FaveQuest creates new site: Bluesfest ByWard

We’re creative types and had piled up a bunch of new ideas to run by the Ottawa Bluesfest organization. Bluesfest Radio, Bluesfest tv, embedding bluesfest viewtube in third party sites and so on. So we have a meeting and before we get into it, we’re told “we may be launching a small festival in the ByWard market”. Bill (my partner) and I look at each other. Huh?

A Nice Surprise

Totally derailed the conversation in a good direction. Finally sealed the deal late one night over the phone, settled on what we’d deliver, a time and a price and we were off to the races. Nearly 90 performers and DJs are coming from all over to play across 12 venues in the ByWard Market, including an outdoor stage!

Phase 1 of the Bluesfest ByWard site is finally up and it is pretty awesome.  We have more coming in the next few weeks too so please be sure to register for the site … even better, create an account so you can take full advantage of advanced features (access you calendar from anywhere, inviting friends, last minute alerts and more. Rather than tell you more about it, check it out for yourself.

http://bluesfestbyward.com

Cheers,

Allan Isfan

CEO, FaveQuest

A Great Social Media Story?

Advertising is one way but we can do better

Let me share why I think what we are trying to do at FaveQuest, and the Bluesfest ViewTube, we just launched is such a big deal.

Way back when, when you had a product to sell, you would get attention by holding press releases and buying advertising. If you had something really compelling, you could argue that you were doing people a favour by sharing your story. Beyond that though, you were interrupting them. Apparently, it still goes on:)

Serve Your Customers Instead

When we pitched the “social video calendar” to Mark Monahan (exec director of the Ottawa Bluesfest) and his team, we proposed something else. We suggested building a tool to solve problems for music fans. They could use this tool to get to know the bluesfest acts better, create a calendar and invite friends. To make it even easier, we would build an extension to their website and a facebook application so people could invite their facebook friends and see who was going to what show.

We built it and launched version 1.0 April22nd. It was not built to sell more tickets, though it likely will. It was built to provide fans with a better and deeper way to engage with the festival. There’s even a bonus if we hit certain engagement metrics. Not tickets sales, engagement!

More Ticket Sales?

I think all involved realize that more engagement is likely going to translate to more attendees. People are going to discover stuff and decide to go check it out. Friends are going to invite friends that may have not considered going to a particular show. Or they may see that a friends is going through their facebook newsfeed. In the next release coming very soon, as people check out the calendar of events, they’ll even be able to see which of their facebook friends is going to a particular show.

Help Your Customers Carry Your Torch

You don’t have to be a social media expert, or have even heard about social media, to realize that such a tool is going to lead people to go to more shows and buy tickets that they would not have bought otherwise.

The real point is that such tools have the power to transform the way some businesses reach out and connect with prospective customers. It is so much better to serve your customers and have them carry the torch for you, don’t you think?

Cheers,

Allan

Welcome to FaveQuest

Hello Everyone,

chatting with Richard Branson

My name is Allan Isfan and I’m the CEO of FaveQuest. Oh … and yes … that is Richard Branson in case you were wondering. I’m the rich-looking guy on the right. He’s the actually rich guy on the left. I had the fortune of getting a few minutes to chat with Mr. Branson at the launch of Virgin Radio in Ottawa (but that’s another story).

My partners and I (not including Richard Branson unfortunately) created FaveQuest to serve our customers and people at large that are into on-line video and social networks. We’ll be using this blog to share FaveQuest news, ideas we’re toying with as well as cool stuff we discover that we think you’ll be interested in. Most important though, we hope to foster a great passionate community and be part of your conversation.

If you are an entrepreneur, feel free to check out my other blog http://isfanstartup.blogspot.com

If you want to change the world, check http://connecttheworld.wordpress.com

If you are a hockey nut, check http://nastyhockeyshow.wordpress.com

If you’re on twitter, follow me at @isfan

If you’re into LinkedIn, check out my profile here.

I’m also the co-founder of the Startup Club (email me if you’re interested) and run Founders and Funders in Ottawa.

Finally, the line is always open. You can reach me any time at allan.isfan [at] favequest.com .

Cheers,

Allan Isfan

CEO, FaveQuest