The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce h
osted its annual dinner just a few weeks ago, on February 24, at The Hilton Fort Collins. Old Town Media had the pleasure of being both a Gold Sponsor and a marketing partner for the event.
Every year, the dinner has a unique theme to help get the crowd going. This year, the theme was “Driving the Future of Fort Collins – the Chamber and You!” Old Town Media had the pleasure of taking this unique theme and creatively carrying it throughout all design and marketing material.
To start, we incorporated visuals from the “Fix North I-25” campaign to get the Fort Collins community excited for the future of northern Colorado. Rather than go the ultra-literal route, we “cartoonized” construction and highway signs so they worked better with the Chamber branding. We used the theme and color scheme throughout all of the design elements including: invitations, social media graphics, bar signage and slides during the dinner’s slideshow.
Driving The Future
To bring the theme to life at the dinner, we got the guests involved. We purc
hased plastic, bright yellow steering wheels and used them to break the ice and grab the attention of guests during cocktail hour. The ladies of Old Town Media, on behalf of the Chamber, went around with the steering wheels and asked guests questions such as “What are you most excited about for the future of Fort Collins?” We posted their answers straight to social media using the hashtag #LetsDriveFoco so guests could follow along throughout the evening.
If you were one of the lucky guest that had your photo taken by us, check out this vide of guests Driving the Future of Fort Collins!
Recognizing Sponsors
We didn’t stop when the night was over because follow-up is key. After the event, Old Town Media created packages for each of the award winners, which included personalized press releases and social media images. We developed a social media strategy to recognize sponsors before, during and after the dinner. Since the dinner would not be possible without the support of the sponsors, we showcased them on the slideshow at the dinner, in various press releases and on the Chamber Facebook page.
Creativity Is Our Niche
While the theme was certainly unique, it was rewarding dreaming up creative ways to incorporate it throughout the marketing of the dinner. There’s nothing like being a part of the planning process of an event and then seeing guests excited about the things you organized.
We are a creative bunch here at Old Town Media and out-of-the-box thinking is when we we feel most in our element. Sometimes we design creative advertising and sometimes we get people to take funny pictures with large yellow steering wheels. At the end of the day, our goal is to produce something memorable.