brighton mini maker faire case study
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A write-up of our work with Brighton Mini Maker Faire 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Brighton Mini Maker Faire 2011
Campaign Case Study
Brighton’s first Mini Maker Faire started life as the dream of a handful of enthusiastic makers and geeks...
...it became a major event with over 5,000 visitors and widespread regional, national and online coverage - including local Twitter trending status.
Context
• Maker Faire is an event created by O’Reilly’s Make magazine that celebrates homemade creations across tech, science and traditional crafts. There are several regular events around the world
• Mini Maker Faires are independently organised community spin-off events, endorsed by O’Reilly and carrying the Maker Faire brand
• Early in 2011, a group of volunteers committed to organising the first Mini Maker Faire in Brighton
• In May 2011, C&M was approached by the Mini Maker Faire committee
• We discussed the upcoming event and ways in which C&M could help promote it
• A plan was submitted to the organisers that offered a sponsorship-in-kind package whereby C&M would manage the PR and social media for the event in return for visibility throughout the campaign and at the event
• We also considered it an opportunity to contribute to a local community educational event
Campaign Goals
• The campaign to promote Brighton Mini Maker Faire was two-fold:
• Initially, to attract participants (or ‘makers’) for the event in a ‘call for makers’ phase
• Then to draw visitors to the event on Saturday 3rd September
Campaign Plan
Our agreed campaign deliverables were as follows:
Media Comms
• Press releases - social media friendly releases (one for each phase)
• Media target list - including local, national and bloggers
• Online listings - including local/regional and national
Social Media
• Facebook Page - create event, engagement with other relevant pages/groups, manage Facebook ad campaign
• Twitter - follower building, set up custom HootSuite, create influencer lists, co-manage flow of content/engagement
• YouTube/Vimeo - Create introductory video. Optimise and seed video content (created by committee).
Competition
• Run competition(s) to raise awareness of Brighton Maker Faire
Blog
• Manage blog schedule and write/edit posts. Suggest one post per week in June/July, increasing to two or three per week in August. These will be optimised for identified keywords, in order to attract organic traffic
Campaign Outcomes
• 60+ maker applications to fill a possible 30 places
• 5,473 visitors to the event
• Massively engaged Twitter following, grown from zero to 700+
• Facebook Page fans grown from zero to 400
• Extensive media coverage across a wide range of media
• Overwhelmingly positive sentiment about the event
Key Properties: Publishing
• In the run up to the event, the Brighton Mini Maker Faire blog was our main publishing platform, used to share news about the event
• C&M also created a Tumblr to collate third party reviews and content after the event
Key Properties: Social Networking
• Facebook Page
• Facebook Event Page
• Twitter Profile
Campaign Assets: Video
• Welcome to Brighton Mini Maker Faire video created by C&M
• Used on website and in online press release
• 1,340 views
• Supporting videos created by Larchmont Films, seeded by C&M
• 3,886 combined views
Campaign Assets: Graphics
• C&M created an animated version of the Brighton Mini Maker Faire robot seagull to be used as opening cards on the Larchmont Films videos
• We also created a badge for makers to display on their personal/professional blogs and web sites, to encourage links back to the main Brighton Mini Maker Faire site
Click to play >>
Campaign Assets: Press Releases
• Two online press releases were created - one for each phase of the campaign
• These were used in engagement with traditional media, bloggers and other online influencers
656 views 862 views
Blogging• The majority of blog content was written, optimised and published by C&M
• Additional posts were commissioned by C&M and written by third parties
Social Media Interactions
• A custom HootSuite was created to enable effective management of day to day communications
• C&M was responsible for daily publishing, monitoring and responding for both the Twitter and Facebook profiles
• Proactive interaction with identified influencers was a key part of this
Social Media Interactions: Twitter
• Twitter follower building was undertaken, targeting influential users in the following communities:
• Brighton/Sussex
• Craft/making
• Tech/hacking
• Family/parenting
• Education
• As part of this process, and to enable productive interactions, we developed these Twitter lists:
• Makers (once the maker list had been confirmed - to utilise networks of participants)
• Media
• BMMF Team
Twitter Competition
• To increase the online buzz on in the final weeks leading up to the event, we ran a simple Twitter re-tweet competition, giving away ten copies of Make magazine
100+ entries
Social Media Interactions: Twitter
• Links shared via the @MakerFaireBTN profile generated 1142 total clicks
• 70% of clicks came from UK users
Social Media Interactions: Twitter
• This chart shows Twitter activity around Brighton Mini Maker Faire before, during and after the event
