|
Rate this video*
Inspiring (1616)
Useful (1608)
Funny (1606)
|
Comments for this video
You BETTER win this!
Hey I saw some of the other videos. They went a bit over-board with promoting their company; they forgot that the contest is about the story! Your story rocks and you kept on topic. I voted all 3; well-deserved!
Such an inspiring story
yeah--why are all the other videos all focused on the business & not the story? isn't the contest thingy about a story???
Great video! Makes me want to learn a language!
That's awesome!
Hey there. I don't deal with languages but I really appreciate your story. Very insightful and now it's inspiring me to at least learn a few words. Either way, you're point is dead on about building rapport. Voted all 3.
GREAT JOB WITH THE VIDEO! LUV THE STORY 2!!!
Tigrinya? Seriously? Dude, you blow me away. Great video too!
I don't suppose you used some Tigrinya to coax those guys into acting too, did you???
Did Michael do that video for you? He ROCKED it!
No kidding, that video looks professional! You seriously got a GLN volunteer to do it???
Hey Andrew great story, great video! 3 votes!
Hey I sent this around the office. They're demanding you put it on YouTube! Everyone voted for you!!!
So proud of you!
Bravo!!!!!!
Hahaha...did the Andeberhan guy say "Goat is correct" in your video??? Laughing so hard it hurts...
Goat IS correct!
I asked my colleague to lie in front of the bus" --classic. Haha! What a great story!
I like how the driver went from "I almost kill you!" to a big warm smile/laugh. You go Andrew!
Hey man- i've heard this story 20 times and it still blows me away. Good luck!
Can I be you for a day? =)
I wish I could vote twice. It was that good!
Andrew: AWESOME video! Keep up the good work!
next thing i know it, you're going to be teaching Tigrinya for GLN
yeah is GLN going to teach Tigrinya? maybe it will help me too!
Very very inspiring
LMAO!!! =)
Great job!
Looks great!
Good luck!
Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your support. It means a lot to us!
Good luck!
Niceeeeeee
hey what a nice story. yekanyeley ;)
VOTED!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!
bon courage!
Si si...buena suerte amigo
Sending some GLN love your way. Good luck!!!
What a neat story
Only you would have a crazy story like this. and only YOU would have a true story like this! lol. good luck
LOL luv it
hey i sent your link over twitter....hope thats cool
Steph and I both voted for you! Great job with the video.
Great job!
Nice job Michael
Sounds too quiet at the beginning. The graphic profile is way too small. (Too many of these "finalist" videos suffer from audio problems, I'm finding.) Good use of the "re-enactment," and intersecting that with your personal storytelling. But again, the poor audio makes it hard to follow.
Keep up the great work!
Andrew Andrew Andrew. You never disappoint! =P
Does this mean you're going to Eritrea now?
yeah are you going to eritrea now? i think it's meant to be...
HAHA i can't believe you got everyone together to film that. Never cease to amaze!
Ova je bio SUPER!!!!
I don't really understand how he is planning to do this or who his audience is?
marenme456: i don't understand your comment. what's your question?
..i read through the rules 5 times and this is one of the only videos that actually followed the rules. "submit one story and one tip about a real story that has happened to you as a small business owner."
...the point is to tell a great story. not to run on for 4 minutes about your company. This tells a GREAT story. It doesn't need to blab on about the company because THAT'S NOT WHAT THE COMPETITION IS ABOUT!
This is a winner.
voted all 3! got my roommates to vote too. They're big fans!
I'm your number 1 fan ;P
hey are you guys offering french this summer?
? what about summer classes?
U guys need a Portuguese teacher for your chapter out in Nashville? i know someone who's really interested....
LOOK-N-GOOD!!
very funny. very inspiring. and quite useful too! voted all 3.
Rock the vote!
Rocked it.
Rock on.
heard about the partnership with MLK Memorial Library in DC. CONGRATS!! That's HUUUUGE.
for real? niiiiiice
Cool!! This inspires me to not give up in the face of nearly certain defeat
we all voted for you! much love.
what a great story!
"Multiple ratings received from any person or email address after the first rating received from that person or email address will be void. Entrants and Finalists are prohibited from obtaining ratings by any fraudulent or inappropriate means."
The guy with the fewest page views has the most votes? I smell shenanigans...
Thank you for your kind words and support! While we are a young charity and a small organization, we are fortunate enough to have a supportive community of dedicated members: more than 500 students take our classes every semester in the DC chapter alone; we have trained over 350 volunteer teachers and over a 100 administrative volunteers and over 10,000 people subscribe to our newsletter. Our success would not be possible without the support and dedication of our members. Yekanyeley!
the most votes and the least amount of views? doesn't add up right...
It's 2 am in the morning, how did you just get over 100 votes?
Fantastic work! This is an amazing story and it looks like an even more amazing charity. Don't let these cynics get you down. seriously. what kind of people bully a charity? bad karma!
