A Facebook 10K Race: How the California Arts Council Won

Craig Watson, the newly-hired Director of the California Arts Council, and Bob Booker, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, encountered each other at a conference in San Francisco. These two friendly rivals made an almost-ridiculous bet: they challenged each other to a race. A 10K race, no less. Each man vowed that his arts agency would be the first to reach ten thousand “likes” on Facebook—although both were starting at around the 4,500 mark.

The two agencies plunged into the effort with enthusiasm and creativity. As word of the challenge spread, other agencies asked to join the race—and were welcomed in a spirit of “the more, the merrier.” The D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities actually started out ahead of both Arizona and California, and was a serious contender despite its small population base.

The National Endowment for the Arts added a new level of excitement to the race when they offered a prize: The agency who won would be given the NEA's Facebook page for a week! This offer kicked the competition into high gear. Taunting posters were created and posted on opponents' Facebook pages. Smackdown videos appeared on Facebook walls. Pleas went out over Twitter and ricocheted around Facebook, as citizens rallied to support their individual state's arts agency. Articles appeared in local media. Taken together, these efforts created the elusive, all-important phenomenon known as “buzz.” The race captured the public's imagination—and each participating agency saw a jump in their Facebook numbers.