I don’t know why it still surprises me when I hear that telling your friends is a more effective way to promote something than getting traditional media coverage – but we are reminded of this at Stitch every time we launch a project. Sending out emails, tweets, and Facebook messages results in way more traffic than any print or radio coverage we’ve received.

That’s why I’m impressed by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission‘s Big Day Downtown campaign. They are giving $100 to 30 influential bloggers and media people to document their spending-spree downtown. The hashtag #bigdaydowntown keeps popping up from people I follow on Twitter and I’ve read a few posts about peoples’ experiences with the promotion that made me wish I was participating – imagine how much pulled pork I could get for $100 from Boneheads.

It’s a pretty awesome idea and an efficient way to stretch $3000 worth of promotion into something that gets the community talking.

Check out Dave Howlett’s Big Day Downtown.