VISTE Ball Spectacular

The room looked as green as golf course when guests enter the room. VISTE Ball 2012 took over Tiger Town, Lakeland, and the hanger became an indoor golf spectacular. VISTE Ball featured indoor Birdeball® games, putting, auctions, and enough food and drinks to feed everyone twice.

I had a great time running around taking hundreds of photos. All the photos are uploaded to the VISTE Facebook page. My favorite photo featured in this blog is a close up of the VISTE ball we used for the indoor games.
The highlight of the evening was the live auction with Jen Leigh auctioning off Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Other live auction items included dinner for 22, one week in Paris, and a one week stay in New York City Penthouse. While the price bracket was much too high for a student like me, maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the vacations in exotic places.

We also auctioned off a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. I took a picture inside the car after the event. One of the perks of being an intern!

Other special events included a $10,000 hole in one (the lucky putter golfer didn’t even come close) and a golf simulator event.

I’d like to thank my sisters from AOII Kappa Gamma and members of the Florida Souther College Lambda Pi Eta (communication honor society) for helping with the event. You rock!

Users In Disguise: Fake Twitter Accounts

Image Credit: "Ridiculous" By victoriafee

Fake Twitter accounts can be annoying, and sometimes they can be ingenious. The idea of a fake twitter account is acting like someone believable enough that everyone thinks you are that person.

Everyone wants to follow them to see what amusing tweets they post next, so they end up having real influence. @BronxZooCorba has an influence on Klout of 88 with over 50,000 unique tweets. @Darthvader has a Klout of 78.

These fake twitter accounts (see also parody twitter accounts) work because the voice is unique and authentic. Imagine if a school mascot, like Florida Southern‘s Mocise, talked about campus events in a voice unique to the mascot.

Take for instance @BronxZooCorba. The Bronx Zoo had a corba escape. The Twitter account is the corba’s encounters throughout the city. Even after the real corba was captured, the tweets continued.

The snake visits ball games and comments on tourists. This account has the potential to be a great asset to the NYC bureau of tourism or business.

I think there is real potential for a business with a mascot or spokesperson to create a fake twitter account to generate publicity and leads.

What’s your favorite fake twitter account?

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UPDATE: PR Daily posted an article that gives the 3 social media lessons from @bBronxZooCorba. You can read the article here.