Introduction to the Black Army Coalition
The Black Army Coalition is an emerging fanbase with the goal of promoting and showcasing the talent and voices of all Black Army.
Introduction to ARMY 2 ARMY Events
Crystal Rae Akey-Smith
This is a presentation about my project ARMY 2 ARMY Events. It’s an ongoing project that provides fun, safe, exciting events for ARMY during the concert weekends.
Although we are mainly doing events in Chicago at this time, we are looking to expand to cities and countries around the world to help provide fun adventures and experience for ALL ARMY heading to see BTS in concert. Fellow ARMY can help by sharing our events on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media outlets. Of course, participating in the events helps us as well. We are also looking for ARMY 2 ARMY Events Representatives across the globe to help make these adventures possible for ALL ARMY.
Do you have a fan project you’d like to include during one of our events? Let us know. We are always willing to help support and sponsor fellow ARMY in their endeavors.
About the author
My name is Crystal and I am the organizer for ARMY 2 ARMY Events. I have been an ARMY since 2014.
Giving Back, One ARMY at a Time
One In An Army

Introduction
Two years ago, our founder took to Twitter to see if any ARMY would be interested in working on a campaign for #EndViolence, #LoveMyself, or a Syrian relief project. The tweet caught the interest of the fandom, and a group of volunteers came together to turn One In An ARMY from an idea to reality. Since our inception, the goal of OIAA has been to focus on what we can do to help or overcome an issue. We aim to spread positivity and motivate ARMY to come together and use their influence for global good.
Our team is comprised of volunteers within the age range of 19-42, hailing from many different parts of the world.
Purpose
The purpose of our platform is to harness the power of ARMY’s influence and channel it into social good. There are a large number of organizations around the world that are working on ground to support people affected by social, political, economic, or natural mishappenings. These organizations, though small, are pivotal in helping people provide support to those in need.
Believing that even $1 can be helpful and contribute to the larger pool of support, OIAA wants to bring ARMY together and create a substantial change in people’s lives through smaller and doable efforts. Each time a new ARMY joins the chain, the impact gets bigger. This is the reason we like to focus on microdonations.
The PPT shared will help the audience understand our vision, approach, our process (Research, Creative, SNS, Outreach) and the campaigns we have run till now. We have also included a campaign example to showcase how the collective efforts of different teams bring a charity project to life.
This PPT will also highlight the impact ARMY have been making through independent charities.
Background
It’s been two years since we launched our first project. OIAA, through internal discussion or with the help of ARMY, selects a cause for a particular month and then shortlists the organization that we will support through our monthly campaign. For members’ birthday, the approach may vary but the cause is selected through ARMY voting. Here are the list of organizations we have worked with till now:
2018:
- Medical Teams International
- SyriaCare
- Love Myself Campaign
- Thirst Relief
- Korean Kids and Orphanage Outreach Mission (KKOOM)
- Gili Eco Trust
- MindLeaps International
- Cuatro Por Venezuela
- Purple Community Fund
2019:
- Children’s Healing Art Project
- Transforming Faces
- Playing for Change Foundation
- International Railroad for Queer Refugees
- Pets for the Elderly
- Helen Bamber Foundation
- Hug It Forward
- Za’atar NGO
- Pazapa Centre for Children With Disabilities
- Animal Aid Unlimited
2020:
- 100Cameras
- Outside Looking In
- Key Changes
Covid Relief Campaign
- Medical Teams International
- Thirst Relief
- Korean Kids Orphanage and Outreach Mission
- MindLeaps
- Cuatro Por Venezuela
- Purple Community Fund
- Children’s Healing Art Project
- Playing for Change
- 100Cameras
BTS Anniversary Campaign
- The Global FoodBanking Network
ARMY Anniversary Campaign
- Clowns Without Borders
Special Projects
- City Harvest (Citifield project)
- Magic Breakfast (James Corden project)
- Food Bank 4 NYC (Jimmy Fallon project)
- CDC Foundation (James Corden project)
- Freerice (World Food Programme project)
- ShareTheMeal (WFP Project)
- OneTreePlanted (We Purple Earth project)
Objectives
OIAA serves as a mediator between the organizations we select and ARMY to provide the former with a medium, to reach out to our action-driven fanbase, and the latter with a platform, where ARMY can access all the information about the organization, its history, and the ways to contribute.
