With more state budget cuts on their way, State Park closures were looming. Possibly 220 parks would be shut down! As a new hiker, this really worried me. I was hoping to keep hiking, then start backpacking and camping. And one day I would take my kids out in this natural world and show them all the rad stuff out there. Maybe one day they also could look across a small river to see a Bighorn Sheep staring back at them.

It also worried the California State Parks Foundation.

And instead of doing nothing about it or relying solely on traditional means, they decided to get the word out there a faster, more cost effective way by utilizing Social Media with their Save Our State Parks campaign. Even through direct mail/email they urged people to join their Facebook fan site and sign a petition to stop cuts and closures.

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I learned about the cuts and the campaign through Twitter when a friend tweeted about it. And quickly I was in some friendly conversation with the California State Parks Foundation people. On both Twitter and Facebook they aren’t just spitting out info; they are engaging in conversation. I signed the petition and retweeted. This is how the ball keeps rolling.

The results were staggering and impressive. By creating buzz and funneling it through social media they went from 517 to 45,000 facebook fans in a couple months. And raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are almost at 50,000 fans now and keep on pushing to fight for our State Parks and for the happy people who utilize them … like me.

Bravo to the agency Adams Hussey & Associates and the California State Parks Foundation for a marketing job well done.

Become a Fan: http://www.facebook.com/calparks

Join the cause: http://www.calparks.org/takeaction/

Follow: http://twitter.com/calparks

For more on the California State Parks Foundation: Save our State Parks campaign or to reference any of the above: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/viralawards2009/1.html