Biloxi, Mississippi Smokin’ the Sound event was truly a win-win event for all participants. The Miss GEICO arrived a week in advance so the OSS could promote the event. We were glad to join two St. Patrick’s Day parades in Gulfport and Biloxi. During the next four days, we visited five Wal-mart stores in the area and received a terrific response. Scotty, Chief, and Marc also made numerous hospital appearances where they visited special cancer patients. On the 23rd, we all had a heart-warming experience while spending time at the Biloxi Veteran’s Hospital where we were honored by the presence of American heroes.
On the media side, Ken Warby (the fastest man on water and GEICO team member) went to the local ABC affiliate for their afternoon show. Joining him was Dave Scott from Budweiser. The show was heavily skewed toward the topic of Miss GEICO. All three networks did news specials the day before and after the race with the media darling, Miss GEICO, included in each broadcast. On the radio side, 107.1 WXYK (Top 40) let Scotty B. host the show between 8:00 and 10:00 PM to talk about the race, Miss GEICO, and Smokin’ the Sound. We did call-ins on Station WMJY 93.7 and call-ins along with interviews on WXBD 1490 AM Sports. We were also on Radio 100.1 FM, who broadcasted the race live. The Biloxi Sun Herald had an article on the race featuring Scotty B’s preparation for the event.
The race setup had the powerboats close to shore and the action was extremely exciting for the crowd of 32,000. Miss GEICO won the Turbine Extreme Class and picked up the flag with the wildly cheering crowd. The attendance was announced by the OSS at the awards dinner that night. The Gecko lizard greeted 300 dinner attendees at the front door and was on stage for Miss GEICO’s trophy presentation. I was touched and felt extremely rewarded when John Haggin handed the trophy to me. Then in his typical generous fashion, John gave the check back to the rebuilding fund of Biloxi.
The Biloxi event was well organized and should grow every year. The team is looking forward to returning to such a great, well-promoted event. The community really needed an event such as this during these times.
The Miss GEICO/AMF team was well organized and professional as usual. We orchestrated the week without a hitch. The team really brought its “A game”. We appreciate all the promotional material from GEICO and anticipate future promotional items. All this effort will enable us to make power boat racing the greatest show on earth…land and water. Along with GEICO, the AMF team can’t “Miss."
Gary Goodell |
