Mediatwist Facilitates Sponsor Acquisition with Celebrity Appearance

Originally Published - April 2012
On Friday April 20, a first of it’s kind appearance will take place at T.I.S. College Bookstore in our hometown of Bloomington Indiana.  Definitely not the first time a celebrity has been used for star power, rather the first time a traditional bookstore with roots in customer service and book buy back is dabbling with the power of famous names and faces. One of the biggest time’s of the year for Bloomington residents and Indiana University Students is centered around the Little 500 bicycle race.  Each year the IU Student Union Board puts on a music concert and they have a knack for securing the best and biggest musical performers each year. This year is no different, legendary band Sublime with Rome will be the headlining artist at Assembly Hall Friday night.  Thursday night and Friday afternoon the same band members of Sublime will be on a media frenzy at stop’s throughout Bloomington, all acquired by Chris Kurtz of The Mediatwist Group. ” I approached the marketing department of T.I.S. Group and urged them to get involved with this possibility of an appearance by the members of the same group that were going to be the ‘talk of town’ for Little 500″. They came back to me with, ‘yeah great idea Chris, but we don’t want to pay anything’. I knew I could generate revenue for the band and I knew I had a place to put them on ‘display’, I just needed some sponsors”.  Chris explained how his experience with spot sponsor acquisition on past tours in the music industry was a bonus when trying to pull the same thing off in his new home town.  “I just asked for a list of community partners from the marketing department at T.I.S. and started cold calling.  I knew as long as I could relate this appearance to added value and buzz for their brands, they would buy in”. “And they did!” says Chris.  This year’s Pampered Celebrity Meet Greet with DJ Rocky Rock of Sublime with Rome will take place on the afternoon of April 20 just before Rocky Rock takes the stage to headline the 2012 Little 500 show.  The event is sponsored by Bucceto’s Smiling teeth, a local restaurant in Bloomington, and also by Les Champs Elysees Day Sap and Salon. Sponsors will be on hand to give away free pizza and free massages. One of the promised perks to the sponsors from Mediatwist was a 30 second Youtube video by the celebrity for the sponsors to use on their social sites.  Here is the video http://goo.gl/B5bII . 

Stay tuned for update after appearance…………………………….

Mediatwist Scouts Artist For National Rock Festival

Originally Published - May 2011

With celebrity hosts and headlining Billboard artists,this all day concert is making a name for itself. Bands from all over the world have submitted for consideration to play Rockapalooza, and a major producer has set his sites on Pennsylvania.

Miami Florida (I-Newswire) April 30, 2011 – This year’s Rockapalooza promises to be the best to date. Promoter Tim Corser has pulled out all of the stops to bring Jackson Michigan one of the best live events its ever seen. On June 25 Hollywood comes to town. Rockapalooza will be hosted by some heavy hitters on the big screen. Chanel, Big Black and Big Kat of MTV’s “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory will all MC the big day along with motion picture star Pauly Shore. There is no shortage of superstar music acts either,with some of rocks top acts to hit stage including Saliva, Pop Evil, Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Chiodos, Mushroomhead and Shaman’s Harvest.

With all of these top notch names there is alot of bands wanting to get onto this bill. I had a chance to sit down with one of the major players behind this year’s Rockapalooza, and I found out about little corner of the world that has caught his attention and why.

The Mediatwist Group is one of the entertainment companies behind this years Rockapalooza and I spoke with TMG’s founder, Chris Kurtz. “I have always wanted to go back home to find artists that deserve a decent shot at some good touring shows.” says Chris about choosing Northeastern Pennsylvania as his focus area for scouting talent. “I came up in that area, and I wasn’t even close to the best the coal region had to offer. There are some amazing musicians that have paid their dues and there is also some fresh sounding music coming out of the Pottsville and Hazelton areas.”

This year Chris has hand picked 4 bands to perform alongside mega artists on the Rockapalooza stage. Now!The City(Pottsville,PA),Maddam Ink(Allentown, PA),Homicidal Supermodels(Hazelton,PA) and Cyanide Sunrise(Pottsville,PA).

“I live in Indiana and Miami now so I miss the PA music scene. The last great things to come out of PA musically were Breaking Benjamin and Fuel, its time for someone new to be proud of from my home state.”,Chris proudly says while pointing to a vintage t-shirt which says,”Jesus Loves The Poptart Monkeys”. Chris toured in PA icon rock band The Poptart Monkeys long before sealing his spot as hip royalty in the music industry. “I’ve spent a good bit of time in all of the green rooms and back-stages Pennsylvania clubs have to offer and I’m excited to bring some of the same entertainment those venues have birthed to this giant rock show.”

For more information on The Mediatwist Group or the latest happenings of Chris and his artists visit him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/poptartmonkeys