On October 7th, I and a number of other bloggers had a unique chance to visit with CSX Railroad management in Chicago. CSX invited a number of social media folks to come to Chicago to see their newest genset locomotive technology, as well as to provide access to CSX's communications and operations staffs. About 15 people from sites such as Ars Technica, mattgoesgreen.com, ecollo.com, travel, trains and other things and others visited the CSXT intermodal railyard and got schooled on both Chicago local operations and how railroads work. I was the only logistics geek there, but that's good for freightdawg.com!
CSX is spending considerable money on establishing their brand and their mode of transportation as an efficient and eco-friendly way to transport goods. That's not a touchy-feely thing as much as a solid approach to new media as part of a multi-media advertising campaign. CSX advertisements directly claim that rail transportation is an efficient and environmentally friendly way to move goods.
By inviting professional and industry related bloggers to come see for themselves, CSX is underscoring their branding while providing legitimacy to their environmental investments. Bloggers are usually good at unvarnished opinion. CSX has provided key bloggers with direct access to their communications teams for information when needed, as well as taking influential bloggers on site to see how the business operates. This a very sophisticated approach for an old school transport mode and shows tremendous understanding of how Internet social media works.
Check out this link to mattgoesgreen.com and the pics and video Matt Trachtenberg took. Personally, I got to meet some new and very smart people who are covering the Green side of business today. A very nice way to spend 2 days of vacation time!
Eric
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