{"id":33,"date":"2019-02-11T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/?p=33"},"modified":"2022-04-05T12:37:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T12:37:03","slug":"roman-mcconn-the-power-of-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"Roman McConn: The Power of Video"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>WARNING. If you\u2019re an animal lover and haven\u2019t heard of Roman McConn yet, get ready to cry. Don\u2019t worry, I promise it won\u2019t be a bad cry. It\u2019ll be a good cry, the kind you needed today, the kind we need everyday, the type of tears the whole world needs more of. But still, you\u2019re definitely going to cry all the same, so don\u2019t act like I didn\u2019t warn you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roman McConn, a seven year old little boy from Georgia, is the ASPCA\u2019s 2018 Kid of the Year. In 2016 he started the non-profit Project Freedom Ride with his mom. Their mission is to rescue dogs from kill shelters in Texas and find them homes with families in the Pacific Northwest. Since 2016, they\u2019ve saved and found homes for over 1,400 dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2018 ASPCA Kid of the Year: Roman McConn\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0f_KZOh8RAI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Roman is an inspiration. From the moment you see him, you can tell this is a child with a special spark. It\u2019s not simply his enthusiastic energy, he has a deep inner sensitivity to him as well that shines through in every interaction. Watching him on screen I found myself immediately trusting him, no artifice or mask to penetrate, just a little boy who was sincerely passionate about his already defined mission in life. This I eventually realized is the genius of Roman McConn. He\u2019s a fucking amazing salesman.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of Roman\u2019s strategies for getting animals adopted is to make videos with them. He\u2019s not the first person to try this tactic, but he\u2019s almost certainly the most successful. Every animal that Roman\u2019s ever made a video for has gotten adopted. Every. Single. One. For those who are mathematically challenged like myself that means Roman McConn has a one hundred percent success rate. He makes every shot he takes (even LeBron can\u2019t say that). It\u2019s truly staggering to think about. Roman is like the Billy Mays of dog adoption. He\u2019s gotten to the point where it\u2019s not about the actual <em>product<\/em> he\u2019s selling, but it\u2019s about <em>who <\/em>is selling it. People like Roman. People trust Roman. People want to say they got one of \u201cRoman\u2019s dogs\u201d. &nbsp;It\u2019s gotten to the point where people will adopt dogs sight unseen simply because they know that Roman has vetted them. Can you imagine doing that with any other product? Clothing? Furniture? &nbsp;I mean, even before seeing a movie, who doesn\u2019t watch the trailer first?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This in a nutshell is the power of video. It <em>connects <\/em>us in ways that pictures and text never can. Roman\u2019s videos also teach us that pure passion and authenticity will always nourish the viewers soul more than the empty calories of hollow cinematic flash. Roman\u2019s videos are simple in their delivery. The videos are handheld, shot on an iPhone, just Roman and the animal. He doesn\u2019t need digital bells and whistles to sell this product. He just needs your attention. Because after watching for thirty seconds you can tell his feelings and words are genuine. This little boy LOVES this animal. And he wants you to love it just as much. And you do. Every time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since winning the award from the ASPCA, Roman announced his new goal of getting every stray dog in America adopted (Put this kid in the Oval already, he has my vote ). He appeared on <em>Ellen <\/em>where she gifted him a $20,000 check to help with this mission. Whether Roman eventually completes this ambitious goal or not, it clear that he\u2019s going to do a lot of good for a very long time to come. This all got me thinking about how Roman\u2019s marketing tactics and innocent wisdom could be transferred to other important issues. Child Adoption, Homeless Employment, Refugee Families, the list goes on. All critical issues that need their own Roman McConn to shine a light and lead the way. A seven year old has shown the world the power of video when employed with genuine joy, unbridled passion, and commitment to improving society.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ellen Welcomes Delightful Kid Dog Rescuer Roman McConn\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8mekonk-0c0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Which makes one ask the toughest question of all\u2026 What\u2019s stopping you from doing the same?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RadianPhotography_BDLB_August-70-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12 size-medium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RadianPhotography_BDLB_August-70-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RadianPhotography_BDLB_August-70-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RadianPhotography_BDLB_August-70-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RadianPhotography_BDLB_August-70.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">written by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Janice Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Owner, Storyteller, &amp; Chief Dog Lover<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WARNING. If you\u2019re an animal lover and haven\u2019t heard of Roman McConn yet, get ready to cry. Don\u2019t worry, I promise it won\u2019t be a bad cry. It\u2019ll be a good cry, the kind you needed today, the kind we need everyday, the type of tears the whole world needs more of. But still, you\u2019re [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-storytelling"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screen-Shot-2022-04-05-at-8.28.44-AM-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screen-Shot-2022-04-05-at-8.28.44-AM-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Janice Smith","author_link":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/?author=3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigdoglittlebed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}