share autism facts along the way, students spread autism awareness and acceptance with their peers and skyrocketed social conversations.
To engage local businesses in awareness month as advocates for inclusive employment, we reached out by mail and email to several businesses with proven community-minded missions. We introduced AutismUp, ways to get involved, accessible training services, and provided materials that the businesses could use to promote inclusion during April, such as flyers, puzzle pieces and kites to display, autism facts, and social media graphics.
The community engagement efforts in April 2019 led to an exponential jump in social media and word-of-mouth reach of AutismUp's mission. More than 91,000 users were reached via AutismUp's Facebook, garnering over 200 new Page likes, Instagram saw over 75 new followers, and content impressions on Twitter more than double the monthly average. View a collection of the social media shared throughout the month here.
AutismUp also looked to The Cause Collaborative for social media management in 2019. Capturing behind the scenes moments and live events on social media paired well with my role of public relations, story framing, and community engagement. When I wasn't at my desk writing press releases or working on a campaign, I was in the community experiencing client's events - like AutismUp's iCan Bike camp - news engagements, or programs so we could bring prospective customers, attendees, and donors into these moments via social media.
Creating an Instagram Highlight or social media post is just like telling a story. Set the stage, build momentum and details, and wrap up the message. In the moment, you are translating your experience into a digital re-telling, listening for key quotes to share and moments to capture, and responding to 'guests' who are joining virtually. Showcasing your organization's events on social media allows you to reach beyond the walls of your venue and utilize that same content for future promotion. At the end of April in 2019, we wrapped up Autism Awareness Month at AutismUp's annual gala, where I documented the evening on Instagram Stories.