The platform-centric approach allows us to maintain transparency with the money going directly to the organization and no part of it being handled by us.
We consider research and awareness as important objectives but to make sure that we are measuring the efforts that ARMY put through their participation, we focus on tangible impact. Tangible impact is therefore the core criteria behind our vetting process.
Another objective that OIAA aims to fulfill is to highlight ARMY’s initiatives. We have campaigns like AnpanARMY Day where we ask ARMY to share the act of kindness which they or their fellow ARMYs might have participated in. As much data as we are able to gather from ARMY through forms is reflected on our ARMY Map, that shows the work of our beautiful fandom in different parts of the world.
This PPT will highlight ARMY’s contribution beyond the monetary donations and their participation in OIAA campaigns.
Participants
The participants in the creation of the presentation are the volunteers from OIAA.
Results
As per the data collected from ARMY, the fandom recorded participation in 707 projects. Till August 1, 2020, ARMY have donated a total of $3,546,978. This figure includes donations via independent charity projects and through OIAA campaigns.
As mentioned earlier, ARMY don’t only help with monetary donations. We have a form that allows ARMY to share the details of the projects they run and that can also include donating physical supplies, blood, hair, food, and several other items. Here is the summary for 2018, 2019, and 2020 (so far):
For 2020, we are yet to update the number of projects we run for the side activities and donations that ARMY give, excluding monetary donations. We will soon share the complete report.
Conclusion
Every contribution matters. We are very well aware that not everyone can provide monetary donation and hence, we have projects using apps like Freerice and Ecosia where ARMY play games and help contribute essential items to the people who need them. We hope that when ARMY see the PPT and the reports that we have shared, they will understand the massive impact they have helped create. We want to just reiterate what Namjoon once said, teamwork makes the dream work. You are One in an ARMY and collectively we are ARMY, the force that can bring a positive change in the world.
Future
OIAA strives to reach every country and provide support in whichever way we can. We want to use our platform to motivate ARMY, who are looking for opportunities, to work with the non-profit organizations we have launched campaigns for, or any non-profit organization for that matter. Eventually, we want to work with ARMY to create a purple net of positivity.
ARMY Events with BTSPurpleLights
BTSPurpleLights
Hello, ARMY!
Thank you for joining us for our text presentation on the benefits of ARMY events. We understand that this year has been challenging and many of us have had to adjust our plans given our current situations. In difficult times, it can be comforting to look back on happy memories and think of the things that bring joy to our lives. For the BTSPurpleLights team, hosting meetups, events, and projects for BTS ARMY in support of our boys has always been something we’ve enjoyed. Creating this presentation about the benefits of coming together as an ARMY team for special events brought back wonderful memories and excitement for the future. We hope that you will enjoy this presentation and find it useful to you as well in creating more happy memories and working with ARMY to support OT7 BTS.
Purple Always,
Lexi, Jenny, Oli & Kayla
@BTSPurpleLights Planning Committee
Song: BTS Mashup by Goalsounds. Original songs by BTS, BigHit Entertainment.
No copyright infringement intended. All rights to rightful owners.
Song used for illustrative purposes. BTSPurpleLights does not claim copyrights to the song used in this presentation.
Photos by: Lexi H. & Oli_5 from BTSPurpleLights events (and our former fanbase events)
About the Authors
- Lexi H. – BTSPurpleLights Director
- Oli_5 – Social Media & Video team, Planning Committee
- Jenny Everhart – Planning Committee
- Kayla – Planning Committee
- @BTSPurpleLights Information Team
Artists for Healing: Anxieties of Youth, Storytelling, and Healing through BTS
Courtney Lazore
Introduction
Although many attempt to explain BTS’ surge in global popularity by pointing to their social media use, grassroots fandom, and performance skill, there is a clear lack of focus on the importance of the storytelling found in BTS’ work, as well as the underlying influences from literature and psychology. If we are to truly understand BTS and their significance within pop culture and the global music scene, it is necessary to examine BTS’ narrative and its effects more deeply.