- you don't have to click on a page 20 times to make up your mind to vote. My friend has an entry in this but I just wanted to leave a KIND word. Seems a few bad apples forgot good sportsmanship and the age-old philosophy: if you don't have anything nice to say DON"T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL! great story. good luck
안녕하세요! Great video Andrew ssi! I sent your email to everyone from our program at Seoul National University. A lot of my friends vote last night!!
GOOD LUCK =)
Smart networking, but it's a contest rule that only people in the US can vote...hmmmm
I thought this was only for small buisnesses...
And you already have over 10.000 newsletter subscribers you say?
That isn't that small since 10.000 is a large number
Kingteror: The Small Business Administration deems that, within our sector, any org with less than $7 million budget and less than 500 employees is a small business. We have less than $100,000 annual budget, which stretches to help us serve 6 major communities around the US (and growing). While we have a large volunteer and member base, we have only 3 paid staff members. As the CEO, I've gone the past 2 months without a paycheck just to make sure the rest of our staff is taken care of.
oops hit send too early. I meant to say that as a volunteer of the org, i can attest that it's a small business. but I know that there's only 3 paid staff members and the rest are volunteers...
What I meant to add is that, as the CEO of my own small company, I understand budget constraints as well, as I've gone the past 2 months without a paycheck just to make sure the rest of our staff is taken care of.
Nice save there ;)
Save? You cannot be serious. These voting and comments games are just beyond ridiculous. Given that most small businesses work for years before they can pull money out, I'd say you're doing pretty well.
Would love for you to share your marketing & networking magic. I have been receiving your newsletter and also visit your Facebook page and web page, but none make any mention of the contest... so how exactly do you get the word out and recruit with such immediate success. In my experience, even with a large e-newsletter, bounce and open rates tend to limit the response success quite a bit. The timing of your voting bumps is truly uncanny.
Nice story - I lived in Ethiopia (and speak some Amharic) and met people who spoke Tigrinya. Isn't it striking that NOT ONE of your actual students has made a comment about the course they followed?! (Just Ryan32, not dealing in languages, is now inspired to learn a few words, and William34324 says it makes him want to learn a language).Dylan viewed the video 20x and still so few views? Too many comments sound like 'AndrewB in disguise' and there is no doubt Sunofwani is AndrewB (CEO). Worrisome
The negative comments posted here clearly indicate users who have not had the fortune of meeting, working with, and/or getting to know Andrew. His vision, dedication, and passion toward spreading knowledge of culture and language are surpassed only by his genuine personality that fosters his lasting relationships with people. His philosophy of working for the benefit of others is contagious, I should know. I made this video, during finals, for free. I am a senior at George Washington University.
Finalist story from AndrewB:
As I waited for the elevator, passed my floor a few times, and stalled some more, I went over my game plan for the meeting. My not-for-profit organization was developing a new strategy, and its potential for success would be tested by this meeting. Expecting my visit was a gentleman by the name of Andeberhan, who would ultimately be responsible for managing our potential partnership. Working with his organization would give us access to 25 of their branches, which serve around 600,000 people in the Washington, DC area. Selling him on my organization (and me) was crucial.
Aware that finding commonalities and building rapport are key elements in developing partnerships, I tried to think of ways to connect with Andeberhan. As it turned out, he was from Eritrea. Considering that I’m from a small mountain town in Colorado, about the only thing we had in common was the fact that we’ve probably both seen our fair share of goats.
I admitted to Andeberhan that I knew very little about Eritrean culture and its language, Tigrinya, which didn’t seem to shock him. What did surprise him was the level of curiosity I showed in his language and culture. I even got him to teach me some words in Tigrinya. He was appreciative that I showed interest in his language and culture. Needless to say, the meeting went very well. I felt great about making the connection, though admittedly, I asked myself when on Earth I would ever need to use the Tigrinya language again.
The next day, I was heading to New York for a big conference. I was trying to make the 2:30 pm bus and couldn’t afford to miss it. Slowed by my bags, I dragged along the highway in the heat for 20 minutes and couldn’t find a taxi in sight. My colleague, who was already on the bus, informed me that it was leaving in 5 minutes. I was 10 minutes from the bus stop and still couldn’t find a taxi.
In a moment of desperation, I jumped in the middle of traffic and begged a random car to give me a ride. It was not a taxi, which the driver made very clear as he yelled at me in broken English. I noticed a novelty item in his car saying “Eritrea.” I interrupted his yelling with the little bit of Tigrinya I had just learned, “Bejaka! (Please!) Help me out, I can’t miss this bus! Yekanyeley (Thank you).” He shifted immediately to a shocked look of disbelief, and then to a warm smile replying, “How do you know my language?” He gladly gave me a ride—I barely made my bus—and he thanked me for caring about his language and his country.
My advice is true for business and personal relationships. When you meet someone, always show interest in who they are. It’s as true for business meetings as it is for first dates: nobody wants to hear you go on and on about yourself. Start the meeting by asking about them. Find commonalities and build rapport by establishing a connection. Taking an interest in them will not only help with a deal, meeting, or relationship, but the knowledge you gain might just save you down the road--literally.
I'm soooooooo writing about this for the school paper. Best story ever!