The team behind the upcoming film Coraline (based on the novel by Neil Gaiman) does blogger relations right.
Read about it here: A little nail polish, a bit of Coraline and an email from Neil Gaiman and here: My funny Coraline.
Hat tip Sandy.
The team behind the upcoming film Coraline (based on the novel by Neil Gaiman) does blogger relations right.
Read about it here: A little nail polish, a bit of Coraline and an email from Neil Gaiman and here: My funny Coraline.
Hat tip Sandy.
cross posted to Snapshot Chronicles
Readers of Marketing Roadmaps may recall a series of posts I wrote about a year ago on the Sci Fi Channel’s digital press tour. Sci Fi invited members of the digital press up to Vancouver for a weekend at which the network’s current shows were featured – Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Stargate Atlantis and the then new, now cancelled and extremely horrible Flash Gordon.
The representatives of the online sites were treated to tours of the sets of the shows, Q&As with the some of the stars and a chance to break bread with Sci Fi executives Mark Stern and Bonnie Hammer. By all accounts it was a success for both the digital media and the network.
After I completed the case study, I half jokingly told Courtney White the PR rep from New Media Strategies that she should be sure to invite me next time.
And she did. In part perhaps because I have a feature on my personal blog Snapshot Chronicles that covers science fiction television, but mostly I suspect because I recently pinged her to follow up on the case study for the blogger relations book I’m working on.
So here I sit on a Southwest Airlines flight to Denver. This year, the focus is on SciFi’s unreality show GhostHunters and the premiere of the new Amanda Tapping series Sanctuary on October 3rd. Apparently there was a big GhostHunters event already planned and Sci Fi decided to combine this year’s digital press event with it. The event is being held at the Hotel Stanley in Estes Park Colorado which horror fans may recognize from Stephen King’s The Shining.
Red rum anyone?
I’ll be covering the event in three places, with three slightly different perspectives.
On Marketing Roadmaps, I will be focusing on the outreach program itself. How successful is it for the network and the writers? Is everybody getting their full value. I noticed some repeat attendees from the first one, but the sites I spoke with for the case study will not be there. Is it a content issue – they aren’t interested in GhostHunters and Sanctuary as much as they were in the content of the previous event?
Or a cost issue? Sci Fi is reaching out to a population it refers to as digital press. Some of these are blogs, but many are online portals. The writers may even be paid and, paid or not, many consider themselves journalists. This is a very important distinction when discussing blogger relations. Not so much from the content or hospitality perspective but definitely from the expense one. Attendees pay their own travel expenses.
As a result a purist might argue that this isn’t really blogger relations. Well, I’ve never been a purist. Online engagement can take many forms. The term “blogger” in fact is already a misnomer, as we may be reaching out to customers on Twitter or through Facebook or even a branded community. As long as the blog/site in question has an element of community, where readers can comment or converse with each other in some fashion, it is social media.
On Snapshot Chronicles, I’ll be writing about the hotel and the general experience of the event, with an emphasis on photos. I saw two elk on the way into town and grabbed a quick snap from the car, and the scenery is just gorgeous. I’ll also have a review of Sanctuary after it premieres. I’ve seen the screener but those don’t always have all the effects. I’m not really a GhostHunters viewer so not entirely sure what I’ll do with that content, but I’m keeping an open mind.
I’ll also be doing a guest post over on BlogHer about the trip. Among other things, the post will cover a breakfast scheduled with actress Amanda Tapping, formerly of the Stargate franchise and now the star and an executive producer of Sanctuary.
Most importantly though I plan to have fun, and wash last weekend’s Las Vegas dust right outta my hair.
I know a lot of my readers are fellow sci-fi (and Battlestar Galactica) fans, so as a special leap year present, please enjoy this video recap of Battlestar Galactica (Source: Apollo-Starbuck Fanfiction Group).
Tags: Battlestar Galactica
I really do have some awesome posts planned, just no time to write this week. So instead, I thought I’d clean out my virtual cupboards of some goodies for you. Don’t look for a theme, these truly are "small pieces very loosely joined" (nod to David Weinberger.)
First, some science fiction. Torchwood begins its second season on 1/26 on BBC America, and a few more trailers have surfaced. Official trailer. Two scenes from the first episode. Warning: As Twitter pal Dave Parmet and I discussed yesterday, Torchwood is DoctorWho with the naughty bits (his words) and without the most annoying David Tennant (mine). In other words, expect to see some adult relationships of all sorts in the show. And on these clips.
Battlestar Galactica is (finally) due back in April, and spoilery bits are starting to surface on YouTube. Here’s the latest one.
Now, unfortunately, I will not be able to watch Torchwood on the 26th because I will be at the Sundance Film Festival. Tough break, huh. I’ll have more information for you on Monday, but the short version is, I have a new client who is premiering a film during the Festival and I will be going out for the launch party on January 25th.
Speaking of Sundance, be sure to check out HP’s Backstage At Sundance blog. Longtime readers will recall that I helped develop this blog two years ago. Last year, they started featuring videos of impromptu performances by musicians attending the festival, a tradition I believe they plan to continue this year.
BlogHer Business and New Comm Forum are both fast approaching. At BlogHer, I will be speaking, including a case study from a client project. More on that when the agenda is published. At New Comm Forum, I will be moderating an "Alumni" Panel during lunch on the first day. We are inviting attendees from previous years to share a social media/ new communications project or campaign that applied the knowledge they acquired at New Comm Forum. The criteria are pretty simple:
If this sounds like you, contact me at sgetgood@getgood.com or twitter.com/sgetgood.
Finally, colleague and friend Kami Watson Huyse has a great post today — an interview with John "Pat" Philbin, the senior communications person who took the heat for FEMA’s fake press conference last fall. You can read it on her blog or listen to the full interview at For Immediate Release.
My virtual cupboard is now pretty bare. Meatier posts next week. Promise!
Tags: Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Backstage at Sundance, Sundance, BlogHer Business, New Comm Forum, FEMA, Kami Huyse, John "Pat" Philbin
As for this blog, I will try to wrap up my three-part series on customer service before Christmas. After that, here’s what’s on deck: a report on the Photographic Memories program I just completed for HP, interviews with bloggers & a Ford exec about Ford’s On the Lot blogger program last summer and two new client projects with heavy social media elements.
And mark your calendars now for BlogHer Business April 3-4 in New York City, and New Comm Forum April 22-24 in Santa Rosa, California.
Tags: Photographic Memories, HP, Ford, BlogHer, New Comm Forum, Torchwood, science fiction