October 27, 2008 - The Town of Vulcan's Tourism Office was awarded the 2008 ALTO Award (Alberta Tourism Award) for Marketing Excellence - campaign or project with a budget under $5,000, for the "Help Bring Spock Home to Vulcan, Alberta" campaign.

The “crazy idea” of knocking on Hollywood’s Paramount Pictures’ door asking to premiere the $150 million Star Trek XI motion picture in the Town of Vulcan doesn’t sound so crazy anymore to the town’s Tourism Coordinator Dayna Dickens. The town, already on the international radar for its famous name and for its homage to Star Trek and Science Fiction is garnering even more attention with a fun and clever marketing effort.

“We sent in a proposal to host the opening which was really a shot in the dark”, says Dickens. “The story of Vulcan’s quest to bring home Spock has spread all over the world and Paramount has told as that they are considering our proposal.”

With a budget of only $2,000, a group on the Facebook social networking site was created, a series of news releases issued and business cards promoting the “Help bring Spock Home to Vulcan, Alberta” campaign printed. The Facebook group now has well over 1,000 members, wire services picked up the quirky story and it appeared in the media all over the world and the business cards keep getting re-printed. “The success of this campaign has proven the power of using brand-focused publicity and new media to promote a destination,” Dickens adds.

Although the chance that Vulcan will be able to convince Paramount Pictures to hold the opening of the movie in the small prairie town is still up for question, the campaign itself has been overwhelming successful. The marketing push has resulted in a galaxy-sized 20 per cent increase in visitors and a 46 per increase in revenues at the Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station between September 2007 and August 2008.

Contact: Dayna Dickens, Town of Vulcan, (403) 485-2994, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2008 Alto Awards Ceremony - from left: Town of Vulcan Councillor Rick Howard, Deputy Minister of Tourism Bob Scott, Vulcan Tourism Coordinator Dayna Dickens, Vulcan Tourism Information Services Coordinator Erin Melcher