Social Media Campaign Takes A Gold

Boise, Idaho- The International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) paid tribute to the 2010 Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival on September 15, 2010 during the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards Ceremony held at the IFEA’s 55th Annual Convention & Expo in Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. – September 15-17, 2010, where they were presented with three awards in the prestigious IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards competition. Awards were won in the following categories: 

• Gold Pinnacle (top honors) - Best New Promotion Social Media/Facebook & Twitter Campaign
• Silver Pinnacle - Best Media Kit
• Bronze –Best Media Relations Campaign 

All three award-winning entries were produced by Melody’s Ad Works, Inc. of Wildomar, the Festival’s Public Relations firm. Melody’s Ad Works Inc. has been marketing and promoting the Festival for 14 years. The firm also produced the three 2009 IFEA Awards for Gold Pinnacle Award (top honors) for Most Creative/Effective News Stunt, and Best Media/Press Kit. The Bronze award was for the best printed piece and was awarded for the Festival’s rack card. Melody's Ad Works, Inc. The firm also produces and promotes six events for the City of Temecula, including the Temecula Bluegrass Festival.

 

Temecula Bluegrass Festival 2010

Sponsored by industry leader Haas & Wilkerson Insurance, the professional competition draws entries from among the world’s top festivals and events. Winning entries came from organizations as diverse as the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO; Borderfest Association, Festival of Lights, Hidalgo, TX; Shows Etc.-Idaho State Capital Building Rededication Celebration, Boise, ID; Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville, KY; Saint Louis Art Fair, Saint Louis, MO; and the International VSA Festival, Washington DC.

 

International contenders included such diverse event organizations as Baekje Cultural Festival, South Korea; Ludwig Van Beethoven Easter Festival, Krakow, Poland; Rotterdam Festivals, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Festival Lent, Slovenia and Sentosa Development Corporation, Sentosa, Singapore.

 

Awards were handed out in 69 different categories in total including Best TV Promotion;, Event Program; Commemorative Poster; Overall Sponsorship Program; Environmental Program; Educational Program, Children’s Programming; Media Relations Campaign; Overall Merchandising Program; Festival & Event Management Degree Programs to the highest award reflecting the best overall festival & event in the world – the Grand Pinnacle.

 

“We would like to congratulate all of our Pinnacle winners for their outstanding entries into this year’s competition,” said IFEA President & CEO, Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE.

 

“The IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards represents the hallmark of excellence in the festivals and events industry. Entries in every budget category, from every corner of the globe, allow us to recognize the best in our business while raising the standards and quality of media promotions and events across the board.”

 

Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) is The Premiere Association Supporting and Enabling Festival & Event Professionals Worldwide. In partnership with global affiliates under the umbrellas of IFEA Africa, IFEA Asia, IFEA Australia, IFEA Europe, IFEA Latin America, IFEA Middle East, and IFEA North America the organization's common vision is for "A Globally United Industry that Touches Lives in a Positive Way through Celebration," The Association offers the most complete source of ideas, resources, information, education and networking for festival and event professionals worldwide.

 

For a complete list of winners and more information on the IFEA, go to http://www.ifea.com/.

 

Temecla Valley Balloon & Wine Festival

The Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival is held the first weekend in June annually. The Festival has a 28-year history of celebrating Southern California Wine Country’s finest assets of clear skies dotted by hot air balloons, mild temperatures, and rolling vineyards. For Festival information visit http://www.tvbwf.com/ or call (951) 676-6713.

 

Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways

Temecula Valley Wine Country
301 Ways to Use Social Media To Boost Your Marketing

How to Hire a Social Media Marketing & PR Expert

Are you looking for someone to implement your new Social Media marketing strategy?  Here are some tips. First, I am not a social media expert. I am an advertising and public relations expert who specializes in event marketing with small budgets (under $250,000 annually).  That's my niche, and as such, I often have to learn, study, and implement new methods and media for my clients without the big budgets of hiring out.

