• by Kelly Samardak , August 14, 2008

Virgin Mobile Festival, Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore
August 9-10, 2008

Based on eyeballing earholes on the walk to work or on the stifling subway heading to parties, I am not the only one powered by music. Every day is a new sound track for me. Sometimes it's Death From Above 1979, sometimes it's Death Cab For Cutie. Whatever the case, inarguably (so don't try it!), music is a powerful connector of people. When you're in the shaking and shifting world of media, marketing, and advertising, music is also a powerful way to reach your audience, connect them to each other, and create the infamous warm fuzzies around your brand. The 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival bustled with sweaty fans and musicians alike, as well as a supercharged integrated experience both online, in text, and in the flesh.

I had a photo pass so I could get some up-the-nose/in-the-knuckle shots of the artists for you. What I hadn't planned on was being short. Well, I never plan on it, but I guess it didn't occur to me that the closer I got to the stage, the band would all but disappear. When I walked through the barricade to join the other photogs with their huge swinging lenses and inability to converse, I realized that either all photogs have to be gigantic or I was missing something. What I was missing was a step stool. I could only see the forehead of Zooey Deschanel of She and Him. This was not going to work. So, I walked right back out of the photo pit feeling like a prime jackass.

I'm fairly industrious though, or resourceful... or both. I finagled a red crate that I named "Crate," from the beer bar in the VIP area.

While apprehending Crate like a nut-hungry squirrel, I ran headfirst into Scott Kelliher, Mobile Advertising guru for Virgin Mobile. I took the opportunity to poke at him about the SMS world and the Virgin Mobile vision. "SMS is a great platform and a truly unique component to mobile as media," Scott gushed, regarding Crate suspiciously, "We integrate it into virtually everything we do, especially here at the Festival. Look at the Toyota carpooling program - attendees who carpooled received VIP ticket upgrades by SMS!"

Just so you know, VIPs received free drink tickets, teepee shade squats, an industrial fan-laden grandstand (seats!) with an unobstructed view of the stage, and special port-a-potties lined with gold leaf and running water. Ok, fibbing about the toilet situation, but they were a touch cleaner and not as "used" as those in general admission. I'm saying - a perk! Also, Lil Wayne should have signed up for Virgin Mobile Festival mobile alerts so that he wasn't 45 minutes late to his set.

Virgin Mobile ran "Book the Band" (powered by Kyocera), a socially injected program pitting hard working musicians against each other to up their exposure. After digesting each band's campaigns, fans voted for their favorites by texting or online (you know, that Internet thing). The winning band, Hollywood Undead, received 540,000 votes via text and the ole Internet and actually played their first live show ever -- opening the festival. How awesome is that?

Further mixing in a little business with an up close and personal experience with Iggy's belly button, I had to follow up with Virgin Mobile CMO, Bob Stohrer. I can't imagine what it takes to conceive, plan, and then execute all the pieces of not only a huge musical festival, but also a multimedia extravaganza (oh yeah, and partner tie-ins and dehydrated emo kids). Cover your eyes if you think a glorious outdoor festival with kids making out behind the dance tent is really just that. "Virgin Mobile Festival is more than a two day event for us," reveals Bob. "Marketing and promotion started in June with the introduction of a special, limited-edition Virgin Mobile Festival Wild Card handset by Kyocera that included a free VIP upgrade and other special incentives geared toward music lovers."

Virgin Mobile scores for staying true to, and really getting, their audience - oh yeah, and being eco fabulous. "Virgin Mobile Festival is greener than the track turf," Bob continues, "Ten thousand gallons of B99 biodeisel fuel powered the stages, our plates and cups were made from corn starch and sugar cane (so don't leave them in the sun too long), and nearly half of the 100 tons of waste generated on-site was recycled or composted to be put back into the land."

As an obvious tangent and total aside, and in closing, I would like to point out that I crowd-surfed for the first time ever. In a dress. During NIN.

Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com if you want your NYC media type party covered in Just An Online Minute

Crowd surf the Flickr photos!

If you really want, follow me like the Dead on Twitter.