You Should Have Listened

Isn’t it ironic that the same “sense of connectedness” Gen Z and Millenials were once criticized for is now the primary means of connection we’ll rely on to adapt?

Isn’t it ironic that come Monday at 9:00 a.m., it’s the professors that won’t be able to keep up in the classroom? Departments will struggle to justify keeping their students’ fees due to inequitable provision of services?

And before you think I’m an overt pessimist, let me stop you there. I’m not. I’m just a marketer that knows you should have listened.

Yes, these times are unprecedented, but the technology at our fingertips is not.

The concept of “social distancing” isn’t, either. It was just viewed by the stubborn as a flaw. A flaw that assumed physical and social connectedness has to coincide to excel.

See, marketing in today’s world is all about empathy. Understanding your audience’s worldview to adapt, connect with, and seek to serve them.

Rather than trying to correct the flawed and incorrectly-negative opinion on social distance, educators could have been adapting, and using it to their advantage, to provide the best experience for those we seek to serve.

Education, and society for that matter, is just different than when you were in college. It may have its weaknesses, but so did your times too. Where this generation struggles with loneliness, it succeeds with access to resources.

If you listened, you could have been prepared to use your resources adequately to provide social connectedness in a physically-distant environment.

And what we’re dealing with is just that. Not social distance, physical distance. It’s time you listen, and time you catch up.

You could have already been using these resources to reach a more diverse audience. Now, you’ll be forced to.

Will Trent, MS

A “creative” who found his way using camera and a few design programs. Social Media Guru. Basketball Fanatic. Aspires to be “Tom Haverford” from Parks and Recreation.