There are top professionals in the business whose knowledge and expertise help Fortune 500 companies. If you have a large budget - hire one of these thought leaders and their company: Brian Solis, Dierdre Breakenridge, Lee Odden, David Meerman Scott, Kary Delaria, and Jennifer Kane. Why? because these are the people I read, follow, and whose seminars I attend. They are miles ahead of any one in your hometown unless these folks work in your town. They are ahead of any learning curve, and creating the next trend before it is ever reported. (I am currently reading "Engaged")

Most likely you wouldn't read this blog if you could afford them, so here is her second best step. Hire someone they recommend or that follows these thought leaders. It's easy to find out if your candidate knows anything about social media and in particular, the best strategies. Ask what they think of the thought leaders I've mentioned. Research the "expertise" of your prospective hire. Ask for their Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin and Slideshare identity. Ask about their blogs, white papers, and online press rooms.

Clues that your expert is just trying to cash-in on the social media hype:

• Twitter: Followers to Following ratio. Less than 66% a social media virgin ( following 1,000, followers 6), check out frequency and type of tweets. If all advertising for that "expert's" site, expert is a hack. Check out the experts I listed. Their ratios are closer more like 1000/1 followers. They've been doing it awhile and are followed for their "information." not ads.
• Facebook: Number of "likes" or fans, number of pages attributed to expert, fans, friends, likes of those. Again, check out posts for "shouting ads." Do they engage the reader or just shout like a marquee of unending specials
• YouTube: Videos and types of videos. (I'm a hack at this I admit. Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Garfield those are the experts. For a good laugh and inspiration watch Web 2.0 from 2008.
• Slideshare: Does your expert have anything on slide share. Has this expert taught anyone else? If not, how will your company learn to manage their social media strategy?
• Website: None? Forget them. Simple, clean, easy to search, linked to social media. There's hope.
• Blog: Do they blog or ghost blog? Find examples of their work. See how they label or tag their blogs. Find out if anyone follows or comments to their blogs.

Do you currently have a marketing firm or consultant? Are they Social Media Literate? Are they willing to learn - they better be. Can they help you with the strategy and implementation in house? 

My clients and I work together. We don't have the big budgets - one client has a $80,000 annual budget to market an event that has to advertise to 3 major Southern California markets. One of those being the L.A./O.C. DMA where media buys are three times that of the regional market, and 5 to 10 times the local budget. To get results and 40,000 guests we have to leverage buys against sponsorships and promotions.

Our social media campaign last year doubled our website traffic and increased  Facebook Fans from 0 to 3600 in 5 months, 900 to 3600 in six weeks. We worked on it together - their staff and mine. And, we learned while doing. Another client has events 20 weekends a year and an advertising budget under $40,000. Without social media, e-blasts, and buy extensions these events would fail.  Yet there is no money to hire an expert. We again, learn by doing and do on the cheap. See Twitter.com/SocalWineCntry.

If your PR/Marketing  firm can do this for you, keep 'em. If they continue to use tired traditional campaigns, consider social media implementation is nothing more than creating a Facebook page and a regular e-blast. Dump 'em. Proper engagement of Social Media is a marketing strategy. While appearance on social networks is free - maintaining and engaging with the audience is not.

A quick course on PR/Marketing 2.0: (The following books I have read, tagged, highlighted, and devoured along with a plethora of Vocus/PRWeb Webinars - which by the way are mostly free).
"Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands & Business to Build,Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web" by Brian Solis

"PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences" by Dierdre Breakenridge

"The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott

"Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day" by Dave Evans

"Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time" by Joel Comm

"Barack 2.0 Lessons for BusinessBarack Obama's Social Media " by Brent Leary and David Bullock (like him or not - it's what got the man elected.)

"Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR" by Brian Solis and Dierdre Breakenridge

"Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business" by Steve Garfield and David Meerman Scott