I've spent most of my career figuring out how to get people to pay attention.

Over the past decade, that work has taken me from presidential campaigns and the halls of the New York State Senate to national newsrooms, corporate boardrooms, and, more recently, the streets of downtown Mount Dora, Florida.

While the organizations, audiences, and objectives have changed considerably along the way, I've found that the fundamentals of good communications remain remarkably consistent. You need an interesting story, a clear understanding of who you're trying to reach, and a strategy that gives people a reason to care.

What has changed for me is how I think about the relationship between publicity and participation. Getting someone's attention is one thing, but inspiring them to attend an event, support a local business, or become part of a community is where the real opportunity begins.

That thinking is what led me to launch Big Mouth Publicity & Event Marketing, an independent agency that brings together my experience in earned media, communications strategy, event promotion, and community building.

A Little About My Background

My career in communications began in politics, where I worked on presidential campaigns and served as a communications director in the New York State Senate. Political communications taught me how to work under pressure, respond to rapidly changing news cycles, and understand what makes a story relevant to the people reading or watching it.

I eventually transitioned into corporate public relations, working with global communications agencies and supporting organizations including Mastercard, Truist, FICO, CFA Institute, and IBM.

Much of that work centered on developing media strategies, identifying stories within complex organizations, and connecting executives with journalists covering business, finance, technology, and the economy. I've worked across regional, national, and broadcast media, helping organizations translate their expertise into stories that resonate beyond their own industries.

It was an invaluable education in how publicity actually works. I learned that media coverage doesn't happen simply because an organization has something to announce. The strongest opportunities come from understanding the broader conversation, identifying where you can contribute something meaningful, and making that connection interesting to a journalist's audience.

Those lessons have stayed with me, particularly as my work has expanded into event marketing and local business promotion.

Finding a New Perspective in Mount Dora

More recently, I've had the opportunity to apply my communications background in a very different environment through my work with the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce in Central Florida.

Working directly with independent business owners, event organizers, tourism partners, and community organizations has given me a greater appreciation for how much marketing can influence the success of a local economy.

I've helped businesses secure media attention, developed original editorial features to introduce entrepreneurs to their communities, and worked on marketing campaigns for festivals and events that bring thousands of people into the area.

One particularly rewarding project was helping launch the Mount Dora Area Restaurant Week, which brought together 27 participating businesses and generated more than 2,500 regional RSVPs. We developed the campaign without a dedicated marketing budget, relying instead on strategic partnerships, earned media, community engagement, and a coordinated promotional effort.

I've also been involved in promoting events such as Mount Dora Taste, the Jane Austen Fest, and the Florida Storytelling Festival, while helping build Lake Young Professionals as a way for emerging business leaders to develop relationships and become more involved in their community.

These experiences have reinforced something I strongly believe: community events and independent businesses have compelling stories to tell, but they don't always have the resources or communications expertise to get those stories in front of the right people.

I've also come to appreciate just how much planning goes into attracting an audience. A successful event requires far more than a clever social media campaign. Organizers are making decisions about programming, sponsors, partnerships, pricing, positioning, and promotion, often while managing every other logistical detail involved in bringing an event to life.

That's where I see an opportunity to contribute.

Bringing It All Together With Big Mouth

I started Big Mouth because I wanted to bring the experience I've gained working with national brands and major media organizations to businesses, destinations, festivals, and event producers who could benefit from that same strategic approach.

At its core, Big Mouth is a public relations and event marketing agency. We help organizations develop compelling stories, build relationships with the media, and create promotional campaigns that generate interest and drive participation.

That includes traditional earned media relations, event publicity, communications strategy, and integrated marketing campaigns. It also includes the Big Mouth Incubator Program, which combines a weekend marketing bootcamp with a 90-day communications strategy to help emerging businesses strengthen their marketing foundations.

But I also want Big Mouth to be more than an agency that promotes other people's projects.

We're developing our own calendar of events, including wellness socials, community gatherings, and collaborative experiences that give people opportunities to meet, participate, and build relationships.

Community building has become one of the most meaningful parts of my work, and I want to continue creating opportunities for people to connect outside of traditional professional networking environments.

Producing our own events will also give us the opportunity to put our marketing strategies into practice, experiment with new ideas, and better understand the challenges our event clients experience firsthand.

Why I'm Launching The Playbook

As I've become more involved in festival and event marketing, I've noticed that there's no shortage of general marketing advice available online. What's harder to find is practical guidance tailored to the realities of producing and promoting an event.

Festival organizers face a very different set of challenges than most businesses. They often have a limited promotional window, tight budgets, multiple stakeholders, and an enormous amount of pressure to generate attendance on a particular day or weekend.

An event can have outstanding programming, great vendors, strong sponsors, and an excellent location, but none of those things guarantee an audience. The marketing strategy needs to begin well before the event opens, and it needs to extend beyond repeatedly posting promotional graphics on social media.

That's why I'm introducing The Playbook, Big Mouth's blog dedicated to the business of marketing festivals, events, and experiences.

I'll be sharing insights from my work in public relations and event marketing, along with practical approaches to securing media coverage, developing promotional partnerships, reaching new audiences, attracting sponsors, and turning first-time attendees into returning supporters.

I'll also use this space to explore broader trends in event marketing, highlight creative approaches from organizers doing interesting work, and share lessons from Big Mouth's own projects and experiences.

My goal is to make this a useful resource for the people doing the work, whether you're managing an established festival, organizing a nonprofit fundraiser, launching a new community gathering, or trying to attract more people to an event you're passionate about.

I don't think every event needs an enormous marketing budget to be successful, but I do believe every event benefits from a thoughtful strategy and a clear understanding of what makes people want to attend.

Looking Ahead

Launching Big Mouth represents an opportunity to combine several parts of my professional life that I've come to enjoy most: telling compelling stories, creating meaningful experiences, supporting independent businesses, and bringing people together.

I'm excited to continue working with organizations that have ambitious ideas and need help getting them in front of the right audiences. I'm equally excited to produce events of our own and use The Playbook to share what we learn along the way.

If you're a festival organizer, event producer, small business owner, or someone working to create something meaningful in your community, I hope you'll find something useful here.

And if you're working on an event or project that deserves a bigger audience, I'd love to hear about it.

Spencer MacDonald
Founder, Big Mouth Publicity & Event Marketing

Big Mouth Publicity & Event Marketing | Learn More About Spencer
spencer@spencerjmac.com