Monday, September 28, 2015

Boston Calling- The Social Media Event of the Weekend


 This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the 6th Boston Calling Music Festival and it was AMAZING! The bands were phenomenal and the whole atmosphere was energizing, with a strong grassroots feel. Even the video the festival put out to announce the September 2015 lineup looks like something that could have been made by a group of friends who wanted to make a cool YouTube video:



Needless to say, it was a perfect end of Summer/intro to Fall kind of event. What surprised me throughout the weekend was how consistently active the festival's social media was. I downloaded the Boston Calling App which was great for making a schedule of which bands I wanted to see and when they were playing. 



The app is very user friendly, and even sent me reminders before a band was about to go on. The most exciting/helpful part about this use of technology: there was more where it came from. It's safe to say that the festival was such a success thanks to the groundswell... Here's why:

The Boston Calling Facebook page and Instagram were both pretty active throughout the weekend. Pictures of each act went up after nearly every performance! I think its important to give snaps to the Boston Calling social media team for their attentiveness to festival goers. Monday morning a visitor to the Facebook page posted this plea for a lost cell phone:

Unfortunately the phone hasn't been found, but the fact that the Boston Calling team made the effort to respond and reassure the fan that they will be in touch if the phone is found. It's the little things like this that make this festival so personable!



We also have to appreciate how humble the Boston Calling team is in their posts. Take this one for example;                                                         Part of the reason why people (or at least why I) love going to this festival is the humanity that the Boston Calling team shows for its fans. It's like when you go to your friend's house for dinner and they thank you for coming over, but in reality YOU should be the one saying thank you for the delicious meal your friend just served you. When I saw this post I had the urge to reply, "No, thank you Boston Calling!"


And lastly, The Boston Calling Twitter page was a beautiful outlet for performers to share their thanks and positivity.  

Even as I'm writing this post I am still in awe of how tactical and genuinely enthusiastic Boston Calling's social media held up throughout the weekend. It made me feel even more connected to what was going on throughout the weekend...a nice way to take a break and enjoy some promising up-and-coming bands!


My question to you all is, have you been to this festival or other ones like it where social media was used to heavily? I haven't come across this consistent of a social media presence at other festivals and am curious if anyone else has.


3 comments:

  1. First of all, I am so jealous that you went to this! It looked AMAZING! Good job on their part for the social media presence. They definitely know what they are doing!

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  2. Social media is a very helpful tool to observe what's going on around you. I haven't been to this festival, but next time I'll check the coolest events on schedule and I'll visit :)

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  3. This sounds like it was an awesome event! You did a great job outlining how the musical festival had a social media presence. In today's digital age an event like Boston Calling has to market effectively to a younger crowd. I liked how you gave an example of how their social team utilized many different social channels.

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