First theme park in the world, predating Disney, and still setting industry firsts.  Holiday World is also the first amusement park to create a blog, for use to communicate with guests and strengthen their relationship with their customers.  It’s not just corporate drivel found on the many HoliPosts, but real world information and behind the scenes pictures that help tell a HoliStory.  For example, the latest blog post features a punny title and features pictures of the construction on the new water slide, The Mammoth.  This blog is designed to connect with customers, keep us interested in the off season, and ultimately bring us through the turn styles.  It works because I don’t feel like I’m being sold to, I’m being introduced to what the company is proud of.

Holiday World doesn’t stop at blog posts, they also are active on Twitter and Facebook.  This theme park does an amazing job at keeping all channels updated and interact directly with the public.  New media allows for easy two-way interaction, that benefits the company and the customer.  Again, Holiday World does an amazing job at this by sticking around after a tweet, responding to wall posts, and making sure blog comments are addressed.

I’m excited to share that Paula Werne will be speaking at the next Social Media Club of Evansville meeting on November 21st.  From 6:00 to 8:00 PM Paula will talk about how Holiday World has navigated the peaks and valleys of mastering the new media frontier.  Everyone is invited, so please sign up today.

Have a question to ask Holiday World about social media?  Fill out the ‘Ask Holiday Word Form‘ and we’ll make sure Paula sees your question.

Stuff:

• Holiday World on Facebook
• Holiday World on Twitter
• HoliBlog
• Social Media Club of Evansville Event Signup
• Ask Holiday World Form

The event will be open to the public and I would encourage everyone to attend.  It’s a unique opportunity to hear what our candidates have to say about accountability within an information age.  I am personally interested in how they intend to keep it a 2-way street and encourage feedback through tools like Facebook, Twitter, and others.  I don’t think that the election process ends at the polls, it continues through the elected officials term and can be shaped and molded through social media.  Accountability in office can only be attained by keeping the doors open and social media gives us that ability.

Evansville Mayoral Discussion Event – Register Now, it’s FREE.

Social Media Risks and Challenges

USI Move In Day

My brother-in-law moved into the USI apartments on Thursday.  Being on campus was a shock to my system, I was amazed how much the small state college had expanded.  The campus had new architecture, flowing sidewalks, and lots of activities for the students.  However, back in the apartments, not much had changed.

On Campus at USi

Who cares how out dated the apartments are, at least for freshman moving out of home for the first time?  I can remember how excited I was to get my first taste of freedom, exhilarating for better or worse.  However, I was quickly grounded once I saw the bill, freedom comes with a cost.

Concrete Tee Pee at USI

Exploring USI Campus

On Campus

But move-in day at USI isn’t about the cost of a good education or who has the latest college apartment amenities, like PS3 and Xboxes.  Besides, I brought the entertainment, buying the toilet paper was someone else responsibility.

My first point is really a question, are all smcEVV meetings in this format?  That is, do we bring in an expert that talks about a product and/or service they are knowledgeable of and let them sell us?  No offense to Rocky Walls and in all fairness I’ve only made 2 meetings, but both times I felt like I was being sold a bill of goods and not actively participating in a learning experience.  Which leads me to my next point, legitimacy and putting things we learn into practice.

Of the 2 hours spent at the meeting I was being sold on the ability to toss out quick and easy videos for the sake of creating a buzz about my business or product.  However, every example and conversation seemed to be marketed toward prepubescent teenagers, not anyone with actual money in hand.  So what does this mean to your business?  I know it left me wanting more and any serious question seemed to turn into a, “sad subject”.  But to me it’s real, living in the real, experiencing the real, albeit online.

Maybe my view point is soured because I’m a green horn to social media?  So, I apply what i know.  In my 7 years experience with online marketing, I have learned views do not equal sales.  Furthermore, I’m reminded of my Marketing 101 class at USI, the Budweiser Frogs were a marketing failure.  In no discernible way could an increase in sales be attributed or even justified for the money spent on that specific marketing campaign.  Sales remained flat for Budweiser and they were out the sizable campaign cost.  So, how do you track success with an online video and why am I not using bullet points?

Snake Oil.  Guru’s love selling a bill of goods that can not be accurately measured.  My point is that views do not equal sales and brand visibility does not equal positive momentum.  Yeah, we all remember the frogs, but it doesn’t make me want to buy their beer.  I would love to learn what techniques and methods have been working for businesses to increase sales, not what techniques have increased page views on YouTube, thus increasing Google’s stock price.

Again, I’m not down on Rocky Walls or the smcEVV, I’m sure others took more away from the presentation than I did.  What I did enjoy was my one on one with different people attending the meeting and sharing what we had been working on and what we needed to succeed.  Which makes me wish that someone would organize an smcEVV round table event, where ideas can be shared and the ‘sad subjects’ can be addressed.

Lastly, I completely understand that time is a constraint with meetings like the one at Ri Ra’s.  Also, not everyone in the room shared my same need or want for a deeper look at YouTube’s ability to boost sales.  Much like this single blog post, there are endless tangents we could explore and still not satisfy all the questions.

Thanks again to the Social Media Club of Evansville for organizing the meeting and to Rocky Walls for spending time with us.  Next time he’s in town I’d be happy to buy him his own tray of celery.