• As expected, there was a massive spike on the day of the event
• Other spikes appeared around the publishing of new blog posts and other content (e.g. photo sets), indicating that a regular flow of content helped maintain conversation and interest on social platforms
Time period: 15th August to 14th SeptemberSource: TopsyLabs
• 89.5% of Twitter followers are UK based
• Total reach of Twitter output: 2.2 million
Twitter Highlights
13k
1.3k
6k
2.6k
5k
1k
6.8k
5k
1.7k
10k
21k
4k
10.5k
3.5k
1.3k
Follower count Follower count
6.6k
1.9k
Social Media Interactions: Makers
• The personal networks of makers and the committee were instrumental in enhancing the reach of the campaign
• This was facilitated by pro-active outreach from C&M, that included a social media checklist for the makers:
1) Invite all your Facebook friends to the Facebook event page and ask them to pass it onto their friends: http://ow.ly/67qKb
2) Tweet about the event, using the #bmmf hashtag and @MakerFaireBTN
3) Add photos of your makes to the Flickr pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bmmf/ and post them to the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/BrightonMakerFaire
4) Post a link to the web site on your LinkedIn profile feed: http://www.makerfairebrighton.com/
5) Write about it on your blog/Tumblr/Facebook page
6) Display a 'Find Me at Maker Faire' badge on your blog or web site. Here's the code to use:
<a href="http://www.makerfairebrighton.com/"><img src="http://www.makerfairebrighton.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/blog-logo_v2_small-1.png" img alt="Brighton Mini Maker Faire"/></a>
Or you can get the image to host yourself at: http://www.makerfairebrighton.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/blog-logo_v2_small-1.png
7) Display a PicBadge on your Facebook and/or Twitter profile pic: http://www.picbadges.com/brighton-mini-maker-faire
8) And the old school one - email add your friends and contacts to tell them about it
9) Ask any journalists/media contacts you have if they can write/broadcast about it
Social Media Interactions: Live Support
• As well as our work in the build up to the event, C&M attended in the capacity of media liaison and social media manager on the day
• Live tweeting and live blogging was undertaken throughout the day to stimulate conversations and enhance existing buzz
• We produced a poster to display at the event, detailing relevant profiles and hashtags, to encourage visitors to contribute to the conversation, with a view to increasing footfall throughout the day
• This was also an opportunity to make visitors aware of all aspects of the event and drive people into other areas of the venue
Social Media Interactions: Event Highlights
• On the day of the event, we achieved local trending status, with ‘@MakerFaireBrighton’ being the second most mentioned word on Twitter that day, after ‘Brighton’ itself
• A week after the event, we maintained our position as most popular local profile according to Twitaholic.com, based on the number of mentions of, and interactions with, the profile, during and subsequent to the event
•
Social Interactions: Facebook
• An overwhelming majority of the acquired Facebook fans are UK based, indicating a relevant user-base
• It was also encouraging to see a fairly even split between male and female fans, most of which are in the 25-44 age bracket that fits with the family nature of the event
Social Interactions: Facebook Highlights
Media Highlights: Phase One
LATEST NEWS 07
7days of headlines with Phil Mills
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It�’s a joint initiative between the council, local charity Amaze andthe city�’s Carers Centre, and givesdiscounts at places includingBrighton Bowlplex, Duke of York�’sCinema, ZT Fitness, City College�’sGallery Restaurant, their Hair andBeauty Salon, and the Dome,Komedia and Brighton Theatre Royal.Young carers will get discounts on arange of local activities includingFunplex, Westow�’s World of Play and the Sea Life Centre. Go [email protected]
Good luck to Hove mum andformer Channel 4 Big Breakfastfitness adviser Livia O�’Toole whohas launched a business tailored to helping mums shift their �“babybellies�”. She�’s giving a talk on 29June at Park Cafe in Dyke Road. For more information [email protected]
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Bold and brave stands they maybe but they are unlikely to sway avote-scared Commons.
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[email protected] with crime, the City
Council has been cracking down onbenefit cheats. A Hove photographerwho failed to declare an inheritanceof £89,000 fraudulently claimed£15,795 in housing benefit and £524Council Tax benefit. He was given aneight-week suspended sentence,ordered to do 200 hours unpaidwork, and was made to pay back allthe benefits with £930 costs.
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He was given a 10-weeksuspended prison sentence, orderedto carry out 300 hours of unpaidwork, and to pay back all benefitsowed along with £930 court costs.
There was good news for theunsung heroes �– a new free cardgiving carers discounts on a range of
What do you think of the callto decriminalise the personaluse of drugs?
