Community rallies for #FallonWantsFallon

I was impressed by how many community members made time during their Friday to join the LVN downtown last-minute for NBC Reno affiliate, KRNV 4, to shoot the #FallonWantsFallon story.

While the goal of this wacky social media campaign is to have fun playing on the name the city of Fallon shares with The Tonight Show talk-show host, Jimmy Fallon, and hopefully garner some more city attention, I’m still blown away by participants so far — people who have lent their time, effort, resources and talents to add positivity and humor to the day.

Even when we create a bit of a traffic jam. (Our apologies.)

The Fallon Police Department and Churchill County School District provided fantastic assistance. Families made Jimmy balloons and posters. Businesses came out to join in. And the moment when everyone started chanting “Fallon wants Fallon!” as they remained stockpiled around the South Maine Street fountain made the day truly entertaining.

Mayor Ken Tedford and the city’s Valerie Swirczek also made a better news story possible along with KRNV reporter Diane Thao, not to mention the funny and articulate students who were interviewed on camera.

Last but definitely not least the Fallon Chamber of Commerce’s social media content throughout this entire campaign so far has been simply astounding.

The campaign has evolved somewhat organically, and we’re hoping to receive a nod from the show’s team at some point after the care package of Fallon, Nev., items arrives at the end of this week.

A few months ago, I mentioned the idea in passing during an LVN meeting that I wanted to mail Jimmy Fallon a bunch of Fallon, Nev., items and write him a note about how his show’s name messes up our SEO (search engine optimization).

Our Sierra Nevada Media Group’s Caren Roblin, a social media expert, was present and offered the hashtag idea #FallonWantsFallon to launch our Instagram account. She also thought adding “Jimmy heads” on a stick would be a great way to create funny, visually engaging, city of Fallon-promoting images.

There have been times I don’t want to create one more “Jimmy head.” There are times I wish social media would go away. But with the LVN, SNMG and most of all the community’s support, this endeavor is what makes me smile when following the day’s news.

I became a journalist because I like to write. This supportive, team-oriented, optimistic community turned a quirky idea into something heartwarming and fun to be part of as well as write about. Thank you. (We’ll keep you posted.)

If you haven’t already, explore all the great local things on Instagram as well as follow the campaign by searching “#FallonWantsFallon” (no account necessary).