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This blog is my first child, digitally speaking, and will always be maintained with in-depth discussion items, but for more frequent quick stuff like breaking news and brief tidbits, please follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted Tuesday November 15, 2011
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Trail of Lights Delayed

Trail of Lights Austin has been delayed until 2012. Should have followed my own advice.

Posted Tuesday November 15, 2011
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Trail of Lights Needs a Production Intern

Trail of Lights Austin PRODUCTION SUPPORT INTERN JOB DESCRIPTION

BrightBlue Marketing Incorporated has an immediate need for a highly organized production assistant that will be reporting into the Production Director of the Trail of Lights Austin events team. This position will start on an internship basis and have the potential to move to a contractor basis. The position involves support in technical and construction related aspects of the event including, but not limited to all aspects of festival execution, assistance with scheduling and coordination of equipment rentals, lifts, bobcats, and transportation needs.

Prior hands-on experience with all aspects of festival implementation and execution including live music, public address, IT requirements, hospitality, audience management, construction, and transportation a must. Proficient in computer skills, preferably Microsoft Office applications and solid communication skills are necessary.

A flexible schedule is required for pre-event planning and set-up starting almost immediately, but also must include on-site presence at event through tear down completions. Event dates are Dec. 9-18, with setup expected to take 5-6 weeks and strike expected to take at least 1 week. Expect long hours. Physical demands to include heavy lifting, possible operation of lifts and other machinery, walking and standing for extended periods of time.

Contractor is responsible for providing own laptop, mobile phone and reliable transportation.
Pay for this work is a possibility starting at $11/hr.
This position may require Background Security Checks and Drug Testing.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for the open position without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identify, disability, veteran status, sex, or age.

Submit resumes to info@trailoflightsaustin.com

Posted Friday August 12, 2011
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The New Rules of Event Marketing

This is a great article for those wishing to find new ideas on consumer engagement at events, and engagement is what it’s all about these days in marketing. There’s nowhere better to engage your customers than at events!

Posted Friday August 5, 2011
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The Trail of Lights Austin is Back!

Combo Platter is proud to work with BrightBlue Marketing in bringing back Austin’s beloved holiday tradition, the Trail of Lights, back to the community after a 1-year hiatus.

The event was put on hold after 46 years of being produced by the City of Austin due to budget shortfalls. In the Spring of 2011 the City issued a Request for Proposals to outside event producers for the outsourcing of this event. The request said that the “Holiday Event” could be just about anything, anywhere in Austin. Only one proposal was received! And that one proposal happened to come from Combo Platter and BrightBlue Marketing. We know and appreciate how meaningful the Trail of Lights is to Austin, so we put together an 85-page proposal to bring the original event back to Zilker Park. Among the exciting ideas envisioned in the proposal: a snow patch, flash mobs, a 5K run, an added live music stage, one free night for military servicemen and -women, an Austin Trailer Food Court, an I Live Here I Give Here Circle of Charities, an Adopt-A-Display refurbishment program, and of course the Trail of lit displays.

The process to work with the City is a long one and the event was officially okay’d by Austin’s City Council on August 4. So we are, as of this writing, just now able to ramp up production plans for the event, which leaves less than ideal time to implement many of those elements. What WILL happen: the Trail of lit displays, Circle of Charities, Austin Trailer Food Court, flash mobs, and a single entertainment stage which will feature a mix of live local music and community group performances.

An admission charge will depend on the amount of sponsorship revenue that is raised, but as of now we are planning on $5 per person 11 and older, with kids 10 and younger free. One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the City of Austin. (To find out more about sponsorship, email sponsors@trailoflightsaustin.com)

Follow the Trail of Lights Austin on Twitter and Facebook!

Go here to see coverage by Austin’s KVUE.

We hope to see you there in December! (Firm dates will be announced soon.)

