Wednesday, December 5, 2018

A Very Special Message

Sometimes a post is too good not to share all over again.
This one is one of those.

The story told here is of a journey several in the animal blogging and pet lover community took together.

A journey to deliver a critically important message to the world:

Our hopes and dreams for a better future for homeless animals.

It began in the fall of 2015, when I stumbled upon the results of a study on the type of content people enjoyed and trusted the most when online.

 Turns out we all love funny videos. But ranked #2 are cause videos: those videos that tug at your heart, that rally like-minded people. That reach out to those who believe in—well, a cause.

I'd been working on a ton of video projects for work back in 2015 when this project first came together.
And they were looking for more ideas. More ways to get the word out, to build awareness about Hallmark and our products.

I'd already been jokingly labeled as "the one who will put a cat in any video she can."
Uhm, gee, I wonder why... Hey, I managed to place cats in at least 6 of them. See?


So I asked The Question.

"We're partnering with Best Friends Animal Society to help find loving homes for shelter pets. One that is connected to our plush dog named Jingle, a homeless dog who found his boy.

"What if we reached out to people and asked them to share with us what their hopes and dreams are for the future of companion animals?

"What if that became a video?"

I love it when my vocation and my avocation - my passion for helping homeless animals - align.

Two and a half months, and dozens of Facebook chats and emails later, I had a script. It came straight from the letters, video and audio files sent in from pet bloggers, animal lovers, foster moms and shelter volunteers - from as far away as New Zealand.

A few screenshots from my POV as we edit the video

It took some time to piece it all together. Hunting for just the right music alone was a monumental task. And everyone involved, including me, wondered when it would ever, ever see the light of day.

Do you recognize any of these stars? From left: Glogirly's Waffles, Island Cats' Ernie and Amy Shojai with her Karma.

And then, finally, it premiered.

This video was truly a labor of love.  These are messages from the heart, and I was honored to be able to represent the ones speaking.



Many thanks to:

Connie from Tails from the Foster Kittens
Linda from Savannah's Paw Tracks
Debbie from Glogirly
Jeanne from Random Felines
Julie from Cats Herd You
Marjorie from Dash Kitten
Sam from Vegas Rock Dog
Susan from Life with Dogs and Cats
Stephanie from Snotface Ferret
Dawn from Pet Product Review
Kevin from Animal Shelter Volunteer Life
Sue from The Island Cats
Melissa from Barking from the Bayou
Jenny from Pixel Blue Eyes
Paula from Sweet Purrfections
Jenny from As the World Purrs
Ann of My Pawsitively Pets
Pet behavior consultant Amy Shojai of shojai.com

Special thanks to the non bloggers who also participated, such as Amy's husband Lee, Wayside Waifs' extraordinary cat whisperer, Jen... and Fred & Bison's mom Vanessa.

I hope I did you proud.


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12 comments:

  1. I still get tears every time I watch this - you did SUCH an amazing job and I am proud to be a small part of it.

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  2. You did. :) This never fails to warm my heart every time I see it. <3

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  3. My heart swells in my chest! You done good, Grasshopper!

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  4. It is a very nice video. My adopted shelter cats are really loving it!

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  5. Brava, excellent! I loved the video.

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  6. Oh I'm glad you shared this post! Mom and I luved seeing the videos you put together! You deserved many paw pats on the back and lots of applawz for all your hard work and dedication. Mom remembers seeing Jingle in our local Hallmark store! Kisses. -Valentine (& Mom Kerry) of Noir Kitty Mews

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  7. That was an amazing project. <3

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  8. I still love that video, Lisa. You did such an amazing job making it come to life. Thank you for letting us be a part of it. :)

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  9. We were so proud to be part of this. Thank you.

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  10. What a wonderful video for a great cause ! Purrs

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Coolio! A comment? For US?