The High Point Market and its Style Spotters program won the EXCITE Award for Best Use of Social Media this week. The Excite Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in trade shows and events, and the winners will be profiled in the July issue of Expo Magazine.

“We are thrilled to receive this recognition for the High Point Market and for the Style Spotters,” says Cheminne Taylor-Smith, vice president of marketing for the High Point Market Authority. “The Style Spotters program, and our entire social media strategy, is in place to increase brand awareness, to build a community within the home furnishings world, to provide customer service and respond to feedback, and to quickly circulate information about the Market. We’ve achieved all that and more with the popular Style Spotters, and we have new tools and programs coming up that will add even more value for our exhibitors and for the thousands of buyers and designers who attend the Market.”

At each High Point Market, the Style Spotters program names home fashion trendsetters who showcase their favorite products and top trends from Market exhibitors on Pinterest, a website that lets users organize and share photos on virtual pinboards. The Spotters also present selected exhibitors with signs that highlight the Style Spotter’s name as well as a QR code and URL for the Market Pinterest board. Market attendees also participate by voting on the pinboards and products, generating “likes” or re-pinning.

The High Point Market has received international recognition for the Style Spotters and has been named one of the top brands using Pinterest. Social media and branding experts such as Blogworld, Hubspot, Social Media Today, Likable Media, eModeration, and FrontLine touted the Market’s Style Spotters program as a unique way to take advantage of brand building on Pinterest.

The Style Spotters program will continue this October, with a new roster of trendsetters announced on July 3. Style Spotters are also promoted on the High Point Market’s Facebook page and on Twitter, using the Market hashtag #hpmkt. To discover more about the Style Spotters, go to www.highpointmarket.org/stylespotters.