Positively Cleveland is the convention and visitors bureau for the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. Their primary role is brining outside visitors to Cleveland, but they also interest Clevelanders in ‘stay-cations’ and local attractions. I’ve had the opportunity to work with them in the past. I liked how they were starting to use social media then and how it has developed from then.  These are just a few highlights of things they do well.

First Impressions Count

When you visit the Positively Cleveland web site there is a tab with links to their social networking outlets. If you don’t have your social media outlets advertised somewhere on your homepage you are already missing out. My advice is to be very accessible and don’t make people go looking for you.

Positively Cleveland has two official blogs with multiple contributors. “What Locals Like about Cleveland Plus” and “Ask Positively Cleveland.” I appreciate the fact the blogs are not plastered with the Positively Cleveland logo and color scheme. This allows them to stand independently from the web site and in some ways gives them more credibility. The “What Locals Like about Cleveland” blog, is relatable. The visitor is reminded they are reading posts from actual locals, not employees of the visitors’ bureau (even if they are one in the same).

Both @PositivelyCleve and @flee2thecleve are on twitter connecting with others and interacting, not serving as a broadcast system. Sam Fryberger, Director of Communications at Positively Cleveland, describes Twitter as an online “Twisitors” center, to answer questions, make suggestions, etc. When they are hosting twitter contests, followers often have to @ reply with something they enjoy about Cleveland (i.e. name your favorite local restaurant) instead of being the “be the 10th person to re-tweet this message” concept.

When Bad PR turns Good

This summer Cleveland endured some teasing via YouTube. A popular video began to circulate called “The Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video.” It poked fun at the city, basically saying Cleveland didn’t have much going for it. As soon at the first video became popular, the creators produced “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video: 2nd Attempt” with more sing-song jokes. The videos were so popular they even caught the attention of the local news station and a story aired with interviews from the creators and Positively Cleveland.

Positively Cleveland was able to use the attention from the negative press and use it their advantage. The visitors’ bureau launched their own “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Contest.” To enter you just had to make your own hastily made video featuring what you love about Cleveland and then post it on their YouTube channel. All of the videos were left up for people to leave comments and rate. The visitors bureau picked two winners and awarded them with prize packs.

Some strong language…but worth it for the laughts!

Instead of letting some bad PR hold them back, Positively Cleveland used this situation to gain positive attention. The results we are able to generate from social media are so instant. They were able to act quickly and respond in a timely manor. The Hastily Made Tourism video recently received a RUBY award from OTA (Ohio Travel Association). Keep up the good work Positively Cleveland!

To Learn More…

We’ll be adding a Public Relations section to our always-popular do-it-yourself guides – all of our guides make sure that your organisation is positively social too.  Signup for our mailing list to get notified when the PR guide is available.

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