Tampa Bay Transportation’s Effect on Business – An Opportunity to Speak Out

TAMPA, Fla. – Jan. 27, 2010 – Share your opinion on how mass transit in Tampa Bay can affect our community and business via a video contest hosted by the Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ) and full-service website design and development company, Magnetic. 

Community residents and business leaders have the opportunity to enter the video contest for a chance to win a website upgrade, an online marketing campaign or an email marketing campaign. The contest will only run for a few weeks. Videos are currently being collected and the voting will remain open until Feb. 26, 2010.

The transportation themed video contest is part of a series of “Community Conversations” run by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Winners of the contest, determined by the highest number of total votes for their video, will be announced on March 2, 2010 at a breakfast panel discussion hosted by the TBBJ, and sponsored by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART), the Pinellas Suncoast Transportation Authority (PSTA), The Expressway Authority, and the Tampa International Airport.

Magnetic will feature video entries on their website, where the public, along with contestants, will have the opportunity to view the videos online and vote for their favorites.

The contest gives Tampa Bay business leaders and residents a chance to share their opinions on important transportation issues, such as the new Penny Tax referendum, which mandates a 1 percent sales tax increase to fund public transportation development.

The contest may also illustrate the public’s opinion of the Tampa light rail routes, which planners propose to connect downtown Tampa with Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida’s Tampa Campus and the Westshore business district.

Magnetic and the Tampa Bay Business Journal partnered to host the contest in an effort to raise awareness of relevant community issues while connecting Tampa Bay business owners and residents with area policy makers.

The collaboration is a first. “Both companies were determined to find a fresh approach to illuminating the importance of a top-notch transportation system for Tampa Bay’s future,” said Jennifer Bakunas, President of Magnetic.

The hope is that the contest will provide new perspectives from the transit riders of tomorrow, and generate some appropriate buzz around what is slated to be a fascinating panel discussion on a hot topic.

“There’s a wonderful X-factor to our Transportation Community Conversation Video Contest,” said TBBJ President and Publisher Bridgette Mill. “Allowing actual stakeholders to express themselves about the issues in creative ways may yield some thoughts and ideas regional planners never dreamed of.”

Contest prizes include a $10,000 Website Upgrade, a $2,500 Online Marketing Campaign and a $1,500 Email Marketing Campaign. All awarded services will be provided by Magnetic.

Transportation Community Conversation Video Contest Details:

  • Contest officially begins on January 26, 2010 and voting closes on February 26, 2010.
  • To enter the contest, upload your video to www.Magnetic.com/Contest.
  • Entries must be relevant to the question, “How could improved mass transit in Tampa Bay affect our community and business for you and your employees?”
  • Videos should be no longer than 30 seconds.
  • Voters can submit a single vote for a video, but can submit a vote for multiple videos.
  • Winners will be announced on March 2, 2010 at the Tampa Bay Business Journal Transportation Community Conversation breakfast, sponsored by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART), the Pinellas Suncoast Transportation Authority (PSTA), The Expressway Authority, and Tampa International Airport.

Shooting Stars Post (SSP), our Official Video Sponsor, has offered to help community leaders create a professional 30 second video to submit to the contest. SSP can shoot, edit and produce one :30 video for any contestant for $50. Please contact SSP at 813-873-0100, or go to www.Magnetic.com/Contest for more details. Please note that professionally taping your video via SSP or another organization is not a requirement to enter the contest.

About the Tampa Bay Business Journal
For nearly three decades the Tampa Bay Business Journal has been the go-to source for exclusive breaking business news and business-to-business market intelligence in the seven-county Tampa Bay region. Our team of award-winning journalists covers more than 20 different business beats. The TBBJ features local people and decision makers who are leaders in their business communities. In print every Friday and online daily, we report on local and national issues that impact subscribers’ businesses and assist them in growing their companies. Our newspapers boast an average renewal rate of more than 80 percent, and are actually growing circulation everyday – which is unparalleled in the newspaper industry. A subscription to a business journal includes a yearly Book of Lists, which for more than two decades has established itself as an essential tool of the local business community by providing contact and historical data but also competitive benchmarks. The TBBJ is part of the Charlotte, N.C.-based American City Business Journals which offers the best in local business news from coast to coast, including more than 40 other sister newspapers in South Florida, Orlando and Jacksonville. ACBJ is a unit of Advance. We’re committed to top-quality journalism, unexcelled service to readers and advertisers, and active involvement in the local business community.

About Magnetic
Based in Tampa, Fla. and founded in 1997, Magnetic is a full-service web design and development firm that helps businesses reach their full web potential through strategic consulting, custom web design and development, e-commerce solutions, database integration, content management, systems integration, internet marketing and hosting. Named the 2007 Small Business of the Year by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Magnetic offers both business and technical expertise to help medium- and large-size businesses achieve greater profitability and sales through the Internet. For more information on Magnetic, please visit www.magnetic.com.