Shout Outs:

12StarMedia.com

Social Media Club of Evansville

As a note, everyone is just as friendly, outgoing, and welcoming as their online persona.  Furthermore, presentations are professionally orchestrated and geared toward teaching and open discussion.  Even if you struggle finding Facebook.com, you’ll feel at home learning about how important social media has become to your business and personal reputation.

According to the SMC newsletter, Mondays meeting will focus on YouTube and Real Simple Video and what it means to your marketing efforts.  I know how my ventures into video production have turned out, so I’m considering a double dose of Rocky Walls, who will also be presenting at U of E earlier in the day.  If you don’t know who Rocky Walls is, he’s the go to guy at Star Media Productions, a business that focuses on online content creation and social media marketing.

For all the gritty details sign up at the official Social Media Club of Evansville Website.  The meeting at Ri Ra Irish Pub is free, but the presentation by Rocky Walls at U of E will cost a $20 registration fee.

Stay connected with SMC of Evansville on Twitter by following @smcEVV.

The What: Social Media Club of Evansville August Meeting

The Where: Ri Ra Irish Pub, Downtown Evansville

The When: August 15th, 2011 from 6-8 PM

The Why: YouTube is no longer just a place for laughing babies and skateboarders rendering themselves infertile. Posting video online boosts SEO and SMO, drives traffic to web sites, increases conversion rates, enhances brand value and recognition, and creates more personal audience interaction.

In short, video can change your online audiences into relationships.

Animals, animals, and more animals!  Even though I grew up on a farm with cows, pigs, and goats, I still love seeing all the unique animals on display at the 4H Fair.  I’m not the only one, my daughter squeals at the sight of a fluffy bunny, curious goats, and horses.  Although she claims that the cows are her favorite farm animal.

The little guy above caught my eye while walking between the displays.  I can only imagine how hot he felt, luckily all the animals were being cooled with huge fans and plenty of water.  As for fluffymcfluffsalot above, I’d call him Snowball.  He even won a ribbon, but got a little hungry.

At the risk of being spit on we braved the Alpaca and Llama exhibits.  For the life of me, I know they aren’t stupid creatures, but they look derp to me.

My wife and daughter lose interest with the equipment pretty fast, but this HUGE tractor certainly got their attention.  Lord knows the cost of the thing, but it looked BA with the huge TRAX instead of tires.

We could have spent all day simply walking through all the animal exhibits and talking with their owners.  Everyone was so proud of their pets and/or livestock, it really was an enjoyable experience.  We felt like the gawking geese below, too much to look at!

After walking around for a little while we started getting very hot, so we went inside to check out all the blue ribbon winners.  Specifically we were looking over the vegetables and arts and crafts.  There was one ‘craft’ blue ribbon winner among the model cars that caught my eye.

The guillotine model made above was done by an 8th Grader.  Teachers, please keep an eye on this kid.  Also inside was rat and reptile exhibits and the reptiles sure knew how to do interior decorating.

My family and I also took time to look at all the horses and pony’s getting ready for the costume contest.  We even witnessed one pony being painted from head to toe in PINK!  Being the father of a 3 year old I know it had to be Pinkiepie.

Because we went so early in the morning we didn’t have time to see any of the events going on, like the demolition derby or tractor pulls.  To be honest, I’d have been hard pressed to get my wife and daughter to set still long enough to enjoy those attractions.  Oh well, there is always next year.

What: 2011 Vanderburgh 4H Fair

Where: Evansville, IN

For more of the pictures that I took, please view my 2011 Vanderburgh County 4H Fair Flickr Set.

-Stearman’s (Bi-Plane) 1:00-1:05pm
-US Coast Guard Search and Rescue
Demonstration 1:05-1:25pm
-T-6′s 1:25-1:35pm
-KC-135 Flyover 1:35-1:55pm
-Billy Werth’s Grayout Aerobatics
-1:55-2:15pm
-Red Star and The Dragon 2:15-2:35pm
-B-2 Stealth Bomber 2:50-2:55pm
-F-15 Strike Eagle 3:00-3:20pm


The Stealth Bomber still holds so much mystery and amusement to me, it’ll probably be the highlight for me.  Although you’ll want to be downtown and paying attention, because it’ll be here and gone before you know it!

What are the Hadi Shrine Fest Events for Saturday?

Just a reminder that the Fest is absolutely free to the public.  However, there is a Bierstube available to the adults which has a $5 admission.  If you have any pictures of the event, please send them to me, I’ll be happy to get them posted.

What is it?

Video Games Live can best be described as an orchestrated rock concert bent on amazing visuals and some crowd interactive elements.  As the name suggests, the music played will be from popular video games, and be synchronized to video and special effects.

Small sample of music that will be played:

Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Final Fantasy®, Warcraft®, Sonic™, Metal Gear Solid®, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger™, Chrono Cross™, Myst®, Tron, Castlevania®, Medal of Honor™, God of War™, BioShock™, Civilization IV, Tomb Raider®

How much money?

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased in three different flavors.  There is the basic budget seating for $28 and better seating priced up to $48.  In addition, there are a limited number of VIP tickets available for $75.

Click Here For Tickets

Video Games Live

Pictures from Video Games Live:

Video Games Live

Video Games Live