UPDATE

Posted Friday August 5, 2011
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Large-Scale Event Management

Read my guest post for BrightBlue Marketing here

Posted Monday July 18, 2011
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Corporate Hospitality at Festivals Should Be Discreet

This article attests to the fine line walked by corporate sponsors at arts and music festivals when they want to create a branded experience without being too “in-your-face”. It’s a fine line indeed, but can be done well if the focus is on experience vs straight-up marketing. Of course, these experiences are intended to get the brand’s message to the consumer, but getting out of hand can happen easily and quickly if the consumer feels bombarded or marketed to. Rather, branding done in a less-is-more manner can end up having a much greater impact.

Posted Wednesday June 22, 2011
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How To Obtain Sponsorship

Questions arise all the time on various forums regarding the acquisition of sponsorship, which often take the form of “How do I get a sponsor for my (insert event/cause/tour/artist here)?” These questions are usually posed by those who have little to no experience in obtaining sponsorship and who are simply seeking the means to do so.

Although finding sponsorship is generally considered a sales job, those who sponsor events and such are marketers making a marketing decision. Therefore you need a thorough understanding of marketing and the marketing objectives of your potential sponsors. And so it follows that you need to know what sort of marketing vehicles your event can offer. They don’t care about how much money, products, or services you need, they care how they can best get a Return on their Investment (ROI).

It’s critical to understand your own market so that you can then target the best prospects whose products or services match your market. In other words, who will be attending your event? Are they male water sports enthusiasts over the age of 30? Charity supporters? Music lovers between the ages of 18-35? Know the demographics of your audience, because that’s what marketers are looking for.

It’s also key to develop elements within your event that a sponsor can leverage within their own marketing channels. Some sponsors are content with onsite branding, such as logo placement on your signage and some sort of other onsite presence like a sampling booth. Other sponsors require media inclusion, which means mentioning them or having their logo visible in/on all your advertising and marketing materials, or allocating dedicated advertising to their participation in your event. Can they offer ticket giveaways to their stakeholders? Will you create a VIP or other special experience for the sponsor and their consumers that they can then advertise? Will you let them use your marks and logos in their media? How extensively will you incorporate online/social media in your event, and how extensively will they be involved in that? Can you set up PR/photo opps that showcase the sponsor’s involvement? Will they have category exclusivity, meaning there will be none of their competitors also sponsoring your event? These and numerous other ideas could be what makes the difference between getting and not getting a sponsor. You should be as creative as possible in developing these opportunities.

In-kind sponsorships should not be overlooked. You will need advertising, t-shirts and food for staff and volunteers, tools and supplies, printing services, and on and on. So offer to do some sort of trade in which you receive goods and services in exchange for a certain level of sponsorship.

Level of sponsorship, you ask? Yes, you should definitely define various levels of financial or in-kind commitment and their associated benefits. Offer all your benefits to the highest level sponsor, and pare down from there to the lowest level. Be careful to avoid “logo soup”, in which too many sponsors (of all kinds) dilutes the branding and benefits they receive. This is best achieved by concentrating on higher-level sponsors and making sure your lowest level isn’t too low.

Understanding your target prospects, what and how they sponsor, and how they measure sponsorship will go a long way towards obtaining a buy-in, so do your research in advance and tailor your proposals accordingly before making calls and setting meetings.

After reading through this post hopefully you’ve come to the (correct) conclusion that you need to hire an experienced professional. Please check out other posts related to this topic for more info by using the tag below.

For resources on doing research, check out IEG, tons of conversations on LinkedIn, and these articles. Joining related LinkedIn groups is also recommended.

Posted Friday May 27, 2011
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How Bands Can Enlist Fans' Help to Find & Finance Gigs

Music’s ever-changing marketplace and the explosion of web and social media tools that help bands has facilitated more and more band-fan engagement than ever before. Whereas it use to be the only time an artist would be able to connect with fans was face-to-face, now these newest tools offer a way to connect online, which means all the time, and get fans involved in the behind-the-stage goings on. Ardent fans love this stuff. Sites like SellaBand and Kickstarter enable fans to help finance things like recordings and getting to important gigs, while a new offering called WHOOZNXT gives bands an online tool for rallying their fanbase to help them get gigs.

Have you had success using such tools? Share your story in the comments section below!

Posted Thursday April 21, 2011
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Event Marketing Strategies for Small Business

Check out my interview here

Posted Friday April 15, 2011
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