WINTERCITY EDMONTON

“You can’t change the weather, but you can change how you feel about it. We’ll show you how.”

In the winter of 2012, we were invited to develop a social media strategy for the City of Edmonton’s WinterCity Initiative. It was the first time the City had ventured outside the organization to develop grassroots social media platforms, and we were trusted with the creation of a WinterCity pilot project on Facebook and Twitter.

The pilot was so successful that in three short months, we built thriving communities on Facebook and Twitter, and the City not only granted the continuation of the project, but also opened the door for other initiatives to have independent social identities. The WinterCity platforms now engage thousands of Edmontonians every day, and have become the city’s go-to hub for winter love. We have been on the forefront of changing attitudes, and it’s been remarkable to see how, in just a few short seasons, Edmontonians have gone from hating winter and complaining about snow removal, to chomping at the bit for snow, snowballs and skating.

We built the WinterCity Facebook and Twitter platforms and currently manage them from October through May of every year, and advise on their social strategy through the summer months. We also developed a WinterCity micro-site and blog which was launched in the fall of 2015, and consulted on the complete site redesign in 2016.

In 2015, WinterCity Edmonton was named one of the most influential social media accounts in Edmonton by Jay Palter Social Advisory. In 2018, we added Instagram into the mix.

After a brief pause during the pandemic, we reprised our role as principal communicators on this project, and it continues to be a highly visible and heavily engaged account, and has helped to change the experience of winter for thousands of Edmontonians.