Episode 5 – Walter Yu – the simplicity of technology for community connection

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Technology in Human Services podcast!

This episode is part 2 of a look at how the City of San Gabriel transformed its community outreach and engagement with local Chinese-language residents (listen to part 1 here).

As I mentioned in the previous post, Walter Yu wrote a simple call to action in 2013: Five ways organizations could engage Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley:

  1. Jump on to China’s social media
  2. Go mobile
  3. Chat it up
  4. Get some face time
  5. Learn some Chinese

In this episode, I speak to Walter about how his simple idea became the foundation for the City of San Gabriel, and others, including local police departments, to broaden their connections with Chinese-language residents.

Shownotes:

  • Share your thoughts and ideas! Walter had no idea how his call to action would be received. But, it was worth making.
  • Online efforts resulted in changes in how the Chinese-language community and government institutions interact, and their sense of inclusion in the community.
  • Reaching out in a way that works for the community can have a transformative impact on community relations. It can change their perception about your organization and its reputation.
  • Online efforts can translate into tangible success offline as well.
  • Social media can provide a human face that can build trust over time. It may be counter intuitive that the online space builds higher levels of trust and a connection. But, the reality is, if that’s how your audience/community is connecting and wants to be communicated with, meet them there.

As always, thanks so much for listening. Let me know what you think, or what you’d like more of.

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