Think about the last event you attended. Did you have fun and meet new people? Events connect people to other like-minded individuals who share the same passions as them, and they are an awesome way to celebrate the amazing community you live in. This is why we started a new team within Leighton Media, called Leighton Events to help further support our own communities.
Leighton
Here are Some local events we host
Our events division has a few "signature events" that we host in most of our markets every year.
These include Craft Beer & Cider Tours and the First Steps Baby Expo.
Our beer and cider events bring in breweries and cider makers from across the country to provide free samples to attendees over the course of an afternoon. They feature "best of show" awards voted on by attendees and trophy's for the breweries that win.
The First Steps Baby Expo is an annual event held every spring for parents, young children and babies. It hosts the much anticipated Diaper Derby, the Daddy Diaper Pull, photo booth, bounce houses, coloring zone, and all day face-painting. Plus, there are dozens of exhibitors with valuable information about parenting, nutrition, health & wellness, birthing, and more.
Other events include the Kid's and Parent's Expo every fall and Wine Knot an event designed with a girls night out, in mind, featuring wine, couture shoes and jewelry.
In Detroit Lakes, we have the Lakes Area Women’s Expo and Ladies Night in Winona. These events give attendees the opportunity to shop and gather information from a variety of vendors. There will be prize drawings and interactive seminars among other things geared towards women.
Not to leave the men out, in Grand Forks, over 6,000 people attend The Grand Forks Men’s Show every year! It’s a three-day affair covering 100,000 square feet at the Alerus Center and is fun for the whole family. We have RV’s, campers, motorcycles, fishing boats, pontoons, hot tubs, docks, hunting dogs, ATV’s, home improvements, golf carts, lawn and garden equipment, even inflatable games for the kids. Sample free food from local restaurants and enjoy free beer tasting. Plus, we have an annual Wing War competition.
Why Are These Events Different?
They’re different because we have the power of our radio stations to support them. Not only can we host an event, we know how to advertise it so people will come. “If you build it, they will come” isn’t exactly how it works unless you’ve got great word of mouth.
We believe in supporting our community and believe local events are one of the best ways to do that. We utilize the reach of our radio stations to market our events. The larger the numbers of attendees to our events, the more revenue we can help provide to the vendors who are marketing their products and services there. Our event sponsors also then receive increased value from exposure of their brand to the larger number of attendees. Plus, lots of people gathering for a like cause is always a good time.
Local Events in the community
We believe so much in local community events that each of our radio stations has a community calendar for the sole purpose of sharing area events with the masses. Here are links to each of our market's community calendars:
Some of these communities even list local farmer's markets and 5K races too.
We also sell sponsorships for each community calendar, which provides on-air value not only for the sponsor, but for the events listed on each site. When listeners hear a promotion for the community calendar on one of our stations, they'll know where to go to see what's happening in their town in the coming days, weeks or even months.
Importance of Community Involvement
We believe community involvement is so important, we made it our passion statement:
To Serve, Connect, and Celebrate our Community
Being involved with our community is all about building relationships: with the community, with business leaders, with area businesses, and most importantly, with the citizens of those communities. As a local company, we feel it is our duty, and also
It also gives our employees the opportunity to easily get involved. We have events to appeal to any area of interests, and we encourage our employees to volunteer in the community. Plus, volunteering is good for your health!
Staff members, from administrative assistants and on-air talent to social media strategists and account executives, give back on their own time. Our employees volunteer with local charities, coach youth sports teams, and support local fundraising efforts. Others serve as local board members, using their knowledge and insight from the business world for the betterment of the community.
Regardless of when and where our team gives back, it is done in an effort to ensure that the communities we share are bright and enjoyable places to live, as well as work. We want to foster a workplace that is both productive and rewarding; a workplace our employees are excited to be a part of, and our customers feel great about doing business with.
