Earlier this year I went to a restaurant recommended by a popular food blogger and I ended up strongly disliking the food. I left that experience bummed that I had spent $24 on an awful meal, gave an awful experience to a friend that had joined me, and believed this blogger’s raving comments. I began thinking about the way we consume media and trust recommendations. From my experience working with bloggers and being a blogger, here’s some truth.

• Bloggers will rarely post about something they didn’t like, especially if the experience was complimentary.
• Lots of photos are staged to make an image or experience more appealing.
• Bloggers give their recount of their dining experience, which has a hundred different factors, including mood, eating companions, amount of alcohol consumed, and how much they paid for it.
• Bloggers are individuals with their own particular tastes, palettes, likes, dislikes, desires, background and education. You are bound to have similarities and differences with them.

I don’t mean to crack your rose-colored glasses! Yes, there are many bloggers who have become experts in subjects because of their constant exposure, involvement, and education with the subject. They are still entitled to their own opinions and content. As with anything in life, have a bit of skepticism and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Blogging is not all a ploy to take your money.

As a blogger, I write about my experience in hopes that you will find the same joy I had when you experience it for yourself. I map out my path to where I found joy. I list the sights I saw on my trip, I tell you about the things I ate at a restaurant, and I show you how I decorated a space for a party. There are a million factors between my experience and yours. Who I am (personality, desires, how I see and understand things), my goals, and the people I interact with are some of those factors. You won’t have the exact experience I did, though it may be very similar, but you can find your own joy in your own unique experience.

This is why a DIY you try to replicate won’t always turn out exactly like the photo you’re working from, hence Pinterest fails. This is why you may visit a buzz-worthy restaurant and find you didn’t enjoy the same dishes. This is why your travel experience will always differ from a companion’s even if you both follow a blogger’s recommendations. Bloggers are merely guides. We give recommendations about life, travel and food. Then, you take that guidance and make an experience your own. On Fearless Captivations, I hope to inspire adventurous living, in whatever shape or form it comes. I’ll post ideas and inspiration, but it’s up to you to take the information to bring joy to your life.

What’s your experience with bloggers? Who or what post has inspired you lately?

If you’re a brand, check out this post about how to engage with bloggers to grow your business on my marketing-focused blog.

Photo by Death to Stock Photo

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1. Hulu: logo, inspiration
At Hulu’s event, they made sure to have an attractive, picture-worthy set-up. Though I was a little confused why this pretty feature was tucked away behind a bar instead of in a prime spot for photos.

To put emphasis on their brand, Hulu used posters featuring popular shows and had TVs with a constant promo reel showing clips of shows and flashes of their name.

Attendees are bound to take photos of the live music and Hulu created an interesting and inspiring backdrop for the band.

2. Ipsos Girls’ Lounge: hashtag
In addition to a classy pink and white lounge set-up, Ipsos Girls’ Lounge featured their hashtag prominently around their lounge. If you want people to share the experience, this is the way to go. It’s great for attendees to connect with each other and for the brand to engage in the conversation also.

3. Whistle, DogVacay and iFetch; Mophie: cute live animals
For the first three companies above where the main focus is the dog, it makes obvious sense that pups would be the star of the show at the Beers and Barks party. This event had Internet-famous Tuna the Dog available for photos and puppies and dogs from local animal adoption groups available for play-time and photos. Also, a variety of brightly colored doghouses were scattered throughout the outside of the venue, which was a cute tie-in.

Cute pups were also the draw for Mophie, a phone battery company that used St. Bernards as their mascot. At the Mophie Rescue event, there was a long line to take photos with this cute St. Bernard puppy and adult pups also roamed the streets with reps for photos and to provide batteries.

4. McDonald’s: engaging and fun display, free food
McDonald’s got a lot of backlash before SXSW began for not offering to pay their musicians and during SXSW by other food trucks and attendees who don’t like their food or their corporate presence. Visiting their gigantic tent and display, I enjoyed the experience. The life-size, selfie-encouraging Ronald statues scattered throughout the area were fun and I watched many participate in the selfie contest.

5. IBM: cool design
While most of their tent was not engaging, IBM’s colorful ceiling and photo booth backdrop were wins. In fact, that’s the reason why I ended up there: I saw a photo of the ceiling on Instagram and wanted to see what it was about. (And I’m obsessed with that cool backdrop!)

6. Piquora: partner call-out
A smart feature at the Piquora Photo Factory was the partner wall. The creative and cute display was clear and colorful.

7. NASA: photo-worthy props
Astronauts have always had a cool factor. It made absolute sense for NASA to have an astronaut prop in their expo booth and many took the opportunity to take a photo with it.

8. General Electric: live demos
At General Electrics’ Barbecue Research Center, demos were a big part of their event. In one area, scientists explained how to make the best barbecue sauce and in another area, Spun, Austin’s soon-to-be-opened liquid nitrogen ice cream shop, gave demos of how they use liquid nitrogen to make their ice cream, which ended in a taste of their barbecue combination. (The ice cream was buttermilk, the toppings were barbecue-related.)

9. Expo: engaging games
I didn’t catch the name of this exhibitor but their game was engaging and a fun way to get people to stop and interact with their booth.

10. SquirrelBooks: mascot
I didn’t get a photo of this but three squirrel mascots (people in costumes) with branded bright orange SquirrelBooks t-shirts roamed the SXSW area to take photos and share their brand.

Want to read more about SXSW? Check out this AdWeek article about ’10 Intriguing Things That Helped SXSW Rock Again.’

What cool branding caught your eye at SXSW?

The post 10 Companies’ SXSW Event Branding Features appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Organization

The organization of this race is the best you’ll find. From roped off race waves to the specific start times and the ease of picking up your coveted race shirt afterwards, the race is run by professionals who know how to make sure the huge group of runners have a fun and safe race. Kudos.

Route

I also loved the route because of everything there was to see. The majority of the race was on Peachtree Road, which is filled with businesses and landmarks such as the High Museum of Art. It was a fun way to see Atlanta and the different neighborhoods.

Running by the High Museum of Art

Community

If you’ve ever participated in a race as a runner or a spectator, you know the positive environment is sure to put a smile on your face. The Atlanta community was out in full force for the race, from businesses to residents to church communities. For a runner, it means a lot when you have people cheering you on and it was meaningful to see many doing that on a holiday morning.

Brand Promotion

I may have noticed this because I’m in the marketing industry, but the businesses set up along the race route are brilliant. McDonald’s handed out samples of their new coffee drink, Moe’s Southwest Grill (the original location!) threw swag from a fire engine ladder, Chic-Fil-A and its mascot cow showered runners with confetti and Bank of America had a huge, enthusiastic cheering group dressed in red. Businesses showed up and showed they support their community and the accomplishments of the runners. That’s brand loyalty building right there.

Signs

Spectators with creative signs are always welcome. They are sure to put a smile on a runner’s face, which helps increase serotonin and positivity. Here are a few of my favorite signs and sights along the race:

• “You’ve trained for this longer than Kim K’s marriage!”
• “Do it for America! Do it for Andy Griffith!” (Andy Griffith died the day before on July 3, 2012.)
• Priests outside a Catholic church throwing holy water from a bowl onto runners. The church also had a fire hydrant labeled holy water spewing onto runners.
• “Keep going! (That’s what she said!)”

So, a great memory made and number two of my five race goal for the year!

What’s a favorite race you’ve run? Have you seen any funny signs at your race?

The post race masses

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