KC Marketing and Tech Community Readies Red Carpet for MLB All-Star Game

As the clock ticks down to MLB's All-Star Week here in Kansas City, the KC marketing and tech community is preparing to roll out a digital red carpet via social media and mobile applications. Per our good friends at Barkley...

As the 2012 MLB All-Star Game host city, Kansas City will be attracting visitors from all over the country. Through a partnership of the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association, Mayor Sly James, H&R Block, Barkley and the Social Media Club of Kansas City, Kansas City’s Social Media Command Center will lead the charge to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels to welcome visitors and enhance their All-Star experience.

Besides virtual ambassadors that will be monitoring, tweeting and posting from a "command center" at H&R Block, there are plans for a trio of mobile apps designed to enhance the All-Star Game festivities. Via the Kansas City Star...

Another initiative to show off different facets of Kansas City is also in the works. The city is developing three mobile applications that will be released in time for the All-Star Game but are meant to live on after it, said Alan Carr, vice president of marketing and communications for the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association.

One application will serve as a guide to Kansas City and include things to do, coupons and city-wide offers, as well as a special section related to all things All-Star, Carr said.

A Negro Leagues Baseball Museum application is in development and the city expects it to be released at the museum’s Legends Luncheon on Friday. Another application, the “FanatiKC Challenge,” will encourage users to visit 15 different city locations and “check-in” to win discounts or coupons from local stores. Carr said those that go to enough places can earn prizes such as giveaways or T-shirts.

The city hopes to roll out these applications within the next two weeks, Carr said.

Want to get involved? This call for volunteers posting from the Social Media Club of Kansas City has all the details you'll need.