The House that Grumpy Built
McNeese Events Group had the pleasure of working with The CMO Club on its CMO Club House at SXSWFestival March 8-11, 2014.
SXSW is a three- part festival, Interative, Film and Music, that takes place annually in Austin. The CMO Club, a professional membership organization for marketing professionals, created a lounge for marketing executive attending the festival as a refuge from their hectic SXSW Interactive schedule. The Club House provided charging stations, meeting space, meals/snacks, daily marketing panel dicsussions and nightly recepetions with entertainment. Located on 6th central hub of activity during the SXSW Interactive – serving not just as the temporary home of the CMO Club but also, to everyone’s absolute delight, the home of that “new” iconic SXSW mainstay- The Grumpy Cat.
Below are some highlights of the week
More than 200 Marketing Executives used the Club House over four days. McNeese Events Group created a concierge service for the Club House, providing members with the highest level of customer service that the McNeese Group is known for . This created a buzz among the SXSW marketing attendees- the Club House became a “ must stop” on their busy conference schedules.
Grateful to the #cmoclubhouse for providing refuge on a cold rainy day in Austin during #SXSW. And it looks some great content is up soon!
— Heather Martin (@fierceheather) March 8, 2014
Even the Recording Academy’s CMO felt the buzz.
#cmoclubhouse at #sxsw There is an interactive buzz in the air!
— E Greene (@hopeandchange) March 10, 2014
The CMO Club House was sponsored by Media Math, Place IQ, Wall Street Journal, Kicking Cow Productions and IBM. IBM brought in an interactive display measuring social media integration. A perfect example of sponsor/content synergy.
Love what’s going on at the #cmoclubhouse <personal data comparisons with @TheGrok pic.twitter.com/5fZHd6c7Kg
— Mark Fidelman (@markfidelman) March 9, 2014
The Club House wasn’t all about meetings and work. Each night we had fantastic performances. Erin Ivey, a local Austin artist/creative entrepreneur, performed on Sunday. Watch out for big things to come from her.
Thanks for the amazing performance, @erinivey and @TheCMOclub! #sxsw #placeiq pic.twitter.com/x1KHuzrPKj — PlaceIQ (@PlaceIQ) March 9, 2014
Noelle Bean, a CMO Club favorite. She is an amazing talent and so much fun!
Always so many laughs when hanging with this guy at the @TheCMOclub #cmoclubhouse Pete rules! pic.twitter.com/r4vJdFlVl9 — Noelle Bean (@noellebean) March 12, 2014
The band, Bad Things, performed on Monday March 10th. The audience got to experience another side of snowboarder, Shawn White- he also happens to be a very talented drummer!
Live from @TheCMOclub thx to @IBMSocBiz @shaun_white amazing band @badthings #SWSX pic.twitter.com/lCGeL4PYXm
— Drew Neisser (@DrewNeisser) March 11, 2014
Sharing our SXSW space with Grump Cat was a real treat. After each night’s performances the Club House was tranformed into the Grumpy Cat House, with a picture of Grumpy Cat projected onto the outside of the building. And, on March 10th, the real live Grumpy Cat made a personal appearance to the large adoring crowd gathered outside the building.
Our beloved @realgrumpycat knows how to make an entrance. #SXSW #SXSWI #CmoClubHouse pic.twitter.com/3iNI23GN2N
— Natalie Thomas (@NT_DC) March 11, 2014
The Grumpy Cat buzz at SXSW was generated mainly through social media channels, especially twitter. In fact, the picture of Grumpy Cat on the Game of Thrones was the most tweeted image from the entire festival! Natalie Thomas, who manages all of McNeese Group social media for clients, was at the forefront of generating crowds and excitement for the Grumpy Cat appreance. Her tweet (below) was viewed 14,000 times. Natalie’s influence on social media channels gives her the knowledge to generate an impactful social media plan for our clients no matter what the size or industry of the event.
EVITA! EVITA! Don’t cry for me Argentina, or do. I don’t care. RT @NT_DC: It is @realgrumpycat! #sxsw#behindthescenes pic.twitter.com/UBHZUwB0oa
— Cheken (@Cheken) March 11, 2014
Even the Grumpster and her owner joined us in the Club House – we refuse to believe she “hated it.”
Mad props to @GrumpyyCat for posing for this pic with us @TheCMOclub #GrumpyCat pic.twitter.com/PIBWa169y6
— Ajay Ramachandran (@ajay) March 11, 2014
Check out what some other attendees had to say about SXSW and the CMO Club House.