First off, hello - this is my first post on the Culture Days site! I've been involved with the project for over a year now, first as a member of the Alberta Task Force when I worked at Calgary Arts Development. Since that time I’ve moved to Vancouver and I’ve just started helping with online communications for Culture Days as the countdown to September begins.

Even though my official role with Culture Days is mostly about the online world, I wanted to write a post about spreading the word in real life ("IRL" if you're conserving characters in the Twitter-verse!). A lot of the people I talk to either haven't heard about Culture Days, or they only know a little bit and they're eager for more details. Either way, it's an awesome opportunity to share my enthusiasm for the movement and add a bit of fuel to the word of mouth marketing efforts for Culture Days.

I don't know about you, but the more I talk about something, the easier it gets to understand why I'm excited about it. When I first learned about Culture Days, I immediately thought, "Great, a ParticipACTION campaign for the arts!" And that's true: a national awareness campaign for Culture Days encouraging all Canadians to celebrate the arts begins this August with generous support from media partners like the Globe and Mail, CBC and St. Joseph's Media. For me, the idea of a robust, cross-Canada marketing campaign for the arts is tremendously exciting. I’m sure this is true of all artists and cultural workers, and for everyone who cares about the artistic life of our country.

As September draws near, I'm also struck by the openness of the Culture Days movement. I love that so many people in so many communities across the country will have a chance to get in the middle of that line between audience and creator. I love that anyone in Canada can easily organize an activity and that every conversation, online or offline, contributes to the movement. Most of all I love that everyone seems to have a personal connection with arts and culture and when I tell them about Culture Days they're intrigued and glad to know that something like this is finally happening.

I thought I’d share the “elevator pitch” I hear coming out of my mouth when people ask me what Culture Days is all about. It’s written out here thanks to a conversation with my dog, Emily, who happens to be named after one of my favourite Canadian artists, Emily Carr!

A lot of people say Culture Days is like a ParticipACTION campaign for the arts. There's a national awareness campaign starting this August with media partners like the Globe and Mail, CBC and WHERE Magazine. During Culture Days - it's in September - there will be hundreds of free, interactive activities for the public like behind the scenes tours, free performances and community art projects. Thousands of artists, individuals, organizations and communities are involved in organizing Culture Days. It will be the largest-ever grassroots campaign to celebrate the arts and promote cultural participation in Canada, which is really exciting to me and I think to everyone who cares about the arts. You should check out the website: CultureDays.ca.

I'd love to hear the soundbyte you've created for your activity or community. Just post a comment below and think of it as another conversation in your word of mouth marketing campaign!

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