H1N1 experts found at Family Development Center

Surrounded by posters and newscasts blaring scary messages about the H1N1 virus, the campus Media Services department thought a different approach might be more effective.

Their idea? Kids.

“After talking with Stephanie (Student Health Center Director Stephanie Hanenberg), we kept asking ourselves what’s the best way to sell this,” Mark Bell, media specialist, Information Technology, said. “The prevention message is really simple so using kids to say it seemed natural.”

Bell worked with Bennie Sloan and Angie Kinnett, media specialists, Information Technology, and student assistants Karl Brevik and Angie Cillo to refine the idea. Eventually, youngsters in the class of Carol Quillin at the Family Development Center were interviewed and the idea of “ask the experts” hatched.

No doctors in lab coats, no images of needles, no network news anchors breathlessly talking about the possibility of a pandemic. Instead, three, four and five-year-olds talk about preventing the virus, recognizing symptoms and what to do if you think you’re sick.
The video will be aired on Comcast Channel 20 and appear on the Student Health Center website. To view the video, visit http://www.uccs.edu/~pages/h1n1_video.html.

-- Tom Hutton