I wasn’t at all surprised when I heard that my friend, David J. Neff, had been named as one of the top three non-profit marketers in the country for 2009 by the American Marketing Association and its foundation. It’s not that I think it’s an easy accomplishment or that I take it lightly in any way. It’s a major and very prestigious award. It’s just that I’ve spent a good amount of time around David and I know he’s an extremely talented person and him winning seemed obvious.
What was nice about the award being given to David, from my perspective, was that a national organization with a great history and reputation would recognize the new kind of marketing that David is a leading innovator of. It was proof that the AMA appreciates the concepts of community that are the real value of social media marketing when done the way they should be done.
The words that describe social media are familiar to most of us by now. Transparency, authenticity, real and long-term relationship development through conversational communications models are the ideals we strive for. What I love about David is that he intellectually understands all of this and actually conducts his business and his life in the same way and along the lines of the adjectives that fit the ideals listed. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, to use phrase I rarely use because of its tremendous importance and the reverence I hold for the man who used it most famously.
What this means is that when you engage in conversation with David Neff online, you’re meeting the real person, not just an online version. When you see one of his now award-winning social media programs being implemented, you’re looking at an idea that is sincerely important to David. I know from being his friend that his work for the American Cancer Society is motivated by a sincere concern for the people the organization represents.
David J. Neff is not only the Director of Web, Film and Interactive Strategy for the American Cancer Society’s High Plains division, he is also the Executive Director of Lights. Camera. Help.
In his capacity at the American Cancer Society, David directs all web and interactive strategies and online properties for six states in addition to managing the division’s eRevenue strategy, social networking/media strategy, and online community strategy. As the executive director of Lights. Camera. Help., he is working to start the world’s first nonprofit-focused film festival.
David is a two-time recipient of a Futuring and Innovations grant, which he used to create C-Tools and SharingHope.TV. C-Tools was the first PDA software tool for the prevention of cancer developed by the American Cancer Society, and SharingHope.TV is the nonprofit world’s first totally user-generated content Web site. In 2009, the Austin American-Statesman recognized David as one of the top 25 Social Media People in the state of Texas.
I’ve been involved in efforts with David around helping the homeless, the hungry and those in need of special medical attention. He has a seemingly endless amount of energy and a heart the size of the internet. We’re lucky David calls Austin home and I’m fortunate to have him as a friend.
This weekend is the first Non-Profit Film Festival hosted by Lights.Camera.Help. Tickets are still available. See you there.
