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Watch it today at 4pm EST/3pm CENTRAL http://ow.ly/977Jb #smwnywici

NONPROFITS AND SOCIAL MEDIA: A PERFECT SOLUTION
4:00PM – 4:45PM EST
Panelists will share tips, tools and case studies on how nonprofit organizations can leverage social media to impact and maximize the organization’s mission and drive donations and membership.

As part of the SOLE SISTERS film project, award-winning filmmaker Cynthia Salzman Mondell will be filming women’s stories LIVE with her cutting edge SHOE CONFESSIONAL at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The SHOE CONFESSIONAL is a booth where women are free to share their shoe stories and divulge their secrets. This multifaceted project aims to connect the storyteller with the audience allowing for an intimate storytelling experience.
Bring your friends and family to be part of a socially conscious documentary about women’s issues.

On Tuesday I was given the opportunity to accompany Cynthia to Neiman Marcus’ downtown store where she interviewed Burt Tansky, former group CEO. Mr. Tansky worked as a shoe salesman as a young boy and continued his career in the fashion and merchandising world until his retirement in October 2010. As an aspiring shoe designer I was intrigued to hear what he had to say about why women’s shoes are such a successful market and gain tips on what I can do in the future. Surrounded by tables of beautiful (drool worthy) shoes by Prada, Chanel and my personal icon Manolo Blahnik, just to name a few; I listened as Mr. Tansky spoke about a woman’s “need” to buy shoes. We could have hundreds, even thousands of shoes in our closets and yet we still “need” a new pair, this is because of the effect our shoes have on us.  Whether it makes a woman feel sexy, confident, comfortable or revamps an that old little black dress, we use our shoes as (in my opinion) the ultimate accessory. He mentioned the attitude woman have when they’re shopping, then the change that occurs as they step onto a shoe salon floor. As I watched I noticed he was correct; women who walked through had their back a little straighter, held a slower pace and a hint of a smile. Though how could you not smile when seeing Lanvin’s bright colored table or YSL’s sky high stilettos, I know I had moments where I’m convinced time simply stopped. Relying on the designers latest line is what helps drive sales for even the greatest shoe salesman. If the customer doesn’t see anything they like, they’ll just walk on by, but a woman who walks through a shoe floor hopes to find something she “needs.” I’ve stored Mr. Tansky’s thoughts and opinions into my always accepting mind for ideas, knowledge, experience and inspiration, to be used for my future in hopes that one day my shoes will stop time for a shoe-aholic such as myself.

If you missed the first debut, we will return on February 11-12th, 2012. If you can’t wait until then to show off your shoes, share your story on our website or #shoeconfessional”

We were way off to say the least and started looking for new ways to engage our followers, to promote the film and stimulate outreach. It was between ideas that we came up with the idea of utilizing a safe space where we could invite people passing by to walk in and share a personal story about their shoes. We wanted to connect the storyteller to the audience with personal stories, emotions and real lives that represent women’s issues. We felt that face-face interviews would entice people to share their story rather than engaging in the long process of writing-editing-re-writing and then sending it in. So we decided to record the stories as they are told by turning our mobile booth into a recording studio that would stream the stories. In regards to the name, there was something about sharing guilty pleasures to a stranger that reminded me of the dreaded weekly confessions I had to give as a young girl in the Catholic church. Thus the birth of a clever name inspired by archaic traditions-”Shoe Confessional”.

To stay true to our Social Media Outreach strategy we wanted to build upon the online community that has grown over the last year to engage our viewers and spark a dialogue between age groups, ethnicities and genders. Knowing that we are connecting in new ways than ever before and the present is clearly in social media and crowd sourced experiences we wanted to integrate the social connectivity component into this project. By incorporating transmedia techniques into the Shoe Confessional we wanted to generate a unique narrative experience that connects the storyteller with the audience allowing for an intimate storytelling experience. We wanted to create a space where a woman could feel comfortable sharing a personal story in a sacred space amidst a crowd of strangers yet feel connected to each women there and be part of a larger community of women who have been empowered simply by being listened to and sharing their story.

That was the easiest part. Next came the “how” and “when” segment of bringing this idea to life. Knowing that the films roots had been planted in community partnerships we wanted this to be a community collaboration so we put out a call to artists, designers and craftspeople, of which many of you have seen. We had a great response and put together the following team:

Cynthia Salzman Mondell, Media Projects, Inc.
Jen Mauldin – Wilson Associates Designer
Arnulfo Chavez – Master Builder
Valen Chavez – Media Projects Community Outreach Director
Steve Shipp – BRW Architects Construction Team
Misti Chambers – Graphic Designer
David Friedman – Wavemaker Audio Audio Visual Design
Phil Allen- Allen Media
Marlon Madrid – Handyman
Alyx Martinez, Media Projects, Inc.
Rondi Hillstrom Davis – Costume Designer

Everything after that just fell into place… well not quite that easily but I will spare you the details. After looking high and low, we were donated a space by Sarofim Realty Advisors and received several donated materials from Cutting Corners, Home Depot and Target. Jen Mauldin, our lead designer on the project, was a tremendous help and resource since she is LEED certified with a passion for sustainability and loves integrating re-purposed materials into her designs. With that in mind while also drawing inspiration from the re-cycled and re-used fashion trends from the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit, 90% of the materials used to build the confessional were re-cycled and eco-friendly thanks to Jen! Everyone on the team who devoted their time, energy and efforts were greatly needed and appreciated to help finish the project as well. Everyone who brought their talents, vision and passion to the project-we salute you for the shining star you are, we really could not have accomplished this without you.

Special Thanks to
Dallas Museum of Art, Jim Greenfield, Janimation, RepliCopy, Mark Rutledge, Jeff Hurst, Laura Flagerstone, Aleah Dillard, Jessica La Torre, Carlos Macias, Allen Mondell, Fonya Naomi Mondell, Media 13

SOLE SISTERS invites you to experience the new era of storytelling at the Debut of our Shoe Confessional Febuary 11-12. For those unable to attend, we welcome you to send in your shoe confessions along with pictures of your shoes at http://twubs.com/shoeconfessional https://www.facebook.com/SoleSistersFilm or http://www.solesistersfilm.com/share-your-stories.