Circulation Project

by Bria Cohen

Organ Donation

My goal for the circulation project was to get more people in Pittsburgh to become organ donors. The biggest challenge I faced was the start up idea. I asked myself over and over why should people care? The most ideal answer would be self-reflection and think, what if this happened to you? However as I started to think about the idea of building around hypothetical questions, I came up with another question. In order for me to get the word out about organ donation, I had to appeal to an audience that waited for something they wanted just as badly as transplant patients do. So many people wait in lines everyday, and this made my audience easy to target. Busy an on the go people who value time more than the average person. People who could drive places and have their own Identification card. Also being an organ isn’t based on age, race or gender so anyone can become an organ donor. So the targeted audience would be in grocery stores, fast-food chains and DMV’s.

After figuring out where I wanted my circulation project should take place, I wanted to decide next what message would attract the viewers’ eye. Luckily with research I learned about people is that they are already attracted to images and large font. Also people are more likely to have interest in advertisements while they wait in line to occupy their time so it doesn’t feel wasted. Then the connection between waiting and fulfilling the waiting time became clear that while your waiting it only takes three minutes to become an organ donor, no more than 10 minutes to see about organ donation and less than 2 minutes to see other ways you can help with the nationwide transplant. So no ones time can be wasted when they are researching ways of how to get involved with organ donation.

UPMC is 7^th ranked hospital in the country best known for its services in gastroenterology. People all over the world come to Pittsburgh for a transplant, and what better way to support our community then to the people who occupy it. That’s the main reason why it’s important for Pittsburgh to know about organ donation. If you do chose to help support the efforts for organ donation awareness it’s going back to the community when people chose to help out here in Pittsburgh.

One challenge about on-the-ground circulation is you never know who it will go to or if will circulate at all. By physically being in a store where it’s a basic necessity to buy food you reach a large audience already. Not everyone is on social media and not everyone has the Internet. However with posters and handouts you’re reaching an audience in the community in a public setting. The challenge with ground circulation is the way it is circulated. It’s a plus that the public issue is in Pittsburgh, so this would appeal to a Pittsburgh audience, however becoming an organ donor should be broadcast to more than just a community. In order for m circulation project to be a success, I would have to go to 30+ stores and hang up flyers. Also not all people are susceptible to advertisement in stores. One of the problems I faced was it can easily be knocked down, thrown away or defaced for public amusement. There is no way of controlling the flyer after it has been posted. Both digital media and ground publications is essential for a circulation project.

In conclusion, I was fortunately allowed to post cards in several different locations in Monroeville because of the upcoming Transplant Awareness Month. I’m not sure of the outcome of people becoming an organ donor, but I hope there is some influence of my circulation project to the public.