Tourism Revelstoke to host BC Day InstaMeet. What’s an InstaMeet?

Tourism Revelstoke is hosting a BC Day InstaMeet. Um, what’s an InstaMeet?

Tourism Revelstoke Marketing Coordinator Meghan Tabor explains it’s a Destination BC initiative to host gatherings across B.C. on B.C. Day that are then broadcast out using the popular Instagram social media platform. A group of photographers and Instagrammers meet up at a set time and place, take images then upload through Instagram.

In Revelstoke, photographer Bruno Long (@brunolongphotography) and Chris Rubens (@chrisrubens) are hosting the events. The two local meetups will be on August 3 at 5 p.m. at the Begbie Falls Parking Lot, and 7:30 p.m. at the paddlewheel at the Revelstoke Community Centre.

We spoke with Meghan Tabor to find out a little bit more about how Instagram fits into their tourism marketing strategy.

Revelstoke Mountaineer: Compared to other popular social media formats like Facebook and Twitter, how does Instagram fit into Tourism Revelstoke’s marketing efforts? What’s it good for? [quote_right]Instagram is the most up and coming social media channel for Tourism Revelstoke, and it’s where we are seeing the most growth. —Meghan Tabor, Tourism Revelstoke Marketing Coordinator[/quote_right]

Meghan Tabor: Instagram is the most up and coming social media channel for Tourism Revelstoke, and it’s where we are seeing the most growth. Facebook is still a large part of our social marketing plan (as posts can be very targeted), and we use Twitter mostly for active listening (as a virtual Visitor Information Centre). People are drawn to visual content, and that is exactly what Instagram is – a library full of it. From a marketing standpoint, Instagram has changed from a ‘maybe we should’ to a must-have. The mobile photo-sharing app now reports over 200 million monthly active users, 60 million photos posted daily, and an average of 1.6 billion likes every single day, according to Simply Measured Social Media measurement and reporting company. For Tourism Revelstoke, at this time last year we had 220 followers. Today we have 1,312, which is almost a 500% increase in one year.

RM: Why did you choose these locations for the Revelstoke InstaMeets?

MT: We discussed locations between the four of us (Chris Rubens, Bruno Long, Myself, and Julia Crawford – Social Media Specialist, Destination BC). Our top three choices were Mount Revelstoke Summit, Begbie Falls, or The Greenbelt walking path. Mount Revelstoke was discarded as we thought the 26-kilometre drive and park fees might discourage some people from attending (it is up to individual parties to make their way to the meeting point). Begbie Falls was the middle ground, not hard to get to, close to town, no fees apply, and the short trails offer up some great views and photography options. Also, if the weather doesn’t cooperate, it’s in the forest so less exposure. In the end, we decided that we wanted to include the greenbelt for those that don’t have access to a vehicle but still want to participate. We are hoping for some great sunset opportunities there.

Why should people come down to the InstaMeets, what do they get out of it?

There are a few reasons why people should come down to our BC Day InstaMeet – most importantly, the fun factor! As Chris Rubens posted on Instagram: “Meet up with us for some bad jokes and good photos.” We specifically asked Chris and Bruno to host because they’re fun guys and active Instgrammers. Instameets are a great way to meet new people (travellers and visitors, alike) connect with members of our community offline, and experience Revelstoke from a different perspective – celebrating creativity through photography.

The B.C. Day Instameets are part of a larger initiative led by Destination BC to celebrate British Columbia, its residents, and all the incredible destinations found in the province. More than 20 Instameets are being organized across B.C., and those who join in on the fun will be helping to contribute to sharing B.C. perspective and photos from one corner of the province to another.