The wonderful Wizard…

It’s been hard to find a free minute to breathe never mind blog over the last few days but since this the blog is supposed to be about the journey of “old” to “new” I would not be a good blogger without reporting on the progress of our current project.

THP and its partners (client, Virginia’s Community Colleges, Siddall, Inc., Compleo Apps, BVC, Woody Coates,ShaveFX and others too numerous to name) launched Virginia’s Education Wizard on Wednesday.  The launch event was nearly flawless and was highlighted by a very engaged Governor Tim Kaine bragging on the work of Chancellor Glen DuBois and the “wizard behind the Wizard,” Dr. Craig Herndon.  It also featured school officials and students from local high schools “test driving” the new online portal for community college education and career exploration.

Media coverage was solid with coverage in the Times-Dispatch, with some disappointment on my part that only one of the local TV’s coming out (more on the confounding news judgment of local television news organizations in a later post). 

This launch is being highlighted not only with events designed to gain traditional news coverage but also with a major dose of social marketing across all platforms.  Our Facebook, YouTube and MySpace pages are up and filled with content and ready for fans.  Our Twitter presence based on the Wizard’s tour guide, Ginny, had more than 100 followers in the first few days.  We even live Tweeted from the launch event.  The video we created for the event is being used by local media.  And the email campaign to students, teachers and guidance counselors has fed the number of hits to the site which has increased every day this week.  Next week, we will start publicizing all these pages to create a larger “fan base.”

Our client Susan Hayden created this masterpiece of an online newsroom where you can get releases, logos, sign up for social marketing pages, get a widget to post on your website and even see Ginny’s Twitter stream.

My initial observations include the fact that in the old days when the event was over, you could take a breath.  In this world when the event is over, things are just beginning as you work quickly to post content to keep the flow of information going.  Also, thanks to the team and to THP for not missing a beat with all of our clients during this busy time (did I mention that Snagajob was included in Reader’s Digest?)

That’s all for now, gotta get some sleep.  Tomorrow it’s on to Springfield and our Northern Virginia launch with Ginny’s new friend, Senator Mark Warner.