10th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup - Fredericksburg, TX

At Build Texas Media we are proud of being an Austin company. To many that means we care about our environment, conservation, renewable resources and how we can continue to enjoy all the benefits of living in Central Texas. It also means our organization supports groups like the Texas Renewable Energies Association and the Texas Solar Energy Society who held the 10th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup in Fredericksburg last weekend. The event has grown into the largest event of its kind in the South.

BTM was asked to assist the Roundup in the greening of their advertising activities and that included a redesign and send of The Lariat newsletter. Laura Rice and the rest of the staff for the festival liked our work so much, BTM is now the official electronic media company of the Renewable Energy Roundup and will be integral in marketing the new Spring show, the first annual Renewable Energy Stampede and Green Living Fair in Salado, TX.

The BTM Staff had the opportunity to visit with the exhibitors and attendees on Saturday amid sunny, ideal weather conditions for late September. By noon several hundred people were already inside the festival grounds located on Main St. between Adams and S. Crockett streets across from the Gillespie County Courthouse in the center of downtown Fredericksburg. The warm weather made for long lines for cold drinks at the concession stands. BTM founder, Leslie Shaffer showed her Texas roots by consuming not one but three Dr. Pepper's throughout the day.

Over 150 exhibitor booths were spread across the space along with four outdoor "arenas" that served as meeting space for the keynote and workshop lectures offered. Saturday's keynote in the Green Arena was Karl Rabago of Net Energy Markets.

It was exciting for BTM to see how many folks from all over Central Texas were willing to pay for the opportunity to mingle among the finest renewable energy companies across the nation. There were a wide variety of companies represented from rainwater collection system design/build firms to mobilechickencoops.com. Josh & Michelle Hudgins have a unique product that garnered a lot of attention both at the festival and online. Josh reports customers come from all over the country.

Build Texas Media is looking forward to working with even more organizations and companies that support sustainable living. Look for more posts related to the Stampede as we roll out the marketing initiative in the coming months.

Build Texas Network Magazine Launched in August

Build Texas Media (BTM) has launched the premiere issue of Build Texas Network, an online magazine for Texas builders, developers, real estate agents and other like professionals in Texas. Build Texas Network saves money, time, energy and materials by showing up in your email in-box every other month. Think of Build Texas Network as a FREE trade show available to subscribers at any time. Each month an e-mail is sent to thousands of construction professionals across Texas of the online publication. The magazine showcases sustainable building materials and services, as well as products and equipment, solely for construction industry professionals.

BTM CEO, Leslie Shaffer is thrilled to finally publish the first issue and be a contributor to "greening" the publishing environment. The example set by Build Texas Network to publish a magazine that is exclusively digital in format has already influenced our client, SIIA to do the same with their publication, The Self-Insurer. Although BTM is proud of the digitized version of SIIA's magazine, work has only just begun for this "new" publication that has big plans to become the voice of self-insurance in a new age of health care reform in the United States.

SIIA Executive VP, Erica Massey is spearheading the changes in the development of the magazine and plans to announce details at the 29th SIIA Annual Conference in Orlando on September 21st.

BTM is currently managing social network marketing programs for five different organizations and growing. After only 60 days, three of the accounts have already generated revenue exceeding the costs of the marketing program. In terms of ROI, social network marketing pales in comparison only to targeted email campaigns. BTM encourages their clients to engage in a structured social network marketing program as an element of a successful company-wide marketing strategy.

Next post we will talk about important elements to a successful email campaign in an ongoing series regarding good Internet marketing practices that work.