Category: Projects
Blab Media Proud Sponsor Of WIFF 2014
We’re super excited to announce that Blab Media is an official sponsor of the 2014 Windsor International Film Festival! The festival is celebrating 10 years by showing 111 amazing films from around the world over the course of nine days running from Saturday November 1st to Sunday November 9th in the heart of Downtown Windsor at the Capitol Theatre. Throughout those nine days, Blab Media will be the official sponsor of the Engagement Team and will manage a team of volunteers who are dedicated to enhancing the attendee’s festival experiences by chatting with them in line, asking/answering questions, administering surveys and delivering a few surprises with themed film activities.
As part of the sponsorship, we’re also happy to be sponsoring the film God Help The Girl which is playing Thursday November 6th at 10pm and Sunday November 9th at 7:20pm. Writer/director Stuart Murdoch creates a poignant coming-of-age story that doubles as a sublime indie-pop musical from one of indie pop’s biggest songwriters. The project began as a suite of songs, written while Murdoch was between records and tours as lead singer of Belle & Sebastian. He nurtured it for nearly a decade into a fully formed film, set in the bohemian fantasia of Glasgow’s West End, which is populated by mods, rockers and emo kids who have no qualms about breaking into song and dance. Check out the trailer and come to one of the screenings!
WIFF is one of our favourite local events and we look forward to it each November. This year we’re so happy to be part of the excitement and to experience the festival from a completely different perspective. Whether you’ve never heard of WIFF or you attend religiously each year, we encourage people of all ages to check this event out. There is an incredible lineup of films ranging from upbeat and feel good to dramatic, dark and sadistic. You’ll even see famous faces such as Maggie Smith, Shailene Woodly, Kathy Bates, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristen Stewart, Dustin Hoffman and Kirsten Dunst in a variety of films. You can view the whole schedule, watch film trailers and buy tickets online at www.windsorfilmfestival.com.
We’re counting down the days until Saturday and we hope to see some familiar faces so check the schedule, pick your favourite films and come visit us!
Blab Media Featured At 3rd 3rsday August Mixer
We’re excited to announce that Katie has been chosen as the first speaker in a series of featured young people at the YKNOT Windsor-Essex 3rd 3rsday mixer this month! Come out to Abars on August 21st from 6:30-8:30 to mingle, meet new people and hear Katie’s story about what ties her to Windsor-Essex as a young person and an entrepreneur. For more information and to register for the event, visit the Eventbrite page here.
Blab Hosts DWBIA Social Media Workshops
This week we hosted a social media workshop offered exclusively for DWBIA members! We were at The Holiday Inn Downtown on Tuesday June 17th from 4-5:30 and Thursday June 19th from 5-6:30 with a great turnout for both sessions. We met some awesome business owners representing bars, restaurants, retail, service-providers, hotels and organizations. We were very happy to hear the positive feedback and look forward to offering this workshop and others like it to additional BIAs and member-based organizations in the city. Contact us if you’re interested in learning more about our workshops!
Youth Retention Iniative YKNOT Launches In Windsor-Essex
Almost exactly one ago, the youth retention task force that Katie helped start received funding from Trillium to continue tackling the issue of youth retention in the region. After many months of planning, interviewing and organizing, Blab is proud to present the branding for the organization that will spearhead youth retention in the region for the next 16 months and hopefully beyond; YKNOT Windsor-Essex.
We spent weeks brainstorming, exploring different options and researching concepts with our intern Anna before we decided on the perfect fit for the organization. As young professionals with such strong personal ties to Windsor-Essex, we’re very excited to have been chosen to brand this initiative!
As part of the launch the team would like to ask what ties YOU to Windsor-Essex? For more information and to get involved, be sure to check out the website we created at www.yknotwe.ca. Stay in touch with them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates after the launch!
New Project Launching Soon
Can you guess what we’ll be helping to launch on May 22nd? If you’re a young person living in Windsor-Essex, we guarantee you’ll want to get involved! Stay tuned to our blog for more information!
Blab Client Touch Village Releases Dragons Rage App!
Our client, Touch Village, is a local company that develops and publishes mobile applications. We’re really excited to announce that they have just released a new app called Dragon’s Rage; an action arcade style game! We’ve been playing it for over a week now and it’s seriously difficult to put down! You’re the dragon and you have to fight off swarms of medieval enemies as they come at you from all sides. You tilt your device to spin around and hit as many as you can with a wall of fire. There are bonuses you can tap on the screen and at one point you can even shoot laser beams! The graphics are really great and the game play is definitely addictive!
To download the app for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch on iTunes, click here.
Blab! Media Hosts Windsor-Essex Social Media Week
September 19th to 23rd is national social media week and this year there will be plenty to do in Windsor-Essex for businesses and social media addicts alike. At Blab! Media we really wanted to get the community involved and provide a variety of fun events. We’ll be hosting a social media themed networking event, educational workshops, and a casual community discussion to help spread the word in Windsor-Essex that social media is here to stay! For us, this week is about creating awareness and bringing the community together so clear your schedule and get ready to embrace social media! All events are free to attend and anyone is welcome. Come out and celebrate, meet new people, share your passion, learn something new and just have fun!
