You know that part of CVB that deals with meetings? CVB stands for Convention and Visitors Bureau, after all.
How can you find and connect with the right people and encourage them to consider your destination or venue for their event, when there are so many social media channels – blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter – and so little time?
Join us for a special Tourism Currents webinar on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 starting at 2 pm Central, and we’ll show you how to book more meetings using focused and intelligent social networking with the event planners you want to reach.
We’re excited to be partnering with DMAI (Destination Marketing Association International) and their empowerMINT one-stop RFP service for meeting planners, to bring you this online session. It’s part of a series of interesting educational events leading up to our Tourism track at this year’s BlogWorld and New Media Expo West 2011 (Los Angeles CA, Nov 3 – 5.)
The webinar includes an hour with me, my Tourism Currents co-founder Becky McCray and our (always entertaining!) insights into social networking to connect with meeting planners, then 30 more minutes of Q&A….90 minutes of solid info.
Sound good? Let us help YOU fill those meeting spaces!
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It’s the kind of unpretentious downtown diner where the owner pauses at the table of a longtime customer, and they commiserate about how their bum shoulders keep them from playing tennis as much as they’d like.
The kind of place where the coffee in your cup never seems to drop below the midpoint of the mug before the waitress is standing there with a carafe saying, “Wouldja like a refill?”
The kind of place that displays pies behind a long counter, in a rack with mirrored shelves so you can see that yes, the meringue really IS that high.
The kind of place that doesn’t list pecans as one of the options for your homemade waffle, but hey, this is Texas, so all you have to do is ask for them. The waitress will say, “Sure, honey.”
The kind of place that serves ice tea in pebbled plastic glasses the size of a small bucket.
It’s the Paris Coffee Shop in Fort Worth on West Magnolia and it has zero to do with Paris, France (the original owner’s name was Vic Paris.)
That guy talking tennis with customers and making sure you’re happy with your order? That’s Mike Smith, son of Gregory K. Smith who bought the place from Mr. Paris in 1926.
Here’s what I found frustrating from a tourism perspective, though – I found out about this place from a Frommer’s guidebook. The Fort Worth CVB does have a Paris Coffee Shop listing, but I had to already know what I was looking for to drill down the restaurant listings for it, and I had to know that the location is something called “Near Southside.”
There is a CVB website link under Restaurants, for Distinctive Dining. It’s a page with a bunch of logos, many of which are to chain places like Ruth’s Chris Steak House and P.F. Chang’s. I mean, I’m sure they’re distinctive in some way, but how unique are they to Fort Worth….like the Paris Coffee Shop?
Tourism organizations must help visitors (including those who are not determined research-junkies like I am) to find those eateries that make your town unique and wonderful.
The world needs more pecan waffles and waitresses who say, “Honey.”
Update: This post is part of WanderFood Wednesday over on the Wanderlust and Lipstick blog – check out today’s post, Mini No-Meat Burgers (in Tijuana, Mexico.)
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Go stand in some central area – maybe downtown – where your visitors tend to cluster.
Pull out your phone, open up the browser, and type “XYZ restaurants” or “XYZ hotels” into the magic Google search box. Like any tourist, you’re asking, “What’s here for me?”
Look at the results. Which ones of your attractions are up towards the top, and which ones are invisible? Do you think your unique, local places have any idea about claiming their business on Google Places or encouraging reviews, in order to be more find-able? As we point out in some search advice in this Tourism Currents newsletter, input from your locals (not just visitors) matters, too.
Close the browser.
Now, open up the Yelp app (application.) Ask it to tell you which restaurants, shops and hotels are around you, based on the GPS position your phone is transmitting. It will do so.
Look at the results. How many of the owners of the businesses you see (showing around your location) have any idea about all of the reviews and feedback on Yelp, and that people make decisions about where to eat, where to shop and where to stay based on that information?
Put the phone away. Return to the office. Schedule some workshops with your local partners.
Help teach them to rise above the local search slush pile.
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On the first day of the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference in Austin, I was part of a video interview project led by Nancy Spears and the genConnect team out of Colorado.
Here are their thoughts on 10 people at SXSW you should include in your social network, which includes a sidebar viewer with all of the videos. I’m rather honored to see that my interview ended up between Rick Murray’s (head of Edelman Chicago) and Jay Rosen’s (renowned journalism professor at NYU.)
In my roughly 3 minute interview (complete with an offstage shout-out by passing Hawaii social media goddess Neenz Faleafine) I described what Becky McCray and I do with social media education at Tourism Currents, how destination marketing today demands more personal interaction with visitors (including online) and how strongly we believe that most tourism pros can already do the really important stuff, which is a lot harder to teach than technology: creating a compelling portrait of their destination in the eyes of visitors.
The vision and story….you already have it and that’s the hard part, not Facebook, Twitter, blogs et al.
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Toward the end of the podcast recording we talked about Tourism Currents and which destinations, hotels or organizations do a particularly good job with marketing using social media.
Chris mentioned doing some social media CVB training when he was in Maui, and that local hotels, restaurants and resorts all sent representatives to learn. Smart.
