Online scavenger hunt grows Arizona PubMedia's Facebook fan base

Looking for a way to boost participation in your station's Facebook fan page? Arizona Public Media's page, which had stalled at 555, picked up 100 new fans in just six days in March, as well as pulled them into PlayPBS, its local version of the COVE player -- all with an online scavenger hunt offering free tickets to a David Sedaris performance. Station spokesperson Steve Delgado told Current the idea bubbled up during publicity brainstorming between the underwriting and promotions folks and Sedaris's team. At the same time, the station was planning a PlayPBS soft roll-out and wanted a few hundred visitors to try it out. So an item ran on the Facebook page announcing that fans would have exclusive access to the new PlayPBS. And, as a bonus, they'd be eligible for six pairs of Sedaris tickets. All they had to do was answer questions by watching certain videos. Example: In the Masterpiece presentation of "The 39 Steps," how do the Nazi spies make their escape? (In a submarine!) The fan posting the first correct answer received the tickets. The station had a lot of fun with the contest: They'd advise when fans were getting "warm" or "cold." When one answered correctly ("Shrimp etouffee") the response was, "BAM! WE HAVE A WINNA!" Delgado said the fan base has steadily grown since then to 961. And perhaps best of all: Sedaris complimented the contest onstage.