WED SEPTEMBER 21ST
Every month WEtech Alliance hosts a special networking event called Startup Drinks Windsor. The event brings out a mix of local entrepreneurs, business professionals and students who are all looking to meet new people. For social media week we’ll be co-hosting the event and injecting some serious social fun! Come out to Mick’s Irish Pub from 6pm-8pm to play games, eat food, network, and enter for your chance to win some awesome prizes! Bring your smartphone for your chance to win a free social media makeover (up to an $800 value)! Space is limited so click here to register.
THURS SEPTEMBER 22ND & FRI SEPTEMBER 23RD
We really wanted to focus on educating the community so we’re offering free, hands-on workshops for Twitter and Linkedin. The workshops will be taking place on Thursday September 22nd and Friday September 23rd. Reserve your seat to get a better idea of how these platforms work and how to use them to your benefit. To register, please e-mail us at hello@getyourblabon.com. Participants must have basic computer skills and have a Twitter and/or Linkedin account created in advance.
FRI SEPTEMBER 23RD
To end the perfect week, join Blab! Media at Snooty Rooster downtown to participate in a social media community discussion. Bring your smartphone and your appetite as delicious food, snacks and drinks will be available for purchase. What do you want to see Windsor-Essex businesses getting more involved in? What do you think would make Windsor more social? We want to hear from you! To register click here.
Windsor-Essex, what else do you want to see take place for social media week?
Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for more updates and news!
Windsor-Essex County Celebrates National Foursquare Day!
Saturday April 16th is National Foursquare Day! Hundreds of cities around the world are making plans to celebrate Foursquare and Blab! Media wants Windsor-Essex County to be one of them! We’re both fellow Foursquare users and I must say, we take the competition pretty seriously. In the past year there has been a significant increase in the number of users in our area. I’m always delighted (somewhat haha) when I go to a new place and check-in to find that there is already a well established mayor. There are even times where I’m forced to fight for my mayorship by checking in more frequently. The one thing that Windsor is missing is the incentives to keep the competition going! If more local businesses took the time to explore Foursquare and see how it can work for them, it would be a win-win situation. As a user, you need motivation to sign up and to use Foursquare religiously. If businesses offered incentives to mayors or for a certain amount of check-ins, you can bet that users would appreciate the acknowledgement. That’s not to say that Foursquare is the single and only way to drive traffic to your business, but when used appropriately with an effective marketing strategy, it can really change things!
It’s for these reasons that we wanted to get involved and show Windsor-Essex how Foursquare works and why it’s so great for businesses and customers alike. Blab! Media is inviting the community to a local swarm party sponsored by Lakeshore Cinemas and Pepsi-co on April 16th. Foursquare users who check-in to Lakeshore Cinema between 1pm and 4pm will receive a special deal that includes admission to any matinee playing between 1pm and 4:30pm, a Pepsi product, and a small popcorn for just $6! You can also enjoy a free Foursquare Day cupcake provided by Brittany Hazelton! Who doesn’t love a great movie deal on a Saturday afternoon? Bring some friends, family or just your smart phone and help support a local businesses that’s ready to take a serious look at social media!
This national day was created by fellow Foursquare lovers and has now grown into a grass-roots celebration of social media as a positive force within the community. Foursquare has helped businesses succeed and created an awesome experience for users that has friends and complete strangers battling it out for badges and mayorships. April 16th is a chance for users to declare their support for Foursquare by taking some time to explore their neighborhood and it’s also a chance for non-users to get acquainted with the concept and learn more about why Foursquare is an excellent addition to a marketing strategy.
If you haven’t heard of Foursquare, this is the perfect time to expand your knowledge. Foursquare is a location based application that lets users “check-in” wherever they go, leave tips, suggestions, win badges, connect with friends and explore the world they live in. From a business aspect, Foursquare is a seriously valuable tool for generating new business, creating incentives for potential customers and rewarding loyal customers. As a business, you can offer customized deals that are rewarded at any check-in, after a certain amount of check-ins, or only to the mayor. You can see how many people are checking into your business and most importantly what they’re telling other people. Foursquare also has a mobile app so smart phone users can check-in or leave tips anywhere, and at any time.
For users, nothing beats the sense of competition. You’re pitted against your friends on a public leader board, scoring points for check-ins, and your profile proudly displays the amount of mayorships you’re currently holding and how many badges you’ve unlocked. The badges are an exciting reward system for users that keeps the application fresh. There is a badge for checking into the same place 3 times in one week, for taking 10 trips to the gym in 30 days and even for finding three venues with a photobooth. The best part about celebrating Foursquare day is the special badge users will receive for checking in on April 16th. But that’s not all, if 50 users check-in within three hours at the Foursquare Day event sponsored by Lakeshore Cinemas and Pepsi-co, they will also be the proud owners of a Swarm Badge, which is an impressive achievement!
Blab! Media is proud to be partnering with a local business that’s so excited about this opportunity. There are so many businesses in Windsor that have a presence on Foursquare and aren’t even aware yet. That’s what this day is all about, creating that awareness and encouraging these businesses to dig deeper and see what the application can do for them. All we want to achieve is the chance to inspire some local businesses and bring the community together for a fun afternoon at the movies!
For more information about the event, check out our Facebook page!