Press Releases
Marketing to Boston, Massachusetts
December 20, 2002 -- Andrew Ward recently returned from doing a live two-hour radio show in Boston, Mass. promoting Georgia\'s Lake Country and Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee.
Ward traveled to Boston in December as guest speaker on the Liberty Travel weekly radio show aired on \"Talk Station WRKO AM 680\" with Deborah Pickard as host of the weekly show.
Tens of thousands tune in every Sunday as Deborah Pickard features different worldwide destinations throughout the year. \"Next week is Bermuda; was the first thing I was told when I arrived at the radio station\", recalls Ward. Talk about putting the pressure on for two hours! Fortunately Ward has done the \"radio marketing thing\" before, with weekly shows in Kuwait and the West Indies earlier in his career. Being live on-air for two hours was a new experience however, with the subject of \"Atlanta\'s best kept secrets\" allowing for lots of dialogue.
\"Following an introduction on Atlanta\'s airport and the sights to see in our capital city it was off to Georgia\'s Lake Country\", Ward explained. \"It was great to talk about Eatonton, Greensboro, Madison, and Lake Oconee - we had calls coming in with questions from all over the state. The first call was from a couple in Sandwich on Cape Cod - they love Middle Georgia and the second came from a guy in his car driving from New Hampshire back to Boston - he was listening to the radio and called in to tell us his brother lived in Atlanta and how he had heard how spectacular Lake Oconee was! We may not be Bermuda, but we sure have a reputation out there\", proudly announced Ward!
With no music on \"The Talk Show\" there was lots of time for questions and trivia so Wards previous experience at Travel Shows with the Georgia Department of Tourism came in handy. \"People would call up and ask me out of the blue questions like…what\'s the average temperature in Georgia? (I knew that one - its 65.1 degrees!!), and I got to explain all about the charm of our Antebellum Trails, Civil War history, and famous ex-residents - we even had one call asking if it was true that Brer\' Rabbit lived in our part of the state!\"
A competition during the two-hour show led to one caller winning a three-day break to stay and play golf at Cuscowilla. The winner of that prize, with flight and car rental donated by Liberty Travel and accommodation and golf by Cuscowilla, will soon be arriving to see for themselves how truly special our part of the America is.
\"The two-hours actually flew by fast - but it\'s a bit nerve racking never knowing what you\'re going to be asked\", admitted Ward, \"but it was a great opportunity to get the word out once again about our region.\"
Pictured after the show are Andrew Ward, General Manager of Cuscowilla, and Deborah Pickard, the District Store Manager (DSM) of over 14 Liberty Travel stores in the greater Boston area. The two first met over ten years ago and have networked together ever since.
