#Petertweeter Awards Announce Surprise Musical Guests
Kate and Janelle (Janelle Blanchard, at left, and Kate Macdonald, right) have been named musical guests for the 2012 #Petertweeter Awards. The duo have nearly 150 000 YouTube hits on their cover of Neko Case's "Star Witness." Photo by: Jess Melnik.
Kate and Janelle carry their online momentum to Splice Restaurant and Lounge event.
Social media darlings, Kate and Janelle, will be bringing some of their online buzz to First Annual #Petertweeter Awards. In a fitting testament to their internet stardom, the folk duo will be helping Peterborough celebrate the success of its online community and offering up some of the sweet sounds that helped them reach almost 150 000 hits on YouTube.
Kate and Janelle made major Internet waves last December by recording and posting a cover of Neko Case’s Star Witness as a means of raising awareness about the potential closure of Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS). Shortly after the video was posted, Case saw it and raved about it online.
“Wow. That just made me bawl my eyes out,” she tweeted. “What beautiful singers. I’m not worthy… Holy god. They broke the shit out of my heart!”
Coverage of the video soon went viral, with articles appearing on a host of major sites, including: the Huffington Post, Exclaim! Magazine, the National Post, TV Ontario, City TV, Buzzfeed, and many, many more.
“Having Kate and Janelle perform is a great way to show what can happen when you put great content online,” says #Petertweeter Committee Chair, Donald Fraser. “Just a few years ago, this video wouldn’t have seen the light of day. Now, we have two great young musicians getting incredible national exposure. It’s the power of the Internet. It’s the power of social networks.”
The duo are excited to be performing. “We are excited to be a part of the #Petertweeters event,” says Kate Macdonald. “It looks like it’s going to be a great night and, like you, we can’t wait to find out who all the winners are.”
While the #Petertweeters have not had quite the national recognition that Kate and Janelle have, they are definitely setting the local social networking scene on fire. The awards have been featured by many local media sources, as well as on countless blogs. The #Petertweeter hashtag – a means of following online discussion – indicates that the awards are the area’s most tweeted about topic over the past month. Over 1100 people have voted for the awards at www.thewolf.ca and www.kruzfm.ca.
Hosted by Dani Stover of 101.5 The WOLF and Catherine Hanrahan from 100.5 KRUZ FM, the #Petertweeters will showcase some of Peterborough’s brightest social networkers. The awards, which will take place on March 1st at 7:30pm at Splice Lounge and Restaurant, will recognize some of the people who are breaking new ground in the area of online communications. Tickets are $10 and available at the WOLF/KRUZ and Peterborough Green-Up.
The #Petertweeters are brought to you by: The 101.5 The WOLF, 100.5 KRUZ FM, Splice Restaurant and Lounge, The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, please contact: Donald Fraser, Small Print Writing and Communications Consulting, 705-750-0623, donald@smallprint.ca