Throughout BTS’ conceptual journey from 2013 to the present, trials and anxieties are brought to the surface, contemplated, and resolved. Within their lyrics, music videos, and fictional Bangtan Universe, universal themes of wandering youth, school, temptation, love, and self-development are amplified by related themes seen in works of literature and psychology. These influences help BTS tap into a form of bibliotherapy, a creative art therapy that uses literature to promote healing. A close examination of BTS’ work reveals how BTS engages its fanbase with a cohesive cross-platform narrative that effectively helps fans explore their own anxieties and learn to heal.
This presentation, originally given at the BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference at Kingston University in January 2020, interprets BTS’ conceptual narratives and themes within the context of works by Hermann Hesse, Carl Jung, and Erich Fromm. I also apply the theory of bibliotherapy to explain how BTS’ narrative succeeds in helping fans cope with anxieties and pain. To illustrate impacts on the fandom, I include data from a global fandom survey I conducted for this project.
Research Surveys
The research survey used for this presentation has been opened for a second round. If you’d like to participate, please go here: https://rebrand.ly/btsandhealing
The survey is completely anonymous, and you can participate even if you participated in the first round! The data are being kept separately.
Additionally, if you’re interested in a more in-depth fandom survey that covers a wide range of topics, please visit: https://rebrand.ly/btsgeneralsurvey
Both surveys will be used to inform my future projects. Thank you for your participation!
About the Author
Courtney Lazore is a writer/editor with special interests in BTS, Korean culture and history, language, gaming, and fan studies. She received her BA in History with a focus on East Asia and her MA in English before completing a four-year Korean language program. She currently serves as an editor for Revolutionaries Press and is a team member of @BangtanScholars. You can find her on her website, TheBTSEffect.com, where she posts writings and projects related to BTS and guides to the Bangtan Universe and HYYH Notes, as well as on Twitter @writer_court.
Is the Korean language a communication barrier between K-Pop group BTS and their fans?
Cristina Freitas de Jesus
Introduction
The music scenario in the world has become more diverse during the past ten years, with artists from all over the world providing impressive albums in different languages. One of the biggest music phenomena responsible for these results is the K-Pop (Korean-Pop) group BTS from South Korea, which has been the focus of a big spotlight in the western countries. Their songs have enchanted a huge number of fans throughout the world, a group that is known as “ARMY.” In order to maintain a relationship with their fans, BTS constantly delivers content to ARMY, such as photos, messages, and videos. This type of content is usually delivered on their social media networks, which include Twitter and Weverse (both of which allow the users to publish short messages, images, and videos), among other websites and mobile applications. However, most of their content is delivered in Korean, a language in which few people outside South Korea are fluent. Therefore, does the Korean language become a communication barrier between BTS and ARMY?
About the Author
Cristina Freitas de Jesus is a Business student at Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, a university in Brazil focused on marketing and entertainment. She currently works at Sony Music Brazil, and is responsible for the marketing strategies of the company’s international artists in Brazil, such as Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Camila Cabello, Monsta X, and Kang Daniel. Recently, she began working on academic research, mostly focused on the K-Pop music market and its disruptive results through the western countries.
ARMY, BTS, and emotional investment
Odie March
What some consider to be the “secret” formula to the success of BTS and ARMY together is pretty much an open secret: emotional investment. What is it and why is it so hard to replicate the level of emotional investment that ARMY has in BTS?
About the Author
@sweetbtstea (Odie March) is a dedicated ARMY who does threads and theories sometimes. When not flopping at hiatuses, she can be found crying over bunnies and expanding her tinfoil hat collection. Feel free to come and say hi to me on Twitter!
BTS Montreal Events
BTS Montreal wanted to do more than just be active on social media. They wanted to reunite ARMYs in the city of Montreal and surrounding areas. To make new friends and enjoy all things BTS together. They created this community just like many have around the world, so ARMYs in Montreal would feel less alone. They started making events in 2019 and are still actively doing events online and offline with one goal. To inform, unite and spread the word for ARMYs.
About the Fanbase
BTS Montreal. BTS fan account for Montreal ARMY.Unite, inform, spread the word. For Montreal ARMYs.Unir, informer, faire connaître BTS. Pour les ARMYs de Montréal. #BTSinMontreal #ARMY