We all gave a shout-out as well to Hawaii-based PR pro Nathan Kam, who does a bunch of tourism work on Oahu. He’s professional but also very personable and fun, and he reaches out to people online in a very un-market-y way.
Of course we left out plenty of other great examples, but still, that’s a pretty good list if you want to check them out.
I’m happy to hear about your favorite social media stars down in the comments, and have a listen to the podcast when you have a chance!
Update: Gary sent me the code to embed the podcast right here….
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Most of you know that I’m not a huge fan of press trips and fam tours for my own travel, because I do have angst-y issues with whether one can maintain objectivity when all the goodies are provided.
With this invitation, I thought long and hard about it, and I’m going anyway.
Here’s why:
1) Chances are slim that I’d get there on my own anytime soon, and HELLO, are you kidding? The magnificent ruins at Petra, of course, but also urban buzz in Amman (I had no idea that there is a 6000 seat Roman amphitheater smack in the middle of town,) desert beauty in places like Wadi Rum contrasted with a lush pine forest and nature reserve, a resort atmosphere (heavy on the mud) at the Dead Sea, mosaics in Madaba….what an amazing opportunity.
2) The Middle East is a favorite region (I lived in Bahrain as a preteen, and even had my 12th birthday in Shiraz, Iran) but it is misunderstood by many. I’d like to help clear that up, and….
3) As with the Hawaii blogger press trip, I know that the Jordanian and Middle Eastern tourism industries are suffering from safety perceptions given the current situation in Egypt. They’re losing visitors. I’d love to dispel those concerns by visiting myself and telling you what I find.
More info when I have it. Passport is ready!
Disclosure: The Jordanian Tourism Board is providing my airfare, accommodation and entry fees. They have not told me what to write about, and the itinerary is still in flux. I am not traveling as part of a group.
So simple, so straightforward, but I don’t see it often enough.
Integrate your on- and off-line destination marketing efforts. Make sure that people can find you, wherever you have a presence.
This card is the brainchild of Sarah Page, a Texas Social Media Award 2011 nominee and the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority) economic development expert.
The only change I’d make would be to add a QR code so that anyone with a smartphone could boot up links to any of the sites above.
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You might be surprised, but over the last few years I’ve noticed that once people get stuffed with Thanksgiving food and early morning shopping, a lot of folks often get online to hang out and visit with friends.
At my Tourism Currents learning community with Becky McCray, we thought we’d have some fun, throw open our own doors and invite people to chat and get smarter about tourism, hospitality and social media.
*** We’re going to have an Open House starting late in the day on Thanksgiving, November 25. That means anyone can view our dynamite course material (yep, all of it) without any pay wall restrictions, but only until Sunday night, November 28. Now is the time to see for yourself how much our lessons, instructional videos and Forum can help your destination marketing.
(Update: Well, clearly I’ve lost control over Becky, because we’re keeping the Open House and sale going through today for Cyber Monday. Drop by!)
*** Inspired by Liz Strauss’ world-famous Open Mic and Open Comments nights on her Successful Blog, we’re going to have a Black Friday Open Mic (Nov 26 at 7 pm Central Time.) It will happen either on our Tourism Currents Facebook Page or we’ll open up a blog post on the Newsletter section of the Tourism Currents website to talk about your most pressing concerns in tourism and tech/social media. Ever wanted to chat with us and your peers about those nagging questions? Come on DOWN! We’ll try not to get too rowdy. :)
*** Here’s the biggie – save 20% on the cost of our course if you sign up during Open House weekend. That’s a great deal, especially since our prices are going to increase on January 1, 2011. Details and the discount code to follow, during Open Mic.
Update: The code for 20% off is OK1 – apply during checkout, now through Cyber Monday!
*** Share Your Pics - Show us what you’re thankful for by sharing your own tourism and hospitality pics in our Tourism Currents Flickr photo Group. We’re so grateful to all of our tourism and travel friends and supporters, so come spend a little time with us and let’s see how we can help you make sense of tech and social media.
Hope to see you sometime this weekend, even if you can “only stay for a minute.”
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Those who understand, appreciate and embrace communicating with visitors on the social Web are getting really tired of working for and with those who do not.
I hear the same plaintive words when I speak about social media at conferences….and not always from young people, either….
“Would you please tell all that to my boss?” “How can I succeed at this when Facebook is blocked at my office?” “My boss only wants copy from our website on our Facebook Page, not conversations with anyone on our Wall.” “My co-workers say that Twitter is dumb and no one who visits us is on it.” “I wish I could work with people like me.”
Three things are going to happen in the near future:
1) As soon as the economy improves, the best and brightest social media communicators, at all levels, are going to leave their tourism organization as fast as they can, to work somewhere that appreciates and supports their skill set.
2) Organizations that grasp the opportunities presented by social media will poach the best and brightest from “Slowville CVB” as soon as finances permit, and the poachees will gladly go somewhere that appreciates and supports their skill set.
3) Organizations not currently onboard will get it. They’ll realize that social media is not “something the intern does,” but rather now a core communications and marketing capability. They will appreciate, integrate and fