{This guest post comes from Joe Flood, who recently taught you how to make your blog look good on the iPhone. Today, Joe explains how to promote your cause and get results by playing nice with others.}

The DC Shorts Film Festival has rapidly grown to be one of the best short film festivals in the country.

I’ve volunteered with the festival for more than five years as a judge, screenplay competition manager, photographer and even sold t-shirts. With this front row seat, I’ve gotten to see what works – lessons for anyone promoting a product or cause.

Quality: DC Shorts has a commitment to quality that’s a reflection of the festival’s founder, Jon Gann. DC Shorts books top venues, like E Street Cinema. Marketing materials, from the web site to brochures, are professionally designed and branded. Great sponsors are wooed, such as Stella Artois and Clyde’s. The films and screenplays for the festival are selected by a rigorous judging process.

Ego: It takes a healthy ego to start and run your own film festival. You must convince filmmakers to submit their films, audience members to attend, theater owners that you’ll pack the seats. You must also make countless decisions – when the festival will be held, what the rules are, who the judges will be, what food will be served at the party.

Generosity: If your film gets into the festival and you need a place to stay, DC Shorts will put you up at a volunteer’s home. Winning films receive generous prizes. All films submitted get feedback from the judges. Moviemaker magazine named it “one of 25 festivals worth an entry fee.” This generosity encourages filmmakers to submit their films. And good films attract audiences.

Authenticity: The festival is a local enterprise, fueled by the passion of film fans in DC. Unlike other festivals, regular folks (not critics or producers) are film judges and winners are decided by popular vote – there’s nothing mysterious about the process.

Managing People: There will be problems with people, in any large event or project. Volunteers won’t show up, directors will be mad that they weren’t accepted, filmmakers will worry about when their film is scheduled, audience members will be offended, judges will badmouth you, drunks will need to be ejected – it’s all happened. There may not be good solutions to any of these problems but they have to be confronted and resolved.

Running a successful film festival is a major enterprise, one that holds numerous lessons for marketing and PR folks. Come see for yourself September 9-16 when DC Shorts returns. Volunteers are always needed and it’s not too late to submit a short script or film to the festival.

Joe Flood is a writer, photographer and web person. He’s written articles, short stories, an award-winning screenplay and recently published his first novel, Murder in Ocean Hall. Learn more at joeflood.com.