We are happy to share with you news from a QReate & Track customer on how QR Codes are being used for a film festival:
Here is the text from the Press Release:
QR CODES ADD EXTRA DIMENSION TO IMAGEOUT FILM FESTIVAL
– First LGBT Film Festival in the United States to Feature New Technology –
Rochester, New York (September 8, 2010) – In 1993, the Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival presented 18 programs over 5 days to celebrate the gay and lesbian community. Now in their 18th year, with 45 programs over 10 days, ImageOut continues its reign as the largest LGBT film festival in New York State outside of New York City. This year’s festival, which runs from October 8th to October 17th, will include 87 films shown in five Rochester venues and the debut of Quick-Response codes.
“The ImageOut Festival will be the first LGBT film festival in the country to use this new and exciting technology” said Paul Allen, ImageOut Board Co-Chair, “and among the first film festivals (in general) in the United States.”
QR Codes bridge the physical world directly to the virtual world. These two-dimensional codes will bring the curious smartphone user to webpages, videos and so much more. The Philipson Group, a marketing and communications firm who first introduced the technology to the Greater Rochester region at the 2010 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, was hired by ImageOut to WOW the festival’s 10,000 plus attendees with the ground breaking technology.
Michael Philipson, principal of the Philipson Group, immediately saw the benefits of QR Codes to ImageOut. By scanning the code, attendees will have instant access to film trailers, interviews and other information. Each unique QR code will be strategically integrated into the program book, connecting audiences on a whole new level.
“The codes are best paired with a mobilized website that provides Smartphone users such as iPhones, Blackberrys and Androids, with easily viewed and managed information” said Michael Philipson. “With the rapid growth of smartphone users across the country, we will begin see to more and more businesses mobilizing their websites for easy functionality.”
One of the other highlights of this year’s ImageOut Film Festival will be a mobilized website that features all the programs and films. “It puts our entire festival in the palm of the hands of our festival-goers, making it easy to find out what’s playing, when and where,” mentioned Paul Allen. The sponsor for this inaugural mobile website is the Rochester Victory Alliance at the University of Rochester Medical Center, which is one of only thirty testing sites across the country working to find an HIV vaccine.
This year’s ImageOut film festival will run from October 8th to October 17th. Films will be presented in five Rochester venues: The Little Theater, Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House, The Cinema, Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester. The audience is drawn from the Upstate New York region and beyond.
History of QR Codes
QR code is not a new technology. It has actually been around for about sixteen years, but with the smartphone take-over happening in the US and the creation of QR-code-reading apps, the use of the codes is booming. Created by Japanese corporation DENSO-Wave in 1994, a QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional barcode).
How QR Codes Work
They are simple to use. Essentially, a user just “points and scans.” You must, however, have a smartphone. Free applications can be downloaded, such as i-nigma, QR App, or Bee Tagg to your mobile device. Then simply open the application on your phone, scan the code and you are taken to the code’s associated website. The URL address is saved in your phone’s history so the user can easily link back into the information. The user will no longer have to remember a difficult Web address or worry about typing in a wrong letter.
Benefits of QR Codes
QR Codes can boost the response of direct marketing campaigns exponentially. Briefly, there are six solid reasons to use QR Codes- especially in direct marketing: 1) The road from prospect to the message/offer just became a lot shorter; 2) Response tracking is now simplified; 3) QR Codes help reach new customers; 4) Can say more with less; 5)Assists with immediate customer conversion; and finally, 6) QR Codes are viral.
About ImageOut
ImageOut is Upstate New York’s longest running lesbian and gay film and video festival. 2010 marks the 18th Anniversary of ImageOut. ImageOut informs, entertains, educates, and enriches filmgoers through the exhibition of film and videos by, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. ImageOut encourages lesbian and gay filmmakers, who, as a group, are rarely seen in mainstream media. It is an opportunity to record and preserve the stories and histories of LGBT lives and to foster collaborations and conversations to break down social and cultural barriers concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
About the Philipson Group
The Philipson Group located in Rochester, New York, is a full service, creative communications and marketing firm with over twenty years of making ideas happen. The Philipson Group is not only a “think-tank,” but more importantly, has proven to take inspiring ideas and create action oriented, successful initiatives. The Philipson Group specializes in niche marketing that produces profitable outcomes for its clients, getting them noticed and talked about far beyond the average lifespan of an advertising campaign, fundraising initiative or event promotion.
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Also, here is a link to the Facebook page for the film festival.