A call to decriminalise personal use of drugs;benefit cheats fined; a salute to carers & dads
Teen Spirit, LS529I�’ve always been the type to not socialise much unless youinclude studying with friends.Society nowadays seems likethey make university the mostsecure option but really, many of my friends, though they�’restudying at the university, willtake a semester off to do amarine biology internship orstudy abroad, or whatever theyfeel like doing and then returnback to school and to me, thatsounds like SUCH an excitingoption! You�’re getting the best ofboth worlds. The way you�’replanning your future seemsamazing and it seems like you�’llget more out of it. So with everyhope, I wish you good luck!
Rahie, viawww.thelatest.co.uk/7
Brighton’s First Maker FaireI'm part of the volunteer teamorganising the first ever MakerFaire in Brighton this September(www.makerfairebrighton.co.uk).The Maker Faire is a DIY/craftfestival, all about bringingpeople's workshop/garage/livingroom projects out into public toinspire and educate others.
We're calling for anyone with aproject to share to come forwardand apply to exhibit at the Domein Brighton on 3 September. We'retrying to attract as wide a rangeof makers as possible �– fromamateur electronics enthusiasts,hackers and digital artists toextreme knitters, paperengineers and beyond.Applications close on 30 June.
You can find out more aboutBrighton Maker Faire onhttp://pitch.pe/152405
Rowan Stanfield, volunteer,via email
You can also write to Letters,
Latest Homes, Unit 1, Level 5 North,
New England House, New England
Street, Brighton, BN1 4GH
latest [email protected]
to lift babies off the floor andstruggle to lift them in and out of
it fully supports and protectsthe baby�’s head and neck andBaby steps
007_LS531_newsphilmills_editorial 16/06/2011 17:35 Page 3
Media Highlights: Phase One
Media Highlights: Phase One
Media Highlights: Phase One
Media Highlights: Phase Two
theargus.co.uk/theguide The Guide Daily The Argus, Saturday, September 3, 2011 23
FOR some, the idea of buildingtheir own electronic gadgets isa pipe dream.
But Brighton’s first Mini MakerFaire is set to prove that the dads ofthe 21st century can produce thesame sort of wonders as our fathersdid for us, despite the ever-increasingadvances in technology.
“Our focus is on doing rather thanlooking,” says Mike Pountney, co-director of Build Brighton, which isorganising the first Brighton event.
“We have a big soldering andelectronics workshop and a lot ofcraft stands with a focus on ‘here’show you do this’ rather than ‘here’ssomething wemade’.
“Electronics have become veryaccessible. We can now do things thatused to be extremely expensive, asthe price of components comes down.
“Really all it takes is someoneto show you that it’s easy and youcan do it.”
The first Maker Faire was held inCalifornia’s San Mateo in 2006 byMAKEmagazine and O’Reilly Media.
Since then the events have expandedto Detroit and New York, and crossedthe pond to Newcastle.
“We have been keen to get a MakerFaire down here for a while,” says
Pountney, who confesses this will bethe first he has attended.
“After the Newcastle event, whichwas a ways away, Build Brighton hada meeting with O’Reilly Media totalk about getting one here. They havea hands-off approach, so the MakerFaires are organised by local makers,with their support and branding.”
Pountney’sBuildBrightonco-directorsare bringing in their experiences ofvisiting other Maker Faires aroundthe world – Toby Cole attended one ofthe American Maker Faires in the BayArea, while Andrew Sleigh wentto Newcastle – while blending theevent with previous workshops theyhave organised.
They invited makers from theNewcastle event and people they knewfrom the maker scene in Brighton,before getting the word out as far aspossible using Twitter.
The results have been impressive.“We thought we would have about
25 stands in the venue,” says Pountney.“We’re up to about 45 stands now.The response has been incredible.We will have stalls in the foyer bar,the Founders Room and the corridorsin the Dome complex – anywhere thatisn’t the auditorium.
“We have tried to cover the Do ItYourself culture as much as we could,but we do have some stands withinventions like the self-balancingelectric skateboard and an underwatermini ROV [built from plumbing anddrainage pipe and electric motors]which I’m quite fascinated by.”
Among the other attractions area chance to find out more about 3Dprinting, craftwork in yarn, paperand gingerbread, and how to makehome-designed computer games.
What’s most amazing about theevent is the fact that it is all free.
“We decided early on that we wouldprefer it to be a low-budget event,”says Pountney. “Making it free makesit totally accessible to everyone, andmeans we can get as many peoplein the building as possible.”
