Tipping Georgia College

This semester, my public relations administration class was assigned to read The Tipping Point, a national bestseller by Malcolm Gladwell. If you ask anyone I know, I have a difficult time finding books that I like. I often find myself dozing off in the middle of my reading and then asking myself, "What in the world is this book even about?". While I was reading The Tipping Point, however, I found myself wondering how I managed to read and comprehend ten pages so quickly. I finally understood what my mom was talking about my whole life when she would say, "Tori, you just have to find the right book." This book was very informational and even made me realize a lot about myself.

According to Gladwell, the "tipping point" is "the name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once" (9). It is the "moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point" (12). In other words, the tipping point is when something (an idea, product, message, behavior, etc.) suddenly spreads like wildfire, similar to how chicken pox spread in my third grade class. Gladwell gave an example of a tipping point with the reemergence of Hush Puppies- "the classic American brushed-suede shoes with the lightweight crepe sole" (3)- in late 1994. These shoes were cool when our parents were in school, however, nobody wore these bland shoes in the 1990s. A small group of people started wearing the shoes again to the clubs and bars in Manhattan, and before you knew it, Wolverine (the company that makes Hush Puppies) went from considering phasing out the shoes to selling 430,000 pairs in a matter of months. Just like that, Hush Puppies experienced their tipping point.

The author discusses the Three Rules of Epidemics: The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. The Law of the Few is simply a "word-of-mouth epidemic" (32). In other words, in order for a tipping point to occur, people must use their "social gifts" to get the word out. There are three different types of "social gifts." A person can either be a Connector-someone who knows lots of people and makes friends and acquaintances easily, a Maven- one who accumulates knowledge, or a Salesmen-a persuader. The Stickiness Factor is finding ways to make an epidemic memorable so that it is set into action. Lastly, The Power of Context is "peer pressure and social norms and any number of other kinds of influence that can play a critical role in sweeping us up in the beginnings of an epidemic" (171). In other words, it's how our "external environment can have a dramatic effect on how we behave and who we are" (182). Once all of these combine, you have yourself a tipping point.

As I mentioned earlier, The Law of the Few divides people up into three subgroups: Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. After thinking long and hard about it and asking my friends and family what they thought I was, I reached a general consensus. I am a mixture between a Connector and a Salesman. I have always liked to know everyone. It drives my boyfriend crazy that I "can't go anywhere without seeing someone I know." Ironically, I often find myself running into people I know in different states. The last time my family and I went to Universal Studios, I just so happened to run into my best friend's youth pastor. My parents just laughed it off and went on about their day. Like the guy in the book, I enjoy meeting people. Although I do not send Christmas cards to everyone I meet, I do find it extremely fascinating how everyone can relate to one another in some way, and sometimes, even know the same people. I am very open-minded and enjoy learning about others' lifestyles. I also consider myself to be quite the salesman. In high school, I managed to sell over $1000 in advertisements for the mediocre school newspaper. I am good at picking out a reason that something should be important to someone. Growing up, if I asked my parents to go somewhere on the weekend and they responded with the usual, "We'll see, Tori," I always managed to negotiate with my parents, work something out and go to the skating rink almost every Friday night. I'm good at opening people's eyes to things they might not have thought of before.

Our class is made up of Salesmen, Connectors and Mavens. We are definitely capable of making this years' kickoff the best yet. In order for our Relay For Life Kickoff to be successful, we are going to have to relate to the team captains, survivors and other participants personally. In order to make the kickoff stick, I think that we should somehow relate to each and every person that attends the kickoff. We could do this through touching Survivor Stories or pictures of captains and their loved ones who have suffered from cancer hanging up around the room. In return, the team captains will be reminded of the importance of raising money for the American Cancer Society and partake in the Law of Few. Suddenly, everyone in the community pumped up about Relay For Life in the spring.

Just recently, I have witnessed a tipping point occur in Milledgeville. Phillip Joiner (my boss) is running for City Council. At first, Phillip asked a select few of us to help him get his name out there so that, hopefully, he would be elected to represent District 4 of Milledgeville (consisting of mostly college students). It was a group of no more than ten of us. We sat around and brainstormed for the first few meetings, discussing the best ways to actually get college students to the polls to vote for him. Like I mentioned before, we decided to connect to these college students on a personal level and have registered over 600 students to vote in Baldwin County. Phillip, being a GCSU amumnae, understands the importance of college students in the city. Without us, several local businesses wouldn't be in business. However, City Council has repeatedly passed legislation that had a negative effect on our college community. Most recently, for example, they passed a housing ordinance within city limits where no more than three unrelated people could live in the same house. Several students were forced to move and/or find other roommates. Therefore, Phillip's slogan, "I want to be heard," has pumped up the college community. At our last meeting, there were nearly 30 people there supporting Phillip and his campaign. Local businesses have also put on benefits for his cause. All of a sudden, the entire college community is rooting and campaigning for Phillip. His Facebook group has reached almost 700 people, several of whom dedicate their statuses to his cause-reminding people to vote, etc. This is a real-life example of the Three Rules of Epidemics causing everything to change all at once.