This week was an exciting one for High Road Communications and our client American Express Canada as our Front Of The Line Fridays Facebook application was accepted as a contender to the Facebook Studio Awards!

The Facebook Studio Awards look to recognize campaigns that combine all aspects of Facebook from application build, through to the use of Facebook premium ads. Campaigns will be judged on their ability to integrate the social, marketing, media integration and scale capabilities of Facebook across their program.

So how does High Road fit in? Amex wanted to introduce and highlight the Front Of The Line program to their Facebook community so High Road created a Surprise and Delight program for their existing Cardmembers and incentive program for non-Cardmembers called Front Of The Line Fridays. Each week, Facebook users had the chance to win complimentary tickets to some of the hottest concerts and theatre productions across cities in Canada including Sting, War Horse and Jay-Z & Kanye West.

Check out and “like” High Road and Amex’s Front Of The Line Fridays submission to the Facebook Studio awards!

Here at High Road, we all know that American Express is a brand that’s synonymous with service. Simply put, the company is committed to delivering the world’s best service experience by offering award-winning customer service and travel perks to all its Cardmembers. And what better way to demonstrate this than by creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of Canada’s top bloggers? Of course it was Amex that did just that recently, giving this bloggers a firsthand look at some of the great perks and possibilities Amex provides daily to its Cardmembers – including incredible travel options, Front Of The Line access to amazing shows and concierge services that rival those of top hotels.

In fact, late last month American Express Canada hosted two major events to promote their live and unique concert series, Coldplay: Unstaged, which took place on Oct. 26. (It was the sixth such performance in the series – which has previously featured such big-name bands as Arcade Fire, Alicia Keys and Sugarland – but the first to take place outside of North America.)

For starters, Amex hosted an interactive dinner event at the Thompson Hotel in downtown Toronto on Oct. 26, where 24 local bloggers were invited to an exclusive dining experience, complete with guest speaker and concierge to the stars, Michael Fazio. As the bloggers dined with some of Amex’s top execs, they were truly treated to – and learned – the importance of top-notch service, which can be woven into every aspect of our everyday lives – a quality American Express takes pride in consistently providing for their Cardmembers. From there, the bloggers were treated to a screening of the Coldplay: Unstaged taking place LIVE in Spain that night, once again proving Amex Canada will go above and beyond to make Cardmembers feel special through unique experiences and stellar customer service.

But on top of the interactive dinner event, Amex had also sent five of Canada’s top bloggers – Lisa of Hip Urban Girl, Karen of She Does the City, Mike of Mike’s Bloggity Blog, and Tyrone and Bryan of 1 Love TO to actually attend the Unstaged: Coldplay concert in Madrid, Spain, where they could capture and share their experiences. Since Amex’s approach to service is to leave no stone unturned, the bloggers were also invited to use American Express Concierge and Personalized Travel Service to help plan their trip.

That meant the bloggers were treated to American Express’s Platinum Service from the beginning to the end, starting with the Personalized Travel Service, which booked all flights, hotel and airport transfers, to the Concierge Services, providing recommendations and creating itineraries that hit Madrid’s best restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and daytime activities. (Best part of this service, each blogger was able to work one-on-one with an Amex concierge to tailor an itinerary suited to each individual’s preferences.)

And all of this special service came before the main event: When the High Road-hosted bloggers set off on their whirlwind 48-hour trip to Madrid, where American Express Unstaged presented – in partnership with VEVO and YouTube – seven-time, Grammy award-winning rock band and international sensation Coldplay from one of Spain’s most famous arenas, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas. The bloggers had front row seats to watch Coldplay perform live, which, in itself, was an unforgettable experience.

Our six-person crew spent two days exploring the beautiful city of Madrid, indulging in delicious tapas, traditional paella, and celebrating our luck over pitchers of sangria and Spanish Cava. Plenty of laughs were had, new friendships were formed, and all six of us were in awe at the experience of watching Coldplay rocking out in such a historic venue along with 25,000 other fans in Madrid and thousands of other fans tuning in via live-stream across the globe. Thankfully the concert is being re-broadcast on youtube.com/coldplayvevo so we can live vicariously through our experience over and over again.

Not to brag (okay, maybe a little), but High Road has an amazing group of employees with creative, strategic thinking, problem solving, time management, and all-around awesome skills. As a company who likes to work hard and party hard, we thought we’d consult the pros at Toronto Institute of Bartending and add another skill set to our resumes – martini madness bartending skills!

Some of High Road’s keenest learners recently headed over to TIB for a lesson on how to make the best martinis and cocktails. Our instructors Brad and Clint started us off strong with a Vesper Martini (from Bond girl Vesper Lynd) and a Manhattan, and progressed into sweeter drinks like the original Cosmopolitan (not to be confused with the bright pink, too much cranberry juiced version from Sex and the City), to the interesting Spiced Breakfast Martini (which involved a spoonful of marmalade and a piece of orange peel lit on fire!) to the crowd pleasing “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” created by Ernest Hemingway during his time in Cuba, which involved freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and amber rum.

Some key learnings we discovered:

• Always use fresh juices whenever possible (grapefruit, lemon, lime), it makes a world of difference
• Sometimes the most interesting or odd ingredients make the best drinks (marmalade, egg whites)
• Homemade pickled celery sticks are perhaps the best Caesar garnish ever
• The easiest way to impress your guests is to slice off a small piece of orange peel, squeeze it, and hold a lighter up to it – the oils will create a large flame and caramelize the garnish

Cheers to that!