Small wonder: team of five ensures promotional efforts
& successes of 106th Washington's Birthday events

By Organizational acumen, building a team that isn't shy about offering up fresh ideas, learning from the successes of other festivals, and the support of a progressive board of directors -- these are the tools Washington's Birthday Celebration Association executive director Norma Rodriguez has in place to ensure the success of the upcoming 106th WBCA Celebration.
As the city has changed over decades, so has changed the annual Celebration that in a nod to the father of our country celebrates international goodwill and Americanism.
Rodriguez, who has been at the helm of the WBCA since 1997, believes that in recent years the image of the celebration has changed, gelling and achieving a name recognition outside of Laredo that it once lacked. Rodriguez said that the promotion of the annual Celebration is an excellent opportunity to promote the City of Laredo to prospective visitors. "It's the perfect venue to showcase our hospitality, shopping and dining in Los Dos Laredos, tourism, and the host of cultural interests of both cities," Rodriguez said, adding that the annual celebration has evolved into a festivity of such diverse offerings that there is "something for everyone."
"A few years ago we had a small budget in place to promote the Celebration outside Laredo. The Celebration association's directors realized how important it is to promote ourselves beyond the picket fence of our city limits, and to that end they invested in staff development for festival trade conferences that allowed us to learn from the successes of other festivals," Rodriguez said, adding that the industry standard for festivals is to bring in visitors within a 200 mile radius. "Increasingly over the last few years we have gotten better at doing this, thanks to the promotional efforts of the cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, and most recently thanks to the Laredo Convention and Visitors Bureau (C&VB)," she said.
"The association has also given us a larger promotional budget to widen our scope by targeting very specific markets in nearby cities and towns," Rodriguez continued.
According to WBCA publicity and marketing coordinator Chriselda Delgado, Nuevo Laredo's support of and participation in the WBCA is a key factor in increased interest in the annual festivity. Nuevo Laredo will host four new WBCA events in the sister city, all of them providing an exciting look at the shared culture of the border. Besides the well established Victoria Street Festival, Nuevo Laredo will host a Charreada; a Callejonada street party to highlight Nuevo Laredo dining venues; a music festival at Expomex; and a Portuguese-style bullfight on horseback, the Rejoneada.
Both Rodriguez and Delgado expressed appreciation for the role of the C&VB and its director Nick Reyna for financing the Celebration's clever media kits, an investment of about $16,000. Rodriguez said that the Celebration's advertising budget is small, but well spent. "Local media is very responsive to matches," she said.
"We have been very methodical about deciding how to promote which events and how to best spend our advertising dollars out of Laredo," Delgado said. "Part of our early strategy this year was to make groupings of WBCA events that could be marketed to specific audiences. There are 13 children's events in the Celebration that are advertised in regional children's publications. Jamboozie, Jam for George, the Jalapeño Festival, the Victoria Street Festival -- those events have an appeal for a younger party crowd. We've targeted the college student populations, for example, of Southwest Texas State University, UT Austin and San Antonio, Texas A&M College Station," she continued.
"Even as we promote those events to specific audiences, we never lose sight that the Celebration has universal appeal for Laredoans and visitors, and that one WBCA event is not any more important than the other," Rodriguez said.
"The Celebration's poster art is a vital component of the WBCA," the director continued, adding that its unveiling early in the Celebration's calendar sets the momentum for the upcoming Celebration. "This year's birthday cake poster by Lejeune Whitworth is especially beautiful. It's called 'The Icing on the Cake,' and it puts the entire Celebration into focus. There are no doubt memories of about 50 Celebrations captured in the spirit of her poster art. Mrs. Whitworth and her painting speak volumes for the talent and tastes that come together to make the Celebration exciting," Rodriguez said.
"When you consider the participation of thousands of Laredoans in the Celebration at so many different levels, including so many school children, it is easy to say that the Celebration does indeed offer something for everyone, and that includes visitors," Delgado said, adding that the celebration association is the umbrella organization for 12 of its own events and 19 events for affiliate organizations.
"Our membership in the International Festival Events Association (IFEA) has broadened our promotional perspective both locally and outside of Laredo," Rodriguez said. "It has allowed us to consider all the possibilties for marketing the entire festival. It has also allowed us to meet owners of public relations and promotional firms," she continued. The WBCA marketing team won the IFEA's bronze award for the 105th celebration for the Best Full Length TV Program category. The WBCA team also took first place at the Texas Festivals and Events Association for the Best Press/Media Kit for 2002.
"We work very well together," Rodriguez said. "There are only five of us, including Chriselda and me," she said of the team that includes administrative assistant José Nava, creative arts coordinator Gricel Rodriguez, and secretary Laura Treviño. "We are always thinking ahead to the next event, the next Celebration," Rodriguez said.
For a complete calendar of WBCA events, go to www.wbcalaredo.org María Eugenia Guerra