Following various updates about our tastings, involvement in charity projects and April Fools jokes, this week we thought we’d give you a sneak peek into the world of the Social Media team here at VW HQ. Introducing Antonia and myself, Louise.
In addition to bringing you this blog and looking after our growing Facebook and Twitter pages, occasionally we get to venture outside the hectic realms of our office bubble. This week was no exception when we were very excited to be invited to be part of the very first Virgin Social Marathon!
Hot off the heels of the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, the aim of the Social Marathon was to bring together, under one roof, the Social Media teams from across the Virgin group to spend a day Tweeting and Facebooking. The roof in question was the very comfy “Our House”, a private members club in Soho, London, recently taken over by Virgin Media.
After a very, very early start (plus after a bit of shut eye on the train from Norwich – shush, don’t tell anyone!) we were introduced to our fellow Social Media colleagues from across the group, including Virgin Atlantic, Trains and Balloons. Before long we were sharing tips and stories, all eager to set foot on the activities ahead.
The starting whistle took the form of a tweet from none other than Richard Branson himself and the Social Marathon was officially underway. We started out by encouraging our Twitter followers to get involved by suggesting new ideas for the group in response to #ifvirgindid. As well as stimulating some good interaction and, at times, intergroup banter, there were some very ingenious and amusing ideas, including everything from a Virgin Active gym powered by the energy generated by the sweating exercisers to entrepreneurial schools. We also invited the Twitter community to enter a truly amazing competition to win the Ultimate Lifestyle prize that our friends at Virgin HQ had put together. The prize included everything from return flights to New York and a balloon ride, to a tasty case of wine courtesy of ourselves.
After a working lunch and another couple of hours busy keeping on top of the constant stream of Tweets and Facebook posts that were pouring in across the group, we decided to take a well earned tea break and tried to get as many of our followers as possible to join in by encouraging them to tweet photos of their tea break via #tweetfortea. It was fantastic to see so many followers, colleagues and fellow Virgin companies getting involved, no matter what their timezone or location was. Here’s a photo of our colleagues across the pond at Virgin Wines USA getting in on the action.
And, if all that wasn’t enough, we had an unexpected but very welcome visit from a certain celebrity – the very talented and rather handsome singer Josh Groban!! Each company invited their followers to post questions to Josh and, when he arrived, he spent time Tweeting his responses to the best questions. Josh also did an interview for the Virgin Red Room. Here he is after getting in on the Twitter action, posing with the Virgin Social Media Family.
As the name would suggest, the day’s activities stretched over the course of the day and into the early evening – the only difference was that in this marathon we got to reward ourselves with a little alcoholic beverage or two as we headed towards the finish straight! For many of the Londoners, it was time to go and reflect on the day’s activities over dinner but unfortunately for us Norwich folk, the return train was calling.
All in all, having the opportunity to devote a day’s activity to engaging followers and fans through the increasingly powerful tool that Social Media has become was both rewarding and productive. What’s more, it was great to work with our fellow Virgin pals and pull together for a shared goal – even if it did lead to a bit of friendly rivalry along the way (singling out poor music tastes and vying for attention from our new friend Josh are just a couple of examples that spring to mind!).
You can read a great review of the day here and don’t forget that you can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/virginwines and follow us on Twitter at @VirginWines
Cheers! (Does that apply to drinking tea??!)
