Gotta love some free advertising!

It’s time to start gearing up for Taste of Mississippi, a fundraiser for Stewpot Community Services that I started helping with last year. This is my second year as marketing co-coordinator, and we’re trying a few new social marketing ideas because A) they’re free, B) they seem to be what everybody’s into right now, and C) we’re hoping they’ll be just as effective as paid advertising. We’ll see…

Long story short, this is a wonderful event at Highland Village in March that features specialties from about 40 area restaurants, plus a few from Oxford and Hattiesburg. The food is delish, there’s live music plus more than enough wine vendors sprinkled into the mix, plus there’s a live auction for some REALLY nice art and a silent auction for some items and services that we can actually afford. Last year we bid on a wine-tasting for 12 at home, but unfortunately we didn’t win. Maybe this year…

Last year’s event raised $112,000 for Stewpot, all in one night… Amazing. After the months of planning and marketing the event, it felt really good to be a part of such a great fundraiser. Plus, it was a lot of fun!

So back to the social marketing… We’ve started a Facebook group for fans of Taste of Mississippi, and yesterday I started a blog about the event. I thought that would be a fun way to post news and updates that come from our weekly meetings. And you know how I love to blog! :)

Please check it out, and feel free to leave comments or join as a follower. It’s a wonderful event, and hopefully this will be just another way to spread the word!