LATVIA LOVES RALLY! / LATVIJA MĪL RALLIJU!

When it came to Rally Liepāja-Ventspils, something was stirring in the undergrowth of Twitter several few weeks ago.

As someone who spends more than a healthy amount of time on Twitter, it was clear the second round of the 2013 European Rally Championship, was going to be a bit ‘different’ when it came to social media and ’spreading the word’.

First observation: There was a relatively huge amount of young people from Riga, Liepāja and Ventspils tweeting all the time about rallying. Yes, young people tweeting about rallying. They knew it was coming and they wanted to tell the world all about it.

Second observation: You could sense the pride. Yes, pride in the fact that Latvia was actually going to host a round of the 2013 European Rally Championship. For any country, this really is a big deal.

Third observation: There suddenly developed a reliable and constant stream of important information about the rally to come. The blizzard of tweeting provided not just words. There were photos from the stages. There was a real sense of celebration that ‘rally’ had come to town.

All served to convey the message that rally was good and rally was welcome, in Latvia.

So who was and is, doing all this incessant hard-sell in just a 140 characters?

Here’s a handy list of the celebrated culprits.

Check them out yourself:

Step forward, Raimonds Strokšs, Director of Rallija Liepāja-Ventspils (@RaimondsStroksh). Someone whose stock will rise post-@LVRally. A cool guy who even via Twitter, seems to know precisely what he’s doing and what he wants. His works is already a huge success.

Next up, Kristaps Berzinsh - the intrepid end-of-stage reporter for Latvijas Rallija Radio. Great tweets and photos. Definitely worth a follow. (@kristapsberzins)

One guy is omnipresent and centre stage on the Liepāja bit of Rally Liepāja-Ventspils. He is, Uldis Sesks. The Mayor of Liepāja is clearly a popular guy. His pride in having Rally Liepāja-Ventspils in his town, is self-evident. I’ve no idea what his politics are but check him out. (@UldisSesks)

Uldis Hmieļevskis trailed the rally for weeks in advance. He set the scene and was connected to all the main people in Latvia you needed to follow. (@UldisHmielevski)

Where would Ventspils be without its Tourist Information Centre? Not as well known as it currently is on Twitter. If ever I go to Ventspils, I will pay homage in return for their enthusiasm and support for Rally Liepāja-Ventspils. (@VisitVentspils)

Rally Liepāja-Ventspils won’t be forgotten. The people clearly engaged in the spectacle and the thrill of rally.

ERC simply has to go back there.

Reply · Report Post