Drop The Beat and The Ball: Lights All Night 2011

  • By Anthony | Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

With New Year’s Eve just over a month away, Highland Entertainment‘s preparations are already in motion for the annual New Year’s event in Dallas, Lights All Night.

Even though the event is still weeks away, Lights All Night has gathered upwards of 18,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter. To see the widespread influence of their social media presence, just take a look at their official Facebook Page or the Twitter hashtag #lightsallnight… Hundreds of posts and tags from fans, with dozens of new followers and comments rolling in every day.

How do you attract the attention of so many people at once? (And maybe more importantly, how do you keep their attention?)

Recently we spoke to Highland’s CEO and Talent Buyer, Scott Osburn, about his ongoing gameplan to promote the biggest Lights All Night yet.

Highland Entertainment’s Scott Osburn notes that the ticket sales are “way ahead of schedule.” In fact, ticket sales for the Dallas festival are as much as 40% ahead of the curve, compared to other similar festivals booked by Highland.

In the early counts for Lights All Night, he has seen a growing number of fans opt for [mobile tickets]. “I personally like mobile tickets, especially from an event promoter’s standpoint,” Osburn said. “At this point in the ticket sales, 20% of our ticket buyers have opted to use mobile ticketing.”

Through a series of direct social media campaigns, the team has amassed a staggering 15,000 [now 18,000 and counting!] followers on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, along with a nationwide team of 100 college ambassadors who promote the event through flyers, posts, and pre-parties, in exchange for internship credit hours.

Highland Entertainment’s Scott Osburn notes that the ticket sales are “way ahead of schedule.” In fact, ticket sales for the Dallas festival are as much as 40% ahead of the curve, compared to other similar festivals booked by Highland.
In the early counts for Lights All Night, he has seen a growing number of fans opt for [mobile tickets]. “I personally like mobile tickets, especially from an event promoter’s standpoint,” Osburn said. “At this point in the ticket sales, 20% of our ticket buyers have opted to use mobile ticketing.”
Through a series of direct social media campaigns, the team has amassed a staggering 15,000 followers on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, along with a nationwide team of 100 college ambassadors who promote the event through flyers, posts, and pre-parties, in exchange for internship credit hours.
In addition to the entertainment company’s other initiatives, Osburn took advantage of the online marketing tools within the ShowClix platform. Through the ShowClix event page, social media buttons are automatically added to the page, allowing visitors to promote the event through Facebook or Twitter with just one click.

Check out the rest of our conversation with Scott in our Lights All Night case study [PDF].