Cruising, and mostly guessing our way through some of Florida’s most desolate state roads, Stephan and I arrived last Saturday to one of Central Florida’s largest exhibitions of chrome, leather, and tattoos—The 16th Annual Leesburg Bikefest.

Yes, we failed miserably to meet the Bikefest dress code, but more importantly, we were impressed how so many people had come to a city of less than 16,000 to demonstrate their communal passion and loyalty for the motorcycle culture—easily doubling the population.

Why were we there you ask? Good Question. Our goal for coming out was simple; go out and document how our client, Gilbert Recreation Insurance, administers and executes their promotional efforts at a highly trafficked event.

The smoldering heat and mild dehydration was not enough to turn us away. We were determined to document the process and get the scoop story. From Gilbert’s carefully branded backdrops, well shaded sign-up areas, to their charming representatives, Gilbert Recreation Insurance captivated the attention of many attendees. Patron after patron met with a representative, provided their basic credentials, and then automatically entered to win “$1,000 in cold hard cash”— Too easy.

We took the time to meet the Gilbert road team and ask what they enjoyed, what the loved, and what they would like to see changed at their events. Most of the answers were straightforward and rightfully positive. Their intention, according to their representative Tim ” is to educate attendees, make them feel positive about insuring one of their highly valued assets, and create long lasting relationships.”

After review of our documentation, we’ve come to the conclusion that Gilbert does what it knows very well and been doing so for many years. However, Gilbert acknowledges there is room for improvement and they seek to progress in their social engagement/footprint. Amiably, Gilbert Recreation Insurance has asked Rise to be their guide.

Things we’re looking to do:

• Befriend fellow festival attendees & presenters via Twitter & Facebook
• Create multi-way conversations on said platforms
• Collaborate with fellow presenters to construct larger campaigns
• Implement the friending/liking/follow to the Gilbert consultation process
• Create additional payoffs for attendee’s participation like photo op’s that get sent directly to preferred social platform.

So, our initial goal is see what works and what doesn’t and provide a testament of our progress in the following weeks.

Stay tuned.

Facebook’s new social plugins, specifically the new “Like” button, make it ridiculously easy to share the web with the people you know. This is great for users of Facebook, since they’ll get more exposure to what’s good on the web as defined by their friends. Marketers are licking their chops as well, in anticipation of another stream of exposure for the businesses they represent.

Now that the opportunity for all of these connections is as simple as two lines of code on your website, this sheds even more light on what is arguably the most critical aspect of marketing today: creating information people find valuable. Valuable enough to hit a “like” button.

I found a great new video on facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape. Enjoy!

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This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape.

I found this video recently about the impact social media has on business. If you’ve had any doubts, watch the video below and pay attention to the stats….oh, and get started by securing your business name on Facebook and Twitter.

Enjoy!

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Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Welcome to the World of Socialnomics.