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 What’s interesting about car-battery maintenance? Nothing, really. That’s why Interstate Battery System of America Inc. (IB) decided to make a bold statement when it set out to raise awareness about the damage that intense summer heat can cause to car batteries. The company found that most consumers believe that frigid weather causes more damage to car batteries when just the opposite is true — hot summer weather is worse.
So to educate consumers and encourage them to get their batteries tested during hot weather (traditionally a slow period for battery replacement in general), the Dallas-based company teamed up with Inspira Marketing to create a snow day during the summer. Together, they planned and executed the “Summer Snow Day Tour,” which traveled to five minor-league baseball stadiums in cities across the country, chosen for their warm summer climate and proximity to IB dealer locations.
At each stop, event staff set up a snow-sled ramp — complete with 18 tons of manufactured snow — and children’s play area, along with IB signage emphasizing the importance of battery testing during the summer. However, it wasn’t all fun and games, as IB’s battery experts were on hand to test car batteries for attendees and field questions about battery maintenance.
By the time the snow melted and the last battery was tested, more than 22,000 people had participated in the snow-day activities, and the tour garnered more than 23 million media impressions. Turns out all it takes to make batteries interesting is a change in the weather.
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 Oracle, a Redwood Shores, CA-based software manufacturer, paired a Web 2.0 application with the needs of its tech-savvy attendees during OpenWorld, its annual event held in San Francisco. The company began incorporating Twitter into its conference in 2008, using the social-networking site primarily as a virtual bulletin board of sorts, posting brief messages for attendees leading up to, during, and after the event. The pairing has been so spot-on that Oracle plans to continue Twittering, and its official site now has more than 2,690 followers, or “tweeps,” proving that birds of a feather flock together — even in cyberspace.
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To decrease the amount of paper it prints for distribution at its conferences each year (along with the accompanying cost), The National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) decided to go digital with its literature. For the beta test,
it uploaded all of the presentation materials from its 2009 conference to Presentation Portal, a customizable Web-site service created by Minneapolis-based MetroConnections. The NYLC uses the branded site as a host for conference Webinars, session outlines, and speaker bios, providing access to the information via a username and password given to each NYLC conference attendee. The move to online content cut NYLC’s costs by thousands of dollars and gave attendees continued access to information even after the event was over.
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 When it came time to introduce its new Windows Live Photo Gallery service to consumers, Microsoft Corp. knew it wanted to create a memorable impression. So it teamed up with New York-based e2 Marketing to create temporary photo studios in residential neighborhoods in San Francisco and New York during the three weeks leading up to Mother’s Day. Microsoft hoped the studios, which were set up in Pacific Heights and Brooklyn, would attract “urban moms,” and worked with e2 Marketing to distribute flyers and promotional materials to area residents.
“We had research that showed sharing photos among family and friends is something that’s often managed by the mom in the family,” says Michael Burk, senior marketing manager at Microsoft. “Picking residential neighborhoods within big cities allowed us to have better foot traffic than if we’d been out in the suburbs, and it gave us a better chance of getting a good ‘neighborhood effect’ because we figured people would try it and then tell their friends and family and neighbors to try it, too.”
 Families interested in getting a photo taken simply walked into the temporary studio, signed up for a free Windows Live ID that provided access to all of the Windows Live services, and received a photograph taken by a professional photographer along with a trial offer of Microsoft’s newest Windows Live products — including Windows Live Photo Gallery, which allows users to store and share their own photos with others.
In the end, Microsoft collected 2,000 new or renewed Windows Live ID accounts, while another 4,800 people signed up for trial offers for a total of 6,800 brand engagements — nearly twice the company’s goal of 3,500. What’s more, 96 percent of the participants reported they were “very favorable” or “mostly favorable” toward the Windows Live services in a post-event survey, which according to Burk, “handily beat our usual average.” Now that’s a photo finish.
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For most event planners, “attrition” is a four-letter word — and an unforeseeable expense for which it’s nearly impossible to budget. So how do you ensure your event’s room block gets filled when business travel is decreasing across the board? Offer vouchers. That’s what The Optical Laboratories Association (OLA) did to drum up attendance for its annual meeting and exhibition in National Harbor, MD.
 After scouting hotels in the Washington, D.C., area, Carmen Sevilla, OLA’s convention manager, found a handful that would offer a competitive $189 to $229 rate during its convention. Then, she convinced exhibitors to offer hotel vouchers of up to $150 to encourage their clients and prospects to show up for the event.
Thanks to the vouchers, which cost OLA nothing to procure, Sevilla saw a spike in event registration and room reservations, and saved thousands of dollars in hotel attrition costs.
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The Walt Disney Co. is known the world over for the thrilling rides at its amusement parks, but the entertainment company’s movie-production arm gave attendees a thrill of another kind when it rolled out its “Disney’s A Christmas Carol Train Tour” last year. Designed to promote The Walt Disney Studios’ new 3-D movie starring Jim Carrey, “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” the 40-city mobile-marketing tour pulled into operational train stations in cities across the United States, from Los Angeles to New York.
At each stop, tour staff set up a winter wonderland of sorts, complete with holiday decorations, Christmas carolers, and faux snow. However, the real oohs and aahs came when event visitors, who heard about the train tour via television promotions on ABC stations across the country, stepped onto the train and into the world of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale. On board, they encountered four vintage rail cars, the interiors of which were outfitted with décor inspired by the film. Highlights included artwork, set pieces, and an interactive face-morph application, which took photos of attendees and transformed them into 3-D
characters — a visual special effect similar to the one used in the making of the film. After attendees exited the train experience, tour staff led them to a branded, inflatable theater, where they viewed a sneak preview of the film — in 3-D, of course.
From vintage rail cars and an inflatable theater to an impromptu winter wonderland and cinematic sneak preview, Disney proved it still knows how to bring its movie magic to life.
 
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It seems iPod giveaways are a dime a dozen at corporate events and trade shows. Most of the time, however, the gadget has next to nothing to do with the company giving it away. Cisco Systems Inc., a networking and communications-technology company, took the iPod giveaway to the next level — by making it relevant. For its annual CIO Summit, Cisco downloaded conference materials such as the program guide, the welcome message, and the event survey onto iPod Touch devices and distributed them to attendees. The company also incorporated the iPod Touches into the conference sessions by using them as real-time polling devices. Thus, the info-laden iPods not only reduced Cisco’s paper consumption by 70 percent; the digital gadgets
also created an interactive experience for attendees and were a big hit among the event’s tech-savvy crowd.
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How do you introduce yourself to the neighborhood when you’re an airline? Have your new neighbors over for a beer, which is what Southwest Airlines Co. did to announce its new service from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The popular airline worked with New York-based Civic Entertainment Group to set up a branded porch and patio structure in the southwest corner of Bryant Park, where it put on the southern charm. Visitors to the space imbibed on glasses of Southwest Summer Ale and dined on food created by “Top Chef” host Tom Colicchio, who also has a restaurant in the park. Menu items included soft-shell crab sandwiches, bratwurst, and meatball sandwiches, each representing a different Southwest Airlines destination. While visitors ate sammies and kicked back on porch swings, Southwest Airlines’ brand ambassadors answered questions about the new service and helped interested travelers book flights. By the time the porch closed up shop for the winter, 500,000 people had stopped by for a little R and R — not to mention a Southwest soft sell, proving that a little southern hospitality can go a long way.
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