Minutes after the 2010 Copper River wild salmon season opened, Cordova fisherman Bill Webber was busy tweeting and updating his Facebook page – from his boat! “Weather was cold this morning. It even snowed last night. It is a little windy but not bad. Slow fishing reports abound from east to west,” he wrote. He even took a minute to add a picture of himself holding a big king (destined for the Grand Central Oyster Bar in NYC).
Social media provides a perfect platform for sharing minute to minute updates in this closely watched fishery opening…
The fishermen aren’t the only ones taking advantage of Copper River buzz via Twitter and Facebook. Organizations like Cordova District Fishermen United and the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association have been busy posting photos and updates on their FaceBook pages and Twitter feeds, along with recipes, history and other pertinent information.
Chefs and retailers are getting in on the action as well, posting Copper River focused menus like this mouth watering one from @herbguy a.k.a. Ron Zimmerman via Twitter and announcing special events. Heinen’s, a family-owned and operated fine foods grocer in Cleveland, OH tweeted “Copper River Salmon is coming next week - make this quick dry rub to get ready!” and linked back to their FaceBook page for this dry rub recipe.
The Fairmont Olympic in Seattle was also busy tweeting about the Copper River salmon due in, “it's that time of the year again: Copper River salmon arrives in Shuckers & The Georgian this weekend! Can you just taste it?”
The easiest way to get the big picture on Twitter is to use the simple search function. Just pop in “Copper River” and you can access the national buzz instantly.
Webber thinks the social media approach is the way to go. “I’ve been doing this for 8 years this way, mostly by email, but with the braodband cellular technology now available locally, the addition of Facebook and Twitter have become a reality and a new marketing medium,” Bill told me (via Facebook, between sets). He promised to tweet any time he had a free moment (and was taking orders via Facebook as well).
How are you taking advantage of this easy way to get the most authentic picture of what’s happening in Alaska this week?
