The career fair is a signature event for the Military Veterans Resource Center, a regional veterans service organization which serves veterans in need in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Chillicothe. The job fair is very popular among transitioning military and military-friendly employers and government contractors. The fair which lasts about 4 hours each January, attracts more than 150 job seekers from service members who are transitioning out, to spouses and veterans who have been out for awhile. The fair included mock interviews, resume workshops, one on one resume help, networking and resulted in about 20 job offers each year. The campaign I was involved in was for the fifth annual fair in which I added a additional element to the campaign in the form of social video. I posted quick hits the day of the event to get more job seekers to come as pre-registration was not necessary and there was no fee to attend. The campaign starts months before (around November) with the solicitation of employers to exhibit at the fair. Employers pay a booth fee for the day. Much of the employer phase of the campaign involved calling and emailing employers, getting the work out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that it was time to sign up, benefits of attending etc. Once the employers were all recruited the public campaign started. I was able to get coverage in more than 20 area news outlets to include TV and local radio.
I sent press releases out to local media near Wright-Patterson AFB two months and 6 weeks prior. I would follow up regularly of all the outlets I contacted to answer any questions they had, provide additional promotional material, do voice overs and PSAs for radio, and arrange for Kelly Koons the fair’s organizer to appear live on TV and radio plus be interviewed for newspapers and magazines.
The links below are just a sample of the coverage:
Dayton Business Journal
The Register Herald
Springfield News-Sun
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/business/employment/need-job-vets-job-fair-wlll-have-dozens-employers/Wzint00d0jFYP014MWpmAI/
https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/business/employment/need-job-vets-job-fair-wlll-have-dozens-employers/Wzint00d0jFYP014MWpmAI/
Xenia Daily Gazette
Loveland Magazine
Dayton.com
Dayton Daily News
Big106.5 Radio
https://big1065.iheart.com/calendar/event/5a297540d23f206ddf57dc78/
Kelley and I also appeared on WDTN’s Living Dayton morning show
Kelley also appeared on WCPO 9 News in Cincinnati and WHIO TV in Dayton.
To further boost coverage, MVRC paid for sponsored ads on Facebook. I routinely posted to Instagram, our Linkedin page, military groups on Facebook and Linkedin and got military agencies on base to post it on their social media (WPAFB, AFMC, 88 ABW, Airman and Family Readiness Center, the 445AW Reserve unit and more.).
By far, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn were the most successful platforms to get the word out. We were looking to target an attendance of between 100– 200 people and more than 150 ended up attending.
