The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau worked with several Southeast Missouri State University student organizations to increase student involvement in the 3rd annual Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, which takes place April 9-11, 2010. Student organizations involved include the Advertising Club, Photography Club, Capaha Arrow, Rage 103.7 FM, as well as students in the video, design, and business departments. Southeast student involvement in the festival has given students the opportunity to work with real-world business situations and clients. Opportunities have included filming and producing video clips, radio spots, flyers and generating general interest about the storytelling festival on social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The partnership with Southeast Missouri State University students has created an outlet for the students to connect to their community and a means for the Convention and Visitors Bureau to connect with the student population in the area.“The challenge, especially in past years, has been to communicate to locals about what the storytelling festival is and why they will enjoy it,” says Stephanie Lynch, Director of Marketing and PR for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “People simply don't understand what a storytelling festival is all about. Working with the Southeast students allowed us to get the word out to the students and it allowed the students to feel connected to what’s going on around town.”
“Students are always saying, there’s nothing to do in Cape,” says Crystal Hoke, Southeast advertising club president, “but I really think they just don’t know what kind of events are going on in the community. We stepped in to help advertise the storytelling festival to showcase the benefits of the festival to Southeast students.”
The Southeast Advertising Club created a flyer in connection with a YouTube video created by the Southeast Video Club. The video spoofs a popular advertising campaign about “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and stars Dr. Joel Rhodes, Southeast History Professor and Co-Producer of the Storytelling Festival. Hoke and the Advertising Club also sponsored a mural on the power plant wall, located on campus. The mural was designed and painted by Professor Peter Chanthanakone’s Vector and Text Graphics class to coordinate with the flyer and video. In conjunction with the flyer, video and mural, students from Rage 103.7 FM created a radio commercial which will play until the end of the storytelling festival.
“We decided as a staff to get involved because we felt that this was a fun, creative way to improve the skill sets that we learned in the classroom. It was a very practical way for us to learn what it's like to work with a client and produce a spot that they want,” said Rachel Burnett, station manager for Rage 103.7. “We had so much fun producing this spot. Actually the very first take was a dry run and the guys were all cracking up and having fun with it. It is a joy to see my staff take on a project with a great attitude and for them to enjoy what they are doing.”
With approximately 700 fans on the storytelling festival Facebook fan page and close to 100 Twitter followers, the festival has made an impact on social media outlets. Michael Willis, a student from Dr. Sandipan Sen’s Consumer Branding class volunteered to be a Project Leader for a handful of virtual volunteers that connected with people across the community and the country to promote the festival on Facebook. “I can testify that the work I put into the festival has shown me that what we as business students study in the classroom really does apply to the business world. Being able to take what we learn in class and immediately apply it to the storytelling festival has made the classroom material really stick in my mind,” says Willis.
Southeast student Brittany Meek and Intern for the Convention and Visitors Bureau has played a key role in the Twitter campaign. “My internship has given me daily hands-on practice with marketing, social media management and user engagement—skills heavily sought after by employers who are often desperately trying to understand the online media space. But most importantly, it has built my confidence about my fast approaching transition into the “real world.”
“I have no doubt that what I have learned in the past few months are skills that will help me land a great job when I graduate. Even better, working as an intern doesn’t feel like just another job—it’s fun,” says Brittney Ruopp, a graduate student at Southeast and Volunteer Coordinator for the storytelling festival.
Student produced materials can be found on the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival
YouTube channel,
Facebook or
Twitter site: @capeSF. For more information or to purchase tickets for the festival call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068 or visit the website capestorytelling.com.
All marketing materials were produced by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. Southeast student credits for various materials are included below:
YouTube Video spots were created by the SEMO Video Club: Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunne, and Ryan Bollinger, under the direction of Southeast Mass Communication professor Dr. Jim Dufek. Starring, Dr. Joel Rhodes, Southeast History Professor and co-Producer for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, as well as Casey Hinkebein and Amanda Carter. Assistant Producer, Brittney Ruopp and Talent and Location Coordinator, Brittany Meek.
Radio spots sponsored by Rage 103.7: Associate Producer, Rachel Burnett; Sound Production: Joe Groeller, Trevor Morgan, Noland Cook and Josh Thompson; Script by Brittney Ruopp; under the direction of Mass Communications professor, Dr. Bruce Mims.
Mural created by: Professor Peter Chanthakone's GM 282-Vector and Text Graphics class. Final design by Craig Mondaine. Painters included: Patrick Adams, Richard Berry, Neal Borowiak, Janeen Britt, Desmond Bryant, William Combs, Lauren Fox, Krista Francis, Austin Huffman, Alyssa Jaegers, Corey Johnson, MyIsha Jordan, Kirk Lohmann, Craig Mondaine, Thomas Morrow, Osby Tomlin, Nicole Wetherholt, Chelsea Williams, and (Angela) Zhang Qiong.
Flyer created by SEMO Ad Club and Crystal Hoke. Photography by Southeast Professor Wendy Cooper.
Loved your visit to the Cape duringstorytelling weekend? Looking for a fun FREE activity in Cape thisweekend? The 20th Annual Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive in conjunction with the Cape River Heritage Co-op invite you to visit various local Cape attractions for FREE April 24th-25th. Participating attractions include: 
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