#Rideandshare – and win.
The BMW Motorrad Days drew motorcycling fans from all over the world to meet up in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Two of them even travelled all the way from British Columbia in Canada. As winners of the social media campaign #Rideandshare, they received a priceless experience.
Naomi Tweddle and Alberto Lara Mendieta are more commonly known in the social media world as MotoLara. The pair's motorcycling adventures have gone down a storm in their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter communities as well as on their website. This is how BMW Motorrad became aware of MotoLara while on the lookout for a social media superfan, and invited them and other passionate bikers to post their experiences in a challenge under the tag #Rideandshare. In the end, the winner would be the one able to excite and motivate their community to interact and the one who got the most likes and shares.
Find friends via pictures and text
The photos posted by MotoLara during the campaign were fascinating recordings from their journeys over the past few years. Although #Rideandshare has finished, subscriber numbers are still on the rise. "People from all over the world are writing to us; from Australia, Europe and South America. They ask questions, like, comment, and invite us to visit them." Naomi and Alberto are thrilled by the fact that their pictures and texts bring them into contact with so many people. "We enjoy the exchange, are delighted to receive feedback and to follow other people's journeys. I particularly like Instagram, and love to be inspired by the tips of fellow adventurers", Naomi says.
"I enjoy photography and find Instagram an inspiration for my own work"; says Alberto. "Social media spurs me on to do better, visit new places and try out new things. We get ideas for our own journeys and then become trendsetters ourselves." As a Peruvian, Alberto also involved his Spanish-speaking community with the #Rideandshare topic. Yet MotoLara's social scope reaches further. "A few years ago, a couple from New Zealand followed our current adventure tour. Later, they themselves set out on an even bigger journey. One of the must-dos was a layover with us in Canada. So they made the trip down from Alaska to us. We showed them our place and had a lovely few days with them. It was as if we had known each other all along."
Naomi Tweddle
The BMW Motorrad Days experience.
"Our contact at BMW Motorrad had nothing against this. We even received two rental motorcycles", Alberto tell us with great enthusiasm. On the morning after the warm-up party in the BMW museum in Munich, two R 1200 GS were waiting for MotoLara. "The party was brilliant", Naomi says. "We celebrated with thousands of people. Every now and again, we would take a look at the BMW museum. When we returned to the party, it was raining. But no one took any notice of this; everyone had fun and simply carried on dancing."
