WindTech 2012: Anything is Possible in Sweetwater, TX

This past week I headed to Sweetwater, TX for WindTech 2012 put on by our own Windpower Engineering & Development magazine. I was sent to live tweet, Facebook and do all things social media for the magazine as well as for a client. This was an exciting event for me for many reasons, one being it was my first event I was sent specifically to do live social media. Still being new to the social media industry, I was a bit overwhelmed, but I’d like to say we succeeded.

Another reason I found this to be a great experience was because I got to climb a wind turbine with three other coworkers. Climbing this wind turbine was something I never thought I would experience nor would I want to experience. Texas State Technical College (TSTC), the college that hosted WindTech, was generous enough to take many hours out of their day to let us climb their 240 ft. DeWind wind turbine.

I’ll admit I got some cold feet after climbing the first 30 ft., but I finished the rest of the climb (two 70 ft. sections followed by a 30 ft. section and a 40 ft. section); anything really is possible in Sweetwater. The 40 ft. section led us into the nacelle where we then climbed out on top of the turbine. It was such an exhilarating experience to feel like you were on top of the world. Check out the experience from beginning to end here.

The night before WindTech kicked off we met the Mayor of Sweetwater and his wonderful father who were big supporters of WindTech and the wind industry. The rest of the week was spent gathering any last minute items (who knew it would be so hard to find bulk notepads and pens in Sweetwater; once again, anything is possible in Sweetwater) for the event and putting together some last minute details.

Overall, the event was a success with nearly 150 attendees. We can’t thank our sponsors, attendees, the Mayor and TSTC enough for the support and continued support of this event, as we plan to have four WindTech events around the United States throughout 2013.

Some key Facebook stats from the week of the event included

• 90 new Facebook fans
• 120K Impressions
• 42K Total Reach
• 15% Engagement throughout the week
• 14% Average engagement per post

Follow us at @WindTechEvents and check out #WindTech on Twitter to see what you missed from the inaugural event. Check out our Windpower Engineering & Development Facebook page for pictures from the event.

Sweetwater, a town of just 10,000 people, doesn’t have much other than the most beautiful wind farms I have ever seen, but it was an experience I will never forget and anything is possible in Sweetwater.

 

Follow Heather on Twitter at @WTWH_SocialXprt for all things social media.