Chapter 22
JIM
Jim was stuck in a conversation with one of the festival organizers who was giving him a full history of the Fall Harvest Fest.
“It started out of desperation,” she said as they blended in with the crowd. It felt a bit like Disneyland. The entire parade route was funneling from Main Street to the park in a semi-organized fashion. “Don’t print that part.”
“Oh, we don’t print these days. We’re completely digital,” Jim said, teasing her as he glanced around the crowd, hoping to spot Pete and Shelby.
The organizer didn’t realize he was teasing.
Well, no, technically, they didn’t print glossy, expensive travel brochures and guides any longer.
A handful of larger campaigns and accounts would send curated boxes to influencers.
Most of these included a selection of branded practical travel products like custom toiletries kits, reusable water bottles, power banks, luggage tags, luxury skincare and sunscreen, and snacks.
“I mean, it would be better if you focus on how much the festival has grown,” the organizer said.
“Maybe don’t use the word ‘desperation,’ but yes, it began because our local farmers were struggling to get people to come to our farms to buy produce directly.
Thankfully, a few forward-thinking members of the town council at the time decided to host a pumpkin-weighing contest. They went door-to-door downtown and collected small donations from the community to use as prizes.
What you see today was born out of that very first year.
Now we anticipate over two hundred thousand visitors throughout the weekend. ”
“Get ready, because we might double that next year.” Jim made mental notes as they walked.
He knew the analytics were already trending well.
Thanks to Miranda, Half Moon Bay and the Fall Harvest Fest was a hot topic on social right now.
That would die off, of course, but the beauty of a seasonal event like this was that they could repurpose the content every fall.
“Do you think?” The organizer sounded hopeful.
“It’s possible.” They waited at a corner for a few parade floats to pass.
“There is a very seasonal nature for these kinds of travel campaigns. Obviously, we’ll get good traction and views right now, since this is the height of the festival.
The goal will be for Miranda to re-share everything we capture this year, along with new material that we’ll save so we have fresh content to work with, and then we’ll run another campaign next August and September to drive more traffic.
We treat seasonal offerings and events differently.
Evergreen travel destinations are different—places like Hawaii, let’s say—our influencers and partners post about the islands year-round, but with something like the Fall Harvest Fest, we go hard from mid-August through the beginning of October, and then we archive and bring it back out year after year. We’re not going for a one-hit-wonder.”
“That’s so good to hear. I had no idea.” The organizer regaled him with more tidbits and historical facts, hoping Jim might weave them into some of the posts.
“Did you know that, during Prohibition, Half Moon Bay was a hideout spot for bootleggers thanks to our secluded coves and dense fog? Or, I’d be happy to connect you with the head of our historical society who can tell you all about the old stagecoach that used to connect us to San Francisco. ”
“Interesting. Absolutely.” Jim was a bit of a history buff and would never turn down an opportunity to glean more about the places he featured online.
At the park, the organizer headed for the bandstand to check in with the judges.
Jim waited for Shelby and Pete. He opened the Voyager analytics app to see that Miranda’s video was still climbing.
Once a video gained traction like this, it tended to snowball.
There wasn’t much—if anything—they needed to do now, short of liking and responding to comments.
The algorithm was doing its thing, and so many users were sharing the video on their own that it was gaining new views by the second.
He was thrilled with the result, and so was the team back in Seattle.
However, a new message popped up in the app. It was from his boss’s boss, the head of the department, a VP, and the chief brand strategist for Voyager Travel, Nadine Hendricks.
Hey, Jim. Great work on the meet cute. Need the kid to go on a date with a few women. He’s as popular as the mom. Looks like even more popular given the way the numbers are trending. Can you arrange?
Arrange dates for Pete?
Jim reread Nadine’s message.
That couldn’t be what she was asking.
Not sure what you mean.
He spotted Pete and Shelby approaching as he read the response from corporate. This wasn’t good. He felt like he knew Miranda well enough already to know that the optics of dragging Pete into the mix probably wouldn’t please her.
Nadine responded.
Want to get her son involved. Set it up.
You want me to set up Pete?
Stage a few dates. Dinner, hayrides, wandering the pumpkin patch. His numbers are trending high. Great opportunity to tag on. Short clips are fine. We can get you budget for the kid, and there’s a bonus in it for you. We’ve hit the jackpot here. Time to capitalize!
They couldn’t be serious. Staging fake dates wasn’t in his wheelhouse. Jim wasn’t going to do that. No way. He liked Pete, and he really liked Miranda, and even with only knowing them for a short while, he could say with confidence that neither of them would be up for this idea in the slightest.