Case Study • Media Relations

Wordfest Imaginairium Festival

Hope you’re a fast reader...

Wordfest connects Calgarians through extraordinary ideas and their weapon of choice is books. They deal in big ideas that come from books and the people who write them. So many books and so many authors, and so many ideas (from so many dog-eared corners of the planet) that achieving media coverage for the festival became increasingly challenging - how, in a shrinking media market with dozens of events/authors to organize can the festival as a whole raise its profile and feature stories strategically within the restrictions a festival provides (international travel, multiple publishers, etc)?

Getting Curious-er.

Wordfest’s fall ‘Imaginairium Festival’ is the organization’s crown jewel, even considering it’s robust and thrilling year-round programming schedule. Shareworthy worked closely with organizers and participating publishers to identify and leverage irresistible stories and storytellers in order to ignite curiosity in events that needed spotlight, while continuing to elevate Wordfest’s brand.

shareworthy-WORDFEST-media-2.jpg
shareworthy-WORDFEST-media-2.jpg
shareworthy-WORDFEST-media-4.jpg

Read it for the articles.

Imaginarium coverage hit all-time record with 125+ pieces of media, from local bookstagrammers with beyond-loyal followings to the New York Times (!), and contributed to a 27% increase in audience. Perhaps most importantly, Shareworthy and Wordfest are now well-positioned for the festival’s 25th anniversary.


Credits: Festival images courtesy of Wordfest

“Within the first year of hiring Shareworthy Content Lab to manage Wordfest's media relations, we grew our audience by an astonishing 27 percent, reaching more than 25,000 annual attendees at our live events. Shareworthy brings the right combination of professionalism, creativity, experience and community relationships to deliver results in our city's challenging media environment. No other agency is better positioned to connect your organization's brand and message with the widest possible circle of enthusiastic Calgarians.”

— Shelley Youngblut, CEO & Creative Ringleader, Worfest & The Wordfest Imaginairium Festival