USA: Organic social media festival a full success

A mom shared a picture of her toddler watering their organic vegetable garden, a college student asked about the stringency of organic standards, a diabetic adhering to a gluten-free diet appreciated the organic recipes and an influential Capitol Hill reporter tweeted to her thousands of followers about Organic Palooza. These are just a few reactions created by the Organic Trade Association (OTA)'s first-ever social media festival. The 10-day festival (we reported earlier) reached more than 15 million individual social media users.

Organized by OTA with support from members and organic thought leaders, the campaign that ran from 8 - 17 September presented on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and leveraging the #OrganicFestival hashtag featured daily themes aimed at inspiring real learning, discussion and ongoing conversation among social audiences, with experts sharing scientific facts. Topics explored organic's health, taste, economic and environmental benefits as well as organic standards, definition, certification and regulation.

Each day throughout the campaign and under the #OrganicFestival hashtag, social media users shared information and photos on where they see organic in their lives, ways to feed their kids more organic, news about the booming organic fiber industry, and how they make organic affordable - all the while posting recipes and tips, asking members and experts questions, and interacting with other consumers on the day's topics. Participants wanted to get to the bottom of how and why organic is healthier for humans and the environment. The day of the one of the most serious topics – Is Organic Trustworthy? – was the day that saw the most people participating. That day's Twitter Party, one of five during the festival, drew over 50 questions in one hour, and each question was answered by OTA and its partners. All told, more than 2,500 individuals used the campaign hashtags, creating more than 16,250 posts, and OTA's Organic-Palooza content and graphics were shared more than 4,300 times.

The festival's five afternoon Twitter Parties were co-hosted by industry leaders who are experts on the day's topics. Co-presenters included: Clif Bar Family Foundation's Mathew Dillon, Only Organic, Environmental Working Group, Dr. Alan Greene, Rodale Institute's "Coach" Mark Smallwood, The Organic Center's Dr. Jessica Shade, and ECO-lifestyle pioneer Marci Zaroff. Approximately 100 OTA members shared the Organic-Palooza social media content, which included educational graphics created by OTA for social sharing. And, 25 organic brands offered 45 prizes to randomly selected social media users who engaged in the Organic-Palooza content. OTA is keeping its "Organic-Palooza" campaign daily graphics archived here for individuals and organizations who would like to continue sharing them online. More information is available from OTA