Use Your Heart

I am someone who is always a sucker for a heartwarming story, so when I came across this story about Orlando International Airport surprising a mom who had just dropped her daughter off at her Disney internship, I couldn’t help but smile (and maybe get a little teary-eyed).
It all started when Madi tweeted the airport saying “take good care of my mom this morning please, she just dropped me off for my Disney college program and she’s really sad to leave me.” Surprisingly, the social media team responded to Madi and the #MadisMomSaga was born.
The team at Orlando International Airport created a “swag bag” to personally deliver to Madi’s mom at her gate before her flight.

When Brandon Buz, senior social media analyst for Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, located Madi’s mom, he gave her the swag bag, a recorded video from Madi and a hug. This simple gesture brought Madi’s mom (and me) to happy tears.

Beyond the mushy side of me loving the good deed of this story, I thought about it from a PR perspective. I often see organization’s social media accounts full of cliché and general customer service responses to followers, but it is important to remember that humanizing your social, embracing your emotional side and conveying that genuinely to your followers can be a smart move.

In my opinion, Orlando International Airport excelled at showing there is a human being behind those tweets with this opportunity, which didn’t go unnoticed by its followers and other airports who also gave kudos to the social media team.

Check out the conclusion to #MadisMomSaga here.