As a Virginia native, Jen Nixon once told friends of the state fair, "If you've gone once, you never need to go again," simply because the state fair isn't as big a tradition in other states. Now going on her fifteenth year in the N.C. State Fair Press Office, she's seen the excitement and passion that the event elicits from fair goers and realizes that North Carolina has something special going on.

According to Paul the N.C. State Fair is all about the "deep fried experience" - and who can argue with that? This year N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler set a goal for the fair to reach 1 million visitors. That goal was exceeded when final attendance of the 2010 N.C. State Fair was recorded at a record-setting 1,091,887 attendees.

So how does this success happen with a limited $400,000 budget that has to spread across the whole state? The State Fair Press Office relies on traditional media channels, such as radio, television, print and web for advertising purposes. What I found compelling was the way they worked with press outlets throughout the state from a media relations perspective - it's basic PR but executed flawlessly. Not only do they build relationships with local media in Raleigh like Andrea Weigl, a food editor for the News & Observer, but if a local resident in Manteo received a top award for livestock or someone from Murphy got a ribbon for scrapbooking, the press

in those towns will know about it.

They also take good care of the reporters covering the fair on-site with a "sweet" press office that has seating, power outlets, WiFi access and refreshments, especially considering they may be camped out there all week working on their stories to meet deadlines.

In addition to traditional outlets, social media has played a major factor in embracing the adoring fair community. In 2008, the N.C. State Fair dove into this fairly - no pun intended - uncharted territory with a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account, as well as the Deep Fried Blog. These avenues of engagement have evolved to become an integral part of the press office's outreach. A great example is the video of Paul taking on the Krispy Kreme Burger this year!

Considering their team works throughout the rest of the year to share news from the Agriculture Department, it is imperative that all of the fair-related press releases are newsworthy to maintain their credible relationships with media. The Deep Fried Blog gave the press office an opportunity to share interesting fair happenings in a casual way without bombarding media's inboxes. Plus, many media follow the blog which could help spur additional story ideas.

There are many external factors at play that the press office takes into consideration. This year, for instance, Jen and Paul readily admit that the beautiful weather contributed greatly to the success of the fair. There is also an extremely heavy focus on safety. The crisis communications plan is revisited every year and they work closely with EMS, police and fire officials on-site to monitor any incidents large or small.

As Paul reiterated, the N.C. State Fair is not a national brand and it is important to continue to build local brand loyalty. The press office continues to support the brand by promoting traditions like the Food Lion Hunger Relief Day, which also set records with 125,573 attendees and more than 250,000 pounds of food collected for the North Carolina Food Bank. They also build on new concepts and ideas like the Deep Fried N.C. State Fair Tweetup and Deep Fried Ambassadors.

Be sure to "celebrate what's great" by becoming a fan of the N.C. State Fair on Facebook and follow the account on Twitter. You can send some PR kudos to Jen and Paul on Twitter, too: www.twitter.com/jennix5 and www.twitter.com/pmarshalljones.