William Leonard, Michael Johnson, Shannon Donnelly, Kelly Jones

Campaign Overview

Collaborated with State College Downtown Improvement District

First Friday program

Attended weekly meetings

Measured awareness

Goal: Improve First Friday State College

Key ResearchSecondary Research

First Friday Articles Overview

Media research was conducted using the Penn State Libraries and search engines such as

NewsBank and Google

14 articles (3 local, 11 regional/national)

Lack of articles specifically about State College’s First Friday, but a significant at a

national level for the more established First Friday events

Nationally focus on using art as a focal point to link local businesses together

Trend: Majority of cities only plan First Fridays between the months of May- October

Key ResearchSecondary Research

First Friday in State College First Friday is in it’s first year of existence in State College

Started by the Downtown State College Improvement District (DSCID)

From the First Friday State College Website

The First Friday of each month will become a festive atmosphere in downtown State College

beginning at 5pm. Patrons to the downtown can count on a mixture of art, music, and

activities, along with retail and restaurant discounts. As always, garage parking in the Pugh,

Fraser and Beaver garages will be free with validations from participating merchants in the

MVP (Merchant Validated Parking) program.

Each month organizers hope to hold classic car shows, golf expos, football parties and many

other events. Organizers have monthly themes planned throughout the year!

Key ResearchSecondary Research

First Friday Campaigns in Pennsylvania

Williamsport

Receives grant money from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Has a strong social media presence including: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

Scranton

Strong very professional looking website

Link for sponsorship or donations

Map customized to each month: participating merchants labeled with the corresponding

event

Philadelphia

Large local business support: 40 galleries open in their Old City district

Long history of First Friday: Started in 1991

Direct link on the site to local news coverage: average two articles a month

Key ResearchPrimary Research

Phone SurveyResults were tracked on Survey

Monkey

DemographicsTotal Respondents: 211

Gender: 65% female, 35% Male

Children in the House: 70% No, 30%

Yes

Key ResearchPrimary Research

Have you heard of First Friday before?What is the main reason you don’t go to downtown

State College more often?

Key ResearchPrimary Research

How Respondents Heard of First Friday

Objectives

Objective 1

Improve traditional media coverage of First Friday by May 1, 2015

Objective 2

Standardize social media for First Friday by May 1, 2015

Objective 3

Increase downtown business participation in First Friday by May 1, 2015

Objective 4

Obtain an exclusive radio sponsor for First Friday by May 1, 2015

Strategies

Increase print media coverage and provide a

standard format for future use

Encourage downtown businesses to participate

in First Friday through face-to-face

communication

Increase First Friday’s Twitter and Facebook

usage

Establish a partnership between the DSCID and

one of the main radio conglomerates (Seven

Mountains Media and/or Forever Media)

Execution and Tactics

Created a Press Release and a media list for the First Friday committee

First Friday media spots were purchased in three local magazines, including Town and

Gown, and State College Magazine

Established a monthly First Friday Facebook event page, and shared it among other

Facebook users via Facebook invitation to the event

Established First Friday’s first official Twitter hashtag: #SCFirstFriday

Contacted local businesses about their participation in First Friday

Contacted Seven Mountains Media and Forever Media

Evaluation

Improve traditional media coverage of First Friday by May 1, 2015: MET

Standardize social media for First Friday by May 1, 2015: IN-PROGRESS

Increase downtown business participation in First Friday by May 1, 2015: IN-PROGRESS

Obtain an exclusive radio sponsor for First Friday by May 1, 2015: IN-PROGRESS

Stewardship

Objective 1: To Improve traditional media coverage of First Friday by May 1, 2015

Created a standard press release template for First Friday

Designed a media timeline for DSCID

Created a media list was using Cision

Stewardship

Objective 2: Standardize social media for First Friday by May 1, 2015

Bob Martin in the Penn State College of Communications has been contacted to establish an

internship position with the DSCID to work specifically on social media for the DSCID

Stewardship

Objective 3: Increase downtown business participation in First Friday by May 1, 2015

Through the DSCID’s pending relationship with one of the Centre County radio

conglomerates, businesses will be incentivized to actively participate in First Fridays.

Stewardship

Objective 4: Obtain an exclusive radio sponsor for First Friday by May 1, 2015

Proposals from both Forever Media and

Seven Mountains Media have been

submitted to the DSCID, and a decision of

which conglomerate will receive

exclusivity for First Friday and other

DSCID events is pending

Conclusion

Conducted research

Joined DSCID First Friday Committee

Implemented plans for improvement

Evaluated progress

Provided stewardship plan

Thank you George and the DSCID for allowing us to partner with you

for the semester!