Preparing for the big
Broadway salute on June 12, the 65th Annual Tony Awards on Tuesday plan to lift the curtain on a Facebook-based engagement campaign.
With the help of video platform VideoGenie, The Tonys will
be asking its Facebook fans to record and share their personal stories of what Broadway means to them.
The initiative is designed to tap into the passion of Broadway's most dedicated fans using
video-storytelling to create social engagement and conversation around the awards, according to Justin Nassiri, founder and CEO of VideoGenie.
"The ability for theater lovers to share the ways
in which Broadway has touched their lives through personal videos will create a new level of fan participation and enthusiasm," said Nassiri. With VideoGenie's Facebook application, fans can record
and contribute 20-second videos through the Tony Awards page on the social network.
In addition to being featured on Facebook and other social outlets, a highlight reel of the most popular
videos will be featured on TonyAwards.com, giving fans the opportunity to appear alongside their favorite Broadway stars.
How will The Tonys measure the campaign's success? "Our success
will be measured in the messages from our fans," said a spokesman for the awards. "By being able to reach out to our fans and hear what Broadway means to them, we hope that we'll be able to inspire
hundreds of other folks to check out theater."
No word on how much the campaign is costing The Tonys, but the spokesman said cost or cost saving did not factor into the strategy.
Tony
Awards sponsors include IBM, United Airlines, Audemars Piguet, InterContinental Hotels Group, Visa and USA Today.
The Tony Awards, which are presented by the American Theater Wing and
The Broadway League, will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 12.