Time magazine called @Sweden an occasional “embarrassment and PR hazard,” and Forbes asked, “Why did Sweden hand its national twitter account over to a troll?”

So it wasn’t an ideal time for the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing to turn over its Twitter account to a series of citizens for a week each. But the Green Mountain folks forged ahead. And their social media courage won them an avalanche of good publicity and social media impressions, starting with The New York Times.

“We saw the potential and believe Vermont and Vermonters can, excuse the pun, handle it, with good-natured dialogue, shared experiences and fun, inspiring banter,” says Jen Butson, communications director for the department.