“We started talking about how much we loved it and were really loud on the Tube, which is not something you should do,” she said. “And this woman turns to me and she goes, ‘Are you talking about IU Dance Marathon? My daughter did that.’”
Stories like Martino’s, who is coincidentally the organization’s media chair, have inspired their latest venture: a new way for marathoners, dancers and committee members alike to tell their stories, one at a time.
IUDM’s public relations committee will feature photos and short stories of committee members on Instagram and Facebook detailing what motivated them to get involved and why they choose to dance for 36 hours.
Junior Olivia DeWeese is one of the PR committee members behind the project.
“We were inspired by the Humans of New York blog and started our own Instagram called Humans of IUDM,” DeWeese said.
Humans of New York, or HONY, is the brainchild of photographer Brandon Stanton. In 2010, Stanton began collecting on-the-street portraits, quotes and short stories of everyday New Yorkers.
The project is hugely popular, with more than 2.6 million followers on Instagram and 12.3 million on Facebook. IUDM hopes to channel that same social media power.
“We want to recognize the people that do so much for the organization,” DeWeese said. “Give them a chance to tell their story. At the marathon, the Riley kids tell their stories, so this is kind of a way for those involved to tell theirs.”
Members of the executive committee were excited about the project and it was approved two days later.
“I have seven girls who work under me and one of them saw a really cool post about Humans of New York, and they said something about IUDM,” Martino said. “Two days later, I got a text from the VP of Communications and he was like, ‘I want to give you Humans of IUDM to put on your sub-co and have someone go with it and do it.’”
The Facebook page has about 300 followers, and the Instagram account has more than 600. Those numbers are expected to grow. Nearly 1,000 committee members and over 2,500 dancers ?participated last year, according to the IUDM website.
With a blog coming soon, DeWeese said the committee will post approximately three features a week to the ?Instagram page.
So far, only committee members have been featured, but just because the sign-up for dancers isn’t over yet, DeWeese said. The project is set to continue throughout the year.
The goal wasn’t fundraising, but to tell the stories of those involved in the organization, DeWeese said.
“We call ourselves a family, which we absolutely are,” Martino said. “This is my third year on IUDM. I fell in love with it in two seconds, but after three years, it’s just like my life.”
