There's a common perception that a fine line seperates the old from the new. Most people for instance wouldn't think that lovers of opera and users of social media like Twitter and Facebook would have anything in common. Brendan Cooke, general director for
Baltimore Concert Opera (BCO), thinks its time to change the way people -- young and old -- think about opera and those who enjoy the centuries old art form.
"Opera isn't just about a fat lady wearing horns screaming at you. There's a lot of fantastic music. And if people give it a shot, we're pretty certain they'll be back soon," he says.
The mashup of opera and social media for the BCO came from a desire to get more people interested in opera.
"We realized that a lot of people running opera companies talk a great deal about bringing in a younger audience. I hate that idea. We just want to bring in a different audience. We realized that a lot of the people we want to bring in, the energetic people who can help spread the word about us are the social media users out there," he explains.
Lacking a budget that would support a large marketing campaign, Cooke looked for no cost alternatives. "Opera can be a tough sell. We realized that we would have to reach these people where they wanted to be reached and find them on their iPhones, iPads in that environment and give them enough reason to want to find out more about what we're doing. We really found that these are the most effective outlets for us, in terms of growing our audience."
His efforts have paid off and captured the attention of a new audience that receives special offers through
Twitter and
Facebook.
Now, the BCO has taken its social media marketing to the next level with its first Social Media Scavenger Hunt. The event, running from July 9 to July 18 will help the opera company raise money to support its upcoming performance at Artscape. The winner of the scavenger hunt won't leave empty-handed, either. That person will win $1000.
Cooke has enlisted the help of local retailers and as with traditional scavenger hunts, participants will search the city for these shops and specific objects hidden there. Once they've located the object, that's when the social media aspect comes into play with participants tweeting, posting Facebook updates, and uploading videos.
Everyone involved, the BCO, retailers and participants will benefit from the experience. The BCO raises the money it needs and gets its name out to a larger audience, the vendors also get a marketing bump and the hunters get to have some fun and learn more about opera and the city.
"It's about sharing the love a little bit. We have vendors who joined Twitter because of this and others that have thriving followings. The motivation is to grow our networks. The relationships we're building now will continue to flourish. It's a community project, but ultimately its meant to bring people out to our free performance at Artscape and get more people interested in opera," he says.
Anyone interested in participating in the scavenger hunt should sign up sooner rather than later. The fee to play goes up with every 10 people who sign up. The first 10 people pay $1, the next 10 will pay $2 and so on up to $9.
Source: Brendan Cooke, Baltimore Opera Company
Writer: Walaika Haskins