BaconFest KC and its sponsors have cooked up a winning event with a focus on charity, and of course, bacon. We attended the August Social Media Club of Kansas City Meeting at Ameristar Hotel and Casino and listened in on a panel featuring some of the marketing professionals behind BaconFest 2015. The panel consisted of Drew Lericos from Farmland, Roxanne Kincade from Ameristar and Sarah Murphy of the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City, the organization that BaconFest benefits.
The panel discussed topics that detailed working with such a large event, establishing a target audience and measuring overall success. Kinkade detailed that BaconFest was established to follow along with the growing pop culture presence of bacon and to support RIKC, an organization important to the Kansas City area. The BaconFest has grown and now consists of a bacon eating contest, live music and tons of other bacon treats and activities. Kinkade mentioned that it is important that the event continues to add new exciting activities every year in order to acquire media coverage.
While BaconFest KC continues to add attractions, Drew Lericos wants to maintain that “charity is always the most important part of the event.” The social media aspect of the event is key to the promotion of BaconFest and RIKC. Sarah Murphy noted that in a large charity event such as BaconFest it is paramount to be supportive of all the sponsors and vendors on social media, especially volunteers, adding,”volunteers are your biggest advocate.”
All three of the panelist agreed that success on the social media side of the event can be measured through mentions, likes, impressions and website views. However, overall awareness and support of the RIKC brings the most positive return and keeps the event motivated to come back bigger and better every year. This year’s BaconFest KC is taking place August 22nd at Ameristar Casino & Hotel and as Roxanne Kincade said, “You can’t have too much beer…or bacon.”