I assisted with the launch of the first quarterly Music Media Money Gabfest by planning the event with founder and Grammy nominated producer Willie “Bum Bum” Baker.
The event took place February 28, 2010 at the Downtown Marriott in Orlando, FL.
My duties and activities in developing the launch of Gabfest in Orlando included the following: Initial development and maintenance of the website: www.musicmediamoney.com, traffic growth, organic search engine optimization (SEO), and overall user interface.
I developed a risk analysis, the teams’ schedules, the order of keynote speakers, and aggregated the keynote speakers’ Power Point presentations into a seamless and unified theme on the master keynote presentation. I wrote a press release, donations request letter, and some of the keynote speakers’ biographies.
I assisted with word of mouth promotion and via social networks Facebook and Twitter. I Designed presentation slides, advertisements, a feedback survey and an implementation strategy. I Secured rock producer James Paul Wisner as a keynote speaker, as well as secured the musical guest, a videographer, and photographer. I coordinated with marketing departments at universities around the greater Orlando area including: Full Sail University, UCF, Rollins College, and Valencia College.
I coordinated the event details with the Downtown Orlando Marriott. My overall responsibility was to keep the event running smoothly and keeping all of our guests happy by handling the public relations and leading the event team, which was made up of high profile speakers, multiple A/V crews, and assistants. This required that I spent time in advance planning, establishing priorities, researching solutions to possible problems, building relationships with the staff, volunteers, and guests.
We were able to create a positive change for several students by providing a jam-packed event. Most of the audience took copious notes as each presenter spoke.
Working with Willie on this event has really benefited our working relationship. We are at present preparing for the second Music Media Money Gabfest event at the University of Georgia in Atlanta. Currently we are securing sponsors and I am working on the business plan. I will also be focusing on brand development, advertising, marketing, and sales.