By Rachael Denny
From live Q & A’s with music professionals to concerts and book signings, the Rock Hall offers a wide variety of events. In April, “Rock Week” will take place along with the famous induction ceremony. The 2015 inductees include Beatles legend Ringo Starr, 90s puck-rock icon Green Day, 80s bad girl Joan Jett and more. An event can’t be successful if it is not promoted well, so Harp shared how the Rock Hall promotions team markets events to the public. Advertising and media relations vary depending on the event and target audience, Harp said. The Rock Hall works with local publishers, spokespeople and artists as promotion outlets. Social media is a huge tool when it comes to creating event awareness, Harp said. He mentioned it is hard to measure which channel is the most successful in promotion; individuals who have different music preferences use different social media channels. Harp said Facebook is more for classic rock fans, Twitter is home to a variety of music fans and Instagram is for the younger audience. At the end of the day, event promotion boils down to shaping a targeted message and sending that message out to places where the event’s audience is looking. Being interested in research myself, Harp also said the Rock Hall conducts research through surveys, and it has analysts gain insight into its markets.
Located on East Ninth Street, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is one of Cleveland’s most rockin’ attractions. “To engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock and roll.” This is the Rock Hall’s mission, and it’s been shared with nearly eight million visitors from around the world since its opening in 1995. Along with iconic exhibits and historic artifacts, the Rock Hall hosts various events each year. I had the opportunity to speak to Carl Harp, the communications coordinator at the Rock Hall, and he took me behind the scenes of the Rock Hall’s event planning and promotion.
