What's Next Boomer Business Summit Attendees "Text For Good," Pledge Donations to Favorite Causes via Text Messaging
Washington, DC (PRWEB) April 9, 2008 -- Proving that baby boomers are just as tech savvy as their Gen X and Y counterparts, over 350 attendees of last month's What's Next Boomer Business Summit, held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., celebrated the end of another successful conference by "texting for good."
Mary Furlong, CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates and producer of the Summit, showcased four nonprofit organizations and invited everyone to pledge a donation to their favorite by texting on their cell phones and PDAs one of four keywords corresponding to the organization, the desired donation amount, and then a short code - all of which were set up by HipCricket, an interactive mobile marketing company. Pledges began arriving almost immediately at the call centers set up to contact the text senders to obtain credit card information.
The four beneficiary organizations are:
? It Takes a College to Build a Village (no web site)
? Capitol Hill Village - www.capitolhillvillage.org
? Take Your Kids 2 Vote - http://takeyourkids2vote.org
? The Center for the Book, Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/
"HipCricket's technology allowed us to create an instant connection to and support for these exciting initiatives," said Mary Furlong. "We're very excited about the results of our 'texting for good' experience and look forward to finding other ways to use mobile marketing to support these and other mission-driven organizations."
Participating in the "texting for good" experience was easy. Donors simply texted the keyword designated for their favorite organization - COLLEGE for It Takes a College to Build a Village; VILLAGE for Capitol Hill Village; KIDS for Take Your Kids 2 Vote; and STUDY for Center for the Book. They followed the keyword with the desired donation amount and then the short code 36617. Donors received an automated reply message from HipCricket informing them that someone would contact them shortly to confirm the donation and obtain their credit card information to process it.
While the 2008 What's Next Boomer Business Summit is over, the opportunity to "text for good" and support the organizations in the manner described above is still available.
Social networking, mobile marketing, and texting are exploding among the boomer population, creating unlimited new opportunities for organizations marketing to consumers between the ages of 45 - 64 years old.
HipCricket uses mobile marketing to create relationships between consumers, broadcasters and brands. "While some believe texting is a young person's activity, the average age of texters is 38," said Jeff Hasen, HipCricket's chief marketing officer. "The fastest growth group is folks 35-54. The mobile phone is a personal device - and the ideal way to reach boomers who opt-in for information, reminders and offers."
For more information about thee 2008 What's Next Boomer Business Summit, visit www.boomersummit.com.
About Mary Furlong & Associates
Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) is a proven team of business innovators, comprised of talent from marketing, editorial, business, online content and community. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm's founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 40+ market strategies of leading corporations and nonprofit organizations for more than 20 years. Her latest book, Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace, was published in February 2007. More information is available at www.maryfurlong.com.
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