On March 12 a nearly 40-person strong Hip Hoppin'
flash mob emerged at Newport-on- the-Levee. The unexpected and quickly choreographed three-minute dance routine garnered attention, cheers and applause, but it was just a small part of a nationwide social media experiment.
The dance gave a glimpse intp Cincinnati's part of The Boomerang Effect II. It's a partnership of volunteer initiative
SERVE 60™ and
The Marcus Graham Project, which develops diverse talent in the advertising, media and marketing industry. The two national organizations came together for
The Boomerang Effect II, a 60-hour mashup of networking, social media and community service.
The Boomerang Effect takes its name from the early '90s movie Boomerang, where Eddie Murphy played an advertising executive. In that vein, among the aims of the weekend was to open the world of advertising and marketing to African-American and other minority professionals and students.
This was the first year Cincinnati joined The Boomerang Effect; it was organized by local social media marketing entrepreneur
Jeremy K. Smith. He quickly pulled the weekend together with help from a number of local resources. Eleven other cities participated, including Detroit, New York, L.A., Miami and Milwaukee.
Smith was formerly and sales and recruiting and has used social media for several years as part of his work. He recently started his own social media marketing company Authentic New Media. He believed the event was a good way to showcase a diverse crowd interested in social media and marketing. He estimates over 200 people participated over the weekend.
"I think it was fantastic. Coming into it, some people didn't think there would be support for something like it. That mainstream professionals wouldn't show up. But I was very pleased at how it played out. Everyone who decided to participate had fun," Smith said.
It kicked off Friday night with a networking event at
The Bowtie Café, opened by Bengals' player Dhani Jones. The mixer also featured P&G Global Brand Manager Hamilton Brown and LebronJames.com Digital Media Manager Jay Bobo. Saturday was the flash mob event, with music provided by
DJ Band Camp. Sunday the video was part of a Tweetathon, where the video with the most Tweets, views and likes was awarded $1,500 to support a nonprofit. Cincinnati didn't win, but the video has received more than 600 views.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jeremy K Smith, president and CEO Authentic New Media
You can follow Feoshia on Twitter
@feoshiawrites
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.