As the President of the small, but mighty, Portland Chapter, it is impossible to ignore our lack of an abundance of social media worthy items to post to our Instagram account. Our membership is small. REALLY small. That being the case, there is a limited number of creative partners to highlight, and thus we've been struggling to stay relevant online. In an effort to reestablish a "footprint", an idea occurred to us: Why not promote the great work of ILEA members from cities around the world? We are, after all, an International association, and each and every chapter is a great source of inspiration.
Over the past two weeks, we ran an Instagram campaign showcasing the wonderfully delicious work of catering companies - 19 of them to be exact. It was a resounding success. Just look at these numbers:
We garnered 102 new followers
We received 3,924 likes
We liked (in return) an estimated 7,000+ images
...and we received "likes" and "followers" from all over the globe!
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates
ILEA caterers featured:
A Catered Affair - Nashville @nashcaterer
Aramark at Fenway Park - Boston @aramarkfenway
Boulevard Events - London @boulevardevents
Cafe Ala Carte - South Florida @cafealacartesouthflorida
Calgary Stampede - Calgary @calgarystampede
Catering By Michaels - Chicago @cateringchicago
Chef's Market Catering - Nashville @chefs_market
Dagar's Catering - Austin @dagarscatering
D'Amico Catering - Minneapolis/St. Paul @damicocatering
Food For Thought - Chicago @fftchicago
Microsoft Eventions - Seattle @microsofteventions
Palate Catering & Design - Atlanta @palateatl
Pink Avocado - Austin @pinkavocadoatx
Proof of the Pudding - Atlanta @proofthepudding
Royal Fig Catering - Austin @royalfigcatering
Sensational Host Caterers - New Jersey @sensationalhost
Someone's In The Kitchen - Los Angeles @sitk_catering
Tristan Catering & Events - Charleston @tristancatering
Willowdale Estate - Boston @willowdaletoday
We could not be more pleased with the results of this endeavor. As such, we are already planning our next Instagram campaign featuring the talents of our ILEA partners from all over the map. Next up, photographers. After that, we'll be showcasing the talents of producers/designers, floral designers, bakers/pastry chefs/confectioners, entertainment, venues, rental companies, specialty vendors, and on and on.
So, for all of you chapters and VP's and Directors of Communications out there that say you just don't have any content to post, I am officially throwing down the gauntlet. #MyILEA #ILEAFamily
Thanks to all the caterers that participated in this campaign and a special thanks to everyone that "liked" the images.