Winnipeg just finished hosting GoMedia Marketplace — the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)‘s annual travel media marketplace that profiles Canadian tourism products to domestic and international travel media. Since Travel Manitoba was this year’s host, I was asked to join the Social Media team, which also included peeps from Tourism Winnipeg and the CTC.
Polar bears love to take selfies in front of iceberg-shaped things like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Way back in January, we were tasked with creating something fun and engaging to do on our social channels during the event. The first idea was a scavenger hunt in Assiniboine Park, however that quickly fell through due to logistical issues. So back to the drawing board we went and it got me to thinking, “what would be extremely simple and get people smiling?” Why, selfies, of course! Who doesn’t love taking or laughing at a selfie? I know James Franco certainly doesn’t. I pitched it to Travel Manitoba’s media team and Tourism Winnipeg and they liked the idea and helped me develop it further. Once we felt we had a good concept I wrote up a project brief and sent it off to the CTC. After getting their approval, we were off to the races.
English lanyard layout featuring the Golden Boy at FortWhyte Alive and a polar bear (Assiniboine Park Zoo) at the CMHR.
French lanyard layout featuring Moses statue (Leo Mol Garden) at Esplanade Riel and Louis Riel at St. Boniface Cathedral.
For the design, I had a picture in my mind of a polar bear taking a selfie at the CMHR. I thought the visual of that would be smile-inducing while also highlighting what attendees would see at our two main events — polar bears at Assiniboine Park, and a sneak peek inside the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Once the polar bear design was finished, other ideas just kept coming: The Golden Boy at FortWhyte Alive, Louis Riel in front of St. Boniface Cathedral, and so on. This was definitely a fun contest to create and execute.
It looks like the contest was a hit. At last count, there were over 150 selfies posted on Instagram and Twitter, with some even including polar bears, belugas and gold bricks. Real ones! It was especially hilarious seeing attendees try to get selfies with the swimming polar bears. People be funny.
Gotta “Keep it Riel” in St. Boniface.
The Golden Boy likes to go where the buffalo (oops, I mean bison) roam.
Holy Moses is it hard to get the whole Esplanade Riel Bridge in a selfie.
The Gimli Viking is serious about his selfies. He also likes to visit the Zoo.
“Dude, where am I?” The Leo Mol Garden is the perfect place to take a selfie.
Strike a pose at the Manitoba Legislative Building.
We should embrace our diversity and different cultures (or species) by taking selfies with strangers at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Also: cannot get enough of that fish face!
Big thanks to my colleagues Eric and Jillian at Travel Manitoba for helping me out and giving me tips and inspiration.
