Sometimes a chance meeting makes all the difference. Mark Monahan, Executive Director of the Ottawa Bluesfest, and Allan Isfan, CEO of FaveQuest, met by chance at the launch of a new radio station in Ottawa in early 2009. A few short weeks later, the two companies inked a deal that would increase the festival’s web presence.This new web presence would lead to a substantial increase in engagement, word of mouth virality and more fans sharing their schedules. It would ultimately help the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest achieve a banner year in terms of on-line attention.
“FaveQuest’s Bluesfest ViewTube has made a dramatic difference for us in terms of increasing fan engagement.”
Mark Monahan, Ottawa Bluesfest Executive Director
FaveQuest had been working on a next generation Social Media Platform to help media companies connect with people in social networks. Working in partnership with Ottawa Bluesfest staff, the platform was quickly adapted to the events market and ViewTube was launched April 22, 2009.
The result was an extension to the website filled with performer videos, sharable personal calendars, ability to invite friends through email or Facebook, a jukebox to listen to music for hours, daily news and updates, user posted videos and pictures.
In addition to the website extensions, the engaging tools were also available through the Bluesfest ViewTube Facebook application which included some special features. For example, the Facebook application allowed fans to review the entire Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest schedule and see which of their friends were going to particular shows so they could add it to their own schedule and invite other friends. All such actions showed up in the fans’ newsfeed, ultimately reaching thousands of people.
The results were truly impressive. Several hundred thousand videos were watched and over 100,000 events were added to personal calendars that people shared with one another extensively. This led to more tickets sales and many fans discovering new acts which motivated them to show up earlier to take in the festivities. Everybody wins!
FaveQuest and the Ottawa Bluesfest team are hard at work on enhancements and new features for the 2010 festival season. Many surprises are in store.
