Mango Languages

ALA 2011 in The Big Easy

This year the ALA Annual was held at the New Orleans Convention Center, a massive venue.  We quickly realized that a  building 1.2 miles long means a LOT of walking!  This time around, we had a better-than-ever 20′x30′ booth to showcase our product with a nice, well-lit, long smoothie bar.  Our Mango Smoothies were even more desirable for those attendees who completed the journey to our aisle.

Overall, the show was a great success. The focus this year was on the highly anticipated iPhone Application that was made available in the App Store  just hours before the show. As curious potential customers and veteran Mango fans came to our booth we passed out Mango badges, gave personal demonstrations of the unique features that each Mango course has to offer–such as the phonetic pop up, cultural notes, Organic Learning slides, and our Voice Comparison feature.  We made sure that each attendee left educated and Mangofied. Our fans came to our booth raving about Mango, and we couldn’t pass that opportunity up without getting some incredible video testimonials. We truly have the best fans!

This year the Mango VIP after party took place at The Rusty Nail on Constance Street in New Orleans. This year’s party topped all the previous ones!  With the Mango drinks flowing, the open patio, and the incredible Jazz band, the crowd of roughly 200 guests seemed to have a blast. It was so much fun to see all of our guests participate and meet the Mango staff in our traditional game of Guess that Mango. What made this year’s after-party even more unique was the announcement of Mango Mania’s 2011 winners. Five teams made up of our ultimate fans battled it out through Mango challenges to show their love for Mango and potentially win $2500 toward a Mango subscription and an iPad2 for each teammate. The winner of Mango Mania 2011… (drum roll) … was Team MO (Mango Obsessed)! Their name says it all. The two teammates, Amy and Jessica, gave it their all while completing Mango-specific challenges all the way through New Orleans. Check out their Facebook Fan page to see amazing photos and videos of their Mango Mania journey. Congratulations Team MO!

We would like to thank everyone who has made this weekend in the Big Easy amazing!

We can’t wait to see you all again at ALA Midwinter 2012 in Dallas!

Follow and Support the Mango Mania Teams

Mango Mania is in full throttle. Mango Mania is a road rally where teams will complete Mango-related challenges on their way to New Orleans for ALA 2011. The teams have two groups of challenges: those designed to be completed before ALA, and those that they will have to do on the way to New Orleans and while actually there. Each team should post pictures/videos on their Facebook page to show that the challenge has been completed. Each challenge is judged on creativity and completion.

Here are some of the challenges they have to do before ALA:

-Find 5 patrons who will either give a Mango testimonial or say something they learned from a Mango course.  Share video.

-Create a work of art using items found in your public library. Share pic/video.

-Record a video of you giving a Mango demo to patron(s) while making it interactive.

-Visit another Mango Library (Library with Mango subscription) and bring them a homemade gift. Share pic/video.

Also, through Mango Mania teams have Bonus activities to choose from:

-Represent Mango as much as possible by getting Mangofied in as many challenges as possible: i.e., decorating your Mango shirts, face paint, etc.

-Race to get to the Mango Booth and toast with Mango smoothies in a foreign language.

-Team with most social media activity. We will monitor/count number of teams’ retweets and other people tweeting with your team’s hashtag. Also, number of fans  on your Facebook page as well as  comments from your fans.

-Get a person/representative from another language learning company to say “mango” in some way.  Share video.

-Get a story about “Mango Mania” and your experience published in a credible news outlet, like a local newspaper. Share link.

The Mango Mania teams have been so awesome and creative while showing their true Mango colors! Follow your favorite teams on Facebook and Twitter! (Remember they get judged on how many people “like” their Facebook fan page and how many people follow them on twitter). Here are the teams:

Team MO (Mango Obsessed) #goteammo

Team Mang(eauxs) #TeamMangeaux

Team Energy = Mango C2 #EMC2

Team ALA Think Tank #alatt

Team Fluent Five #FluentFive

The winning team will be announced at Mango’s VIP Party on Sunday June 26th at the Rusty Nail. The grand prize is a $2,500 Mango subscription for the team to split and an iPad for each team member.

Feeling left out of the fun? If anyone else wants to complete any of these challenges feel free to get creative and post a photo/video on our Facebook fan page. If your pic/video stands out you might receive a Mango prize!

Good luck and have fun!

Mango Mania is Here! Apply Now

Looking for a way to get to the ALA Annual Conference this summer in New Orleans? You may just get your wish! Mango will be helping sponsor 8 teams in a road rally challenge to get you to New Orleans in true Mango fashion.

We decided to spice it up this year for the ALA Annual Conference and see who the true Mango fans are. We will help teams from across the country arrive at ALA while participating in Mango activities along the way for a chance to win prizes and have a blast.

Requirements:

* Ages 21 and up
* Must be employed at a library or be a board member
* Must already be attending the ALA Annual Conference
* Must plan to attend the ALA Opening Ceremony on June 23, 2011
* 2-4 people per group

Mango Mania Groups will receive:

* $100.00 cash for each group member towards their trip
* Mango Goodies (swag, snacks, etc.)
* Flip Video for Group to document their experience
* Ticket to Mango VIP party
* Fun Mango activities

Prize for Winning Team:

* $2,500 credit toward a Mango Languages subscription (can be split among group members)
* An iPad for each member
* Award for being the Mango Mania 2011 Winners
* Mango Languages Social Media coverage of winning team and their libraries

What You Need to Do:
Go to www.mangolanguages.com/mangomania/ and submit a fun video letting us know why your team should be part of Mango Mania.

Have questions or comments?

Please email me at yana.homutetski@mangolanguages.com

Let the MANia begin!

Ready to GO the distance?

It’s Fat Tuesday!

Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!

This Tuesday we celebrate Mardi Gras which is French for “Fat Tuesday.” This day is celebrated before Ash Wednesday,  also known as the last day before Lent in the Christian calendar. The name “Fat Tuesday” comes from the tradition of eating rich foods made with, butter, sugar and other fats and meats.  This cultural holiday includes popular traditions such as wearing masks and costumes,  dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc.

Mardi Gras is celebrated in many different ways all around the world, making it a very unique and an international holiday. Some traditions consider Mardi Gras as the whole period of celebratory activity, beyond just a single day. Some of the cities that Mardi Gras is considered a big celebration are, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Barranquilla, Colombia, Sydney, Australia, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Quebec City, and many more.

In the United States Mardi Gras, or “Carnival” as some people call it, is most famous for the party that the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, hosts every year for the celebration. In 1857 parades were hosted and the lavish creation of floats became a yearly tradition. The “Krewes” were formed and exist to this day as organizations that build floats and throw beads and other gifts to the crowd during the Mardi Gras parades.

People travel from all over the world to New Orleans to experience the celebration of Mardi Gras.

Do you celebrate Mardi Gras? If so, what traditions do you follow?