Local Impact
One of the key measures of the value of media is the effect it has on those who can influence change. Sometimes those people are politicians, either municipal, provincial, or federal, but just as often they are members of groups, organizations, and sectors of society who can and will do what is required to attain a desired result.
It is safe to say that our stories so far have touched all sides of this equation.
This ideology is best demonstrated by who is liking, sharing, and commenting on our stories on social media, as that is a yardstick that can be measured accurately. So far, our Facebook posts have been shared, liked, and commented on by members of all level of government, including municipal, provincial, and federal.
For more than five years this pattern has persisted as we have continued into other poignant social issues.
Our crew has also worked with police, municipal governments, provincially funded groups, and other ‘official’ organizations to produce effective and sustainable projects to help the homeless, and to interconnect dozens of services that work together to help those in need.
It is safe to say that the OCANetwork, also known as Five Points Media, is having an influence in our community.
Reaching our target audience
- Our story about the Grilled Cheese Social Eatery and how they help the homeless spiked to over 30,000 views, and part of that was because Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman shared it on his personal page. See post here
- Our stories often address an issue within our local community that is being confronted by Barrie residents, such as those at Gilda's Club. As such, they are popular with City Councillors such as Rose Romita. See post here
- City Councillor Andrew Prince has been sharing our stories ever since we recorded him in a dunk tank at a fundraiser for the Community Give and Get Centre where volunteers help Barrie families in need. See post here
- MPP Ann Hoggarth shared the video we produced through 3B Solutions of the vigil for those in the LGBTQ community who were murdered in Orlando, Florida. Barrie Pride asked us to record the event. See post here
- Jill Dunlop, the PC candidate for Simcoe North, has been working with our team to produce the SY-STEM Links project to help the homeless. She is also a supporter of our desire to help others through media. See post here
- The City of Orillia shared our story of the Coldest Night of the Year that we recorded in their city in support of the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter. See post here
- The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre likes our work, and they are happy to share it. This is just one example of many recent shares of our productions in support of Move-It For Young Minds. See post here
- We are also often shared by other community oriented groups, such as the ShopOrillia.com. These posts reach potentially thousands of their clients. See post here
- Like minded groups, such as '365 Day Kindness Initiative', also share our content. They spread our message to a pre-existing network of followers consisting of both individuals and groups. See post here
- Sponsors of the events we cover also share our content. Not only do they help the community, they are seen to do so which helps their image as a business and builds their brand. See post here
- Community partners like the Barrie Police Services have also shared our charitable productions. In this case they stamped their public endorsement on a project created for the Women and Children's Shelter of Barrie by our commercial production company, 3B Solutions. See post here
the OCANetwork, also known as Five Points Media, is Barrie's newest media source, and the only independent producer of local video programming. However, we have already established a growing footprint of influence within Barrie, Innisfil, Oro-Medonte, and other regions of Simcoe County and Muskoka. We have also expanded our crew and increased our available production equipment, meaning we can potentially cover multiple events running simultaneously.