[email protected] For more information visitwww.makerfairebrighton.com
Digital Festival:Mini Maker FaireBrighton Dome Foyer andFounders Room, Church Street,Brighton, today, 10am to 5pm,free, 01273 709709
event
KRATER COMEDY CLUBAward-winning comedy as threetop stand-ups and a leading MCentertain you, 7pm and 10.30pm,Sunday at 8pm, Komedia,Gardner Street, Brighton,call 0845 2938480. £6-£25
ANDY THOMASOne-man comedy show againstthe streets, Upstairs At ThreeAnd Ten, Steine Street, Brighton,07800 983290. £8/£6, 8pm
SEE HOW THEY RUNPhilip King’s 1945 farcical gemsees a sequence of dog-collaredstrangers turn a homely wartimevicarage upside down, DevonshirePark Theatre, Compton Street,Eastbourne, 01323 412000.£10-£18, starts 7.45pm
SUMMER ICE SPECTACULARIce skaters become glidingperformers, Congress Theatre,Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, 01323412000. £16-£25, 2.30pm
NOT NOW DARLINGA madcap British farce set in aLondon fur salon, with DamianWilliams, Connaught Theatre,Union Place, Worthing, call 01903206206 for prices. 7.30pm
THE DEEP BLUE SEATerrence Rattigan playanatomising the devastatingemotional effects of a one-wayrelationship, Festival Theatre,Oaklands Park, Chichester, 01243781312. £13-£35, 7.30pm
VITA AND VIRGINIATells of the relationship betweenVita Sackville-West and VirginiaWolfe, also Sunday, All SaintsArts Centre, Friars Walk, Lewes,07890 287456. £10, 7.30pm
SOUTH DOWNS ANDTHE BROWNING VERSIONTwo one-act plays; South Downsby David Hare is a meditation onlearning, faith and teenage friend-ship; The Browning Version byTerence Rattigan explores thecomplexity of the human heart,until October 8, Minerva Theatre,Oaklands Park, Chichester, call01243 781312. £28.50, 7.45pm
JUMBLE SALEItems for sale, St Luke’s Church,Queen’s Park Road, Brighton,01273 691862. Free, 10am
PLUMPTON BEER ANDBLUES FESTIVALAles, perrys and ciders, bands playblues, ska and folk, bouncy castle,arts tent, face painting, magician,also Sunday, The Plough, StationRoad, Plumpton, 01273 890311.£20/£35, starts 11.30am
DIPLOCKS MARKETHand-made and hand-pickeditems from local artisans,Brighton Farm Market, NorthRoad, Brighton, Free, 9.30am
BALLROOM DANCINGAlso sequence dancing, bringown refreshments, SaltdeanLido, Saltdean Park Road,Saltdean, £5, 7.30pm
APOLLO 18 (15)Mock documentary missionCineworld Brighton: 3.10pm,5.20pm, 7.30pm and 9.40pmOdeon Brighton: 2.20pm,4.30pm, 6.50pm and 9pmCOWBOYS AND ALIENS (12A)Genre-bending sci-fi WesternCineworld Brighton: 3.40pm onlyFINAL DESTINATION 5 (15)3D smash-hit horror continuationCineworld Brighton: 9pm onlyFRIGHT NIGHT (15)Vampire comedy-horror thrillerCineworld Brighton: 1.20pm,3.50pm, 6.20pm and 8.50pmOdeon Brighton: 1.20pm,3.50pm, 6.20pm and 8.50pmHARRY POTTER AND THEDEATHLY HALLOWS (12A)The adventure concludesCineworld Brighton:2D: 3pm onlyOdeon Brighton: 3D: 2.15pmand 8.20pm. 2D: 5.15pm onlyONE DAY (12A)Love story spanning 20 yearsCineworld Brighton: 12.50pm,3.20pm, 5.50pm and 8.20pmOdeon Brighton:3pm, 5.30pm and 8pmRISE OF THE PLANETOF THE APES (12A)Apes declare war on humansCineworld Brighton:6pm and 8.30pmOdeon Brighton: 1pm, 3.45pm,6.15pm and 8.40pm
film
music
stage
by DUNCAN HALL
Photo by Mitch Altman
Things to make and do
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
We ran a competition with local listings magazine Latest7, to give away a boxed set of Make magazines
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Media Highlights: Phase Two
Post Event Coverage
Post Event Coverage
Post Event Coverage
Conclusions
• The ultimate goal of generating visitors to the event exceeded all expectations, leading to discussions of a bigger venue for next year
• C&M’s work before and during the event can be credited with sustaining a substantial buzz across traditional and online/social media and driving footfall, right up to and during the event
• We now have relevant, engaged followings that can be revisited and built upon for future events
• In order to keep growing the event with a view to filling a larger space next year, it would be worth considering:
• Earlier announcement of maker list, to capitalise on longer lead media
• More investment in Facebook advertising and a longer ad campaign in order to fully harness the potential of that network
makerfairebrighton.com
twitter.com/makerfairebtn
facebook.com/brightonmakerfaire
Photos © rowanstanfield.com