1. Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

2. ANNUAL
THE 2nd
// and the winners are…
For this year’s Sherpie Awards, we sent out a call for nominees so that casino
marketers like you could tell us which brands have the finest social media
chops. Through a partnership with Global Gaming Business magazine, our
SocialSherpa™ team narrowed down the best of the best from over a hundred
casinos across the country.
So without further ado, we present to you the winners of the 2011 Sherpie
Awards. Congratulations to everyone mentioned in the following pages –
you’ve truly embraced the power of social media and successfully integrated it
into your marketing plans. Keep up the excellent work.
2012 is going to be an even bigger year for social media – and we’re
always here to help. If you think your social efforts could use a boost,
feel free to drop us a line. rleeds@masterminds1.com
For the sake of full disclosure and fairness, we did not include any of our
own clients as nominees.
P R E S E N T E D B Y
&
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

3. BEST OF 2011
Best App / Interactive Game:
Pechanga Resort & Casino - “Slot Wars”
Pechanga Resort & Casino has become quite the leader in the social gaming space.
Their latest go-round, called Slot Wars™ is an interactive Facebook game in which
fans can customize their own slot machines and “battle” other players to see who has
the highest scoring creation. This has not only engaged Pechanga’s Facebook fans
significantly – it also got them thinking and talking about the casino’s primary product,
and sharing it with their friends. At its peak, Slot Wars had 10,000 active players from
Southern California (one of Pechanga’s core markets), and fans spent an astounding
average of 40 minutes per session playing the game. These players also significantly
increased their slot play on-property, and 75% of them felt more positively about the
Pechanga brand. Overall, a win-win for this West Coast resort.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

4. BEST OF 2011
Best Social PR Stunt:
Tropicana Casino & Resort - “That’s Bull! (April Fools’ Hoax)”
This past April Fools’ Day, Tropicana and Atlantic City Weekly teamed up to stage a
bullish stunt that would generate a lot of online conversations. After publishing a realistic
photo of a bull standing inside the casino on AtlanticCityWeekly.com, Tropicana decided
to leak this breaking news to their audience of more than 25,000 Facebook fans. The
post received over 45,000 impressions on Facebook, and the article bucked its way into
the number one spot of AC Weekly’s most popular articles. This shocking buzz builder
not only drew attention to the Tropicana brand, but also created chatter about the rodeo
that was in town for April Fools’ Day weekend. Trop followed the story up with fun
appearances by a cute costumed bull all over the property, posting these photos on their
Facebook page to create even more conversations.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

5. BEST OF 2011
Best Online-Meets-Offline Promotion:
River City Casino - “Hide & Go Eat”
River City Casino leveled up their social interaction by creating a scavenger hunt
involving twenty double-sided paper coins hidden throughout the property. They
asked their Facebook fans to step away from their computers and come into the
casino in search of one of the gold coins, which would win them a dinner for two at
1904 Steakhouse. This hide-and-seek promotion not only created awareness for the
restaurant, but also added a little excitement for the casino’s flock of Facebook fans.
During the two weeks that the promotion ran, River City gained hundreds of new
Facebook fans and received over 120,000 page views. It also turned online engagement
into real-life interaction, followed by more online engagement as fans returned to the
Facebook page to put their coins up.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

6. BEST OF 2011
Best Use of Facebook Connect:
Mohegan Sun - “Shine Maker”
Facebook Connect is a way for you to login to a regular website using your Facebook
profile, allowing it to pull some of your personal content such as photos and friends’
names. Mohegan Sun used this platform very effectively for their new app, the Shine
Maker, which creates custom user-generated experiences that’ll leave you feeling like
a star. Imagine creating your own unique Shining Moment: inviting your entourage
of Facebook friends, and customizing how much you want to relax, socialize, savor,
splurge, rock, and of course, game. These selections lead to a custom video catered
specifically to you, showing what kind of excitement is waiting for you at Mohegan Sun.
The Connect platform makes it easy to share this video with your friends on Facebook
and Twitter, spreading word of the casino’s brand even further across the web.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

7. BEST OF 2011
Best Viral Video Campaign:
MGM Grand Las Vegas - “You Decide”
MGM Grand Las Vegas opted to make their ‘traditional’ media social by producing a
series of choose-your-own-adventure-style TV spots specifically for YouTube. The videos
start out with a couple or a group of friends checking into the casino’s hotel. Sounds
pretty normal, right? Here’s the twist: you get to click and decide whether the characters
will have a good experience, or a bad one. This creative use of YouTube annotations
kept MGM’s audience engaged in the storyline of the commercials, because they got
to participate in what happened next. Not to mention, an exclusive room rate deal was
revealed at the end of the “Good” video, giving viewers even more reasons to share this
experience across their social networks. These ads helped MGM Grand develop stronger
brand recognition, engagement, and true “viral” status, reaching well over 200,000 views
in only a matter of weeks.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

8. BEST OF 2011
Best Multi-Property Branding Initiative:
Caesars Entertainment - “No Resort Fees/Angry Showgirls”
Rather than simply announcing the elimination of resort fees at all nine of their Vegas
properties, Caesars Entertainment built an integrated social media movement around it.
The campaign started with an “Angry Showgirls” protest, in which Caesars closed the
Strip to traffic as over 50 showgirls marched with signs supporting the “No Resort Fees”
rallying cry. During the stunt, #NoResortFees and #AngryShowgirls trended on Twitter,
and USA TODAY and MSNBC covered the event nationally. Next, Caesars Entertainment
banded together their nine properties online to pose the question, “What If Real Life Had
Resort Fees?” A user-generated video contest allowed Facebook fans of each casino
to voice their own opinions and join the conversation, and all nine properties echoed
the “No Resort Fees” message in their profile pictures and posts. Collectively, this
campaign received nearly 6,000 “Likes” on Facebook, over 14,000 YouTube views, and
an impressive amount of engagement among Caesars’ social media community.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

9. BEST OF 2011
Best Use of Twitter:
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas uses Twitter for what it’s truly meant to be: a two-way
conversation with their consumers, and a vehicle for customer service. They recognize
that you must take the time to respond to your patrons, even when the comments
are negative. The Cosmopolitan makes their followers – the “curious class” – feel
appreciated and exclusive. This cultured group would much rather read “stories worth
sharing” than see an unending stream of self-promotion. The Cosmopolitan continues to
engage this audience by tweeting a distinct balance of questions, VIP deals, personable
interactions, and interesting tidbits that intrigue the curious class. The young Vegas
casino has truly humanized their brand in the social space, earning a following of over
9,000 in the six months prior to opening and over 26,000 followers to date. Now that’s
something worth tweeting about.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

10. BEST OF 2011
Best Use of Geo-Location Platforms:
Caesars Entertainment - “The Great Race to Rewards” & “Top Guest”
Caesars Entertainment was an early adapter of the geo-location platform Top Guest, in
which patrons can earn points by “checking in” to various Caesars properties across
the country or by sharing photos with their social networks. In addition, Caesars infused
the location-based craze into their Total Rewards program by creating “The Great Race
to Rewards.” This multi-faceted promotion encouraged Total Rewards members to
check in to their favorite Caesars properties, find secret codes on Facebook, and enter
them into the mobile site to win prizes. The microsite was easy to use, easy to share,
and offered several ways for visitors to win. Caesars’ geo-location strategy succeeded
because they tied in a game dynamic that every casino-goer loves: incentive. From
badges to reward credits, gift cards to getaways – there was a little something to win for
everyone involved. The result: web traffic turned foot traffic, followed by even more web
traffic as patrons sustain a perpetual cycle of online and on-property interaction.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

11. BEST OF 2011
Best in Show:
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas truly gets it. They aren’t just using social media because
everyone else is doing it, and executing a scattered series of one-off tactics to keep
up with the Jones’s. Instead, this fresh-on-the-scene casino planned ahead, and
integrated their social media initiatives to achieve their business objectives: establish
a unique, personable brand; build a positive relationship with their online community;
and give their audience “stories worth sharing,” ultimately driving visits, hotel stays and
advocacy.
The Cosmopolitan integrated a strategic plan of Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare,
YouTube and Flickr to engage their audience across multiple platforms. They started
by establishing a unique brand voice on the web to build interest before launch. Then,
they used well-branded promotions and integration of traditional advertising to drive
traffic and acquisition to their social channels, continuing to engage these visitors with
interesting content.
Their Picture Perfect View Photo Contest on Facebook was just one of the many ways
Cosmopolitan got their customers sharing their stories. This promotion asked fans to
submit their own Picture Perfect Views, for a chance to win a Cosmopolitan getaway
with a panoramic view of the Sin City skyline. The contest received 373 entries and
nearly 30,000 total impressions. The fan-submitted photos were also displayed on Flickr
to reach even more potential advocates of the Cosmopolitan.
Cosmopolitan’s Facebook page gained almost 20,000 “Likes” by January 2011 (now
over 53,000), and their Twitter following increased from zero to 9,099 (now over 25,000).
Their Foursquare is booming with more than 19,000 unique visitors and over 35,000
check-ins. Their YouTube channel saw over 250,000 views during the launch period, and
is well on its way to approaching one million.
Overall, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas built an extremely successful integrated social
media campaign, and deserves our “Best In Show” Sherpie of the year.
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

12. BEST OF 2011
// Best in Show
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011

13. BEST OF 2011
// Runners Up
Let’s face it, there are a lot of casinos out there – most of whom are active on
social media channels, and doing a pretty good job at it so far. We haven’t forgotten
about you. Here’s a list of those rising stars that almost made the Sherpie cut.
Choctaw Casino Resort Durant, OK
Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel Salamanca, NY
Mardi Gras Casino Hallandale Beach, FL
We’re looking forward to seeing bigger and better things come from these properties
in the months to come. And as always, if you’d like some help, drop us a line.
Sign up for our Casino Buzz Report to see how other
casinos are using social media.
masterminds1.com/casino-buzz/
Social Sherpa™ —A division of Masterminds masterminds1.com/socialsherpa © MASTERMINDS 2011