In case any of you were wondering where I’ve been for the last week, and warning, where I am likely to be much of next week as well, I’m Backstage at Sundance.
Well not literally of course. I’m covering general news and monitoring the blogosphere for interesting Sundance tidbits for the HP blog, all from GetGood Strategic Marketing world headquarters in Hudson, Mass. But as we all know, there’s only so much time to blog in any given week, so for the next little while, most of my writing will be over there, not here. And of course there’s lots of great Sundance blogging from the folks on the ground at the festival — film reviews, press conference reports, celebrity sightings. Be sure to check it out.
A few things I definitely want to note for my marketing and PR readers. I posted yesterday at Backstage about how Sundance is really embracing social media. In the last two weeks, they announced deals with iTunes and YouTube. Starting Monday, folks will be able to purchase short films from this year’s festival on iTunes. And on YouTube, there’s going to be a Sundance Channel section with all sorts of Sundance content — festival coverage of course, but also clips from programming and so on. Not to mention the festival screenings being held in Second Life. More details and links in my post over at Backstage at Sundance.
HP is trying something new with the Backstage blog this year: "En Español." Many of the general posts as well as posts of interest to the Hispanic audience will be translated into Spanish. From HP Hispanic Marketing Manager Kathleen Haley’s post today:
… we will have the most exciting entries about the festival, as well as specific entries that are relevant to the Hispanic market and our Hispanic readers — whether that be a celebrity sighting, a great movie (Padre Nuestro or Summer Rain directed by Antonio Banderas) or a big event. Keep coming back to see the latest on HP and Sundance en Español!
Finally, regular readers know how strongly I feel about donating to charity, early and often. Friday at Sundance, actor Kevin Bacon announced a new charitable initiative that plays off the well known game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Together with Network for Good, Bacon has created sixdegrees.org, a charitable community in which celebrities and regular folks alike share their favorite charity. When you donate to someone’s charity through sixdegrees.org, you can display a “badge” from the person whose charity you supported on your Web site or blog. Linking us all together by doing good.
You can read more about sixdegrees.org and Network for Good at the Diva Marketing blog and my Backstage post (updated).
Tags: Sundance, Backstage at Sundance, HP, Hewlett Packard, Network for Good, Kevin Bacon, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, sixdegrees.org, iTunes, YouTube, social media, Sundance Channel