As written on its official website, The Akwa Ibom State Christmas Carol Night is not just a record-breaking gathering of Carol Singers but it is also a gathering built to strengthen the cord that binds the people of Akwa Ibom State by bringing together choristers, citizens and attendees from every religious denomination and every part of the state in what has come to be seen as a lofty, commendable and true unity project. It remains a vital part of the Christian worship experience, exuding an ambience of bliss and serenity in and around the event venue and leaving a lingering nostalgia long after each edition, which routinely gets bigger than the previous.
This event has broken loads of records except one – online/social media trending record. These days, almost every event on planet earth is striving to connect and engage with fans worldwide right from the venue via social media. Currently, the most common social networks or websites within this rapidly changing media space include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr and blogs. Social media is constantly changing and evolving especially with the introduction of Hashtags. When a hash tag precedes a word or phrase, it is used to identify a keyword or topic of interest and facilitate a search for such a word or phrase.
So whenever a user adds a hashtag to their post, it is immediately indexed by the social network and searchable by other users. Once someone clicks on that hashtag, they’ll be brought to a page that aggregates all of the posts with the same hashtagged keyword in real-time. Once a keyword picks up enough momentum it becomes known as a “Trend”. Trending isn’t simply a matter of becoming the most popular hashtag on the networks. Each user’s trending topic is different based on their location and social connection.
For many, the word ‘Social Media’ means Facebook and Twitter but it is deeper than meets the eye. In its broadest sense, the term ‘social media’ is used to describe any web or mobile-based technology that facilitates interaction and conversation, and the sharing of content created by users. For organizers that understand the power of social media, content is king!
With a world class Information Commissioner and Communication Technology guru in Akwa Ibom State at the helm of media affairs, one cannot but expect the 2014 edition of 9999 Xmas Carol will trend on social media. The 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions of this event had little or no social media impact. We expect this record to be broken in 2014! It is time to look at social media from a fresh perspective!
Employing a full social media strategy at this event will drive engagement between participants, facilitate conversations long before the event starts, creates a space for participants to talk about the event program to define what they want and what they’re excited about and also gives them the opportunity to become event ambassadors by sharing their excitement. Online/offline participants all over the world will have an opportunity to catch up on proceedings of this event. They will have a first-hand experience of what it is like, to be in the NEST OF CHAMPIONS. They will become witnesses and in fact, a part of history! They will have a voice and the opportunity to express their views and share information with a global audience in real-time. Unlike traditional media, social media tends to be very open, democratic and, to a large extent, self-regulating. Social networks, blogs, wikis, photo and live video streaming, discussion forums, and review sites all fall under the overall banner of social media. These strategies should be used for this event.
This is a great challenge for the organizers of an event of this magnitude! The just-concluded The Experience and Shiloh Convention trended on Social Media for 48 hours! With statistical analytics from top social media meters online, we’ve seen that organizers of these events have set a standard by incorporating social media into their planning and execution. 9999 Xmas Carol should tow this path too! Social Media hype should be done before, during and after the event.
His Excellency Chief (Dr.) Godswill Obot Akpabio once said that “When the history of this epochal time shall be written, it shall be said that a choir of uncommon singers joined a team with uncommon vision to bring about uncommon transformation, both physically and mentally.” The 2014 edition of 9999 Xmas Carol 2014 should go down in history as the first event ever, to trend on social media from this part of the globe! This will be also be UNCOMMON!
With all the arrangements fixed for this year’s edition, with the fine crop of VIPs scheduled to attend, with such huge media attention that this event will command coupled with the intimidating media antecedents of the man at the helm of media affairs of this event (Mr. Aniekan Umanah – Honorable Commissioner for Information and Communication), with the vast social media potentials of young IT entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom State, no excuse should be given for this event not trending on social media! It is possible! We can do it!
Come Saturday 20th December 2014 at the Nest of Champions, as we join our voices to sing “Hallelujah Chorus”, let it go down in history that The Akwa Ibom State Christmas Carol Night 2014 was the first event to trend online in Akwa Ibom State and in fact the whole South-South Nigeria. It can also set a record for being the first Christmas Carol event to trend on Social media in the whole world!
Uncommon Transformation is real! Let’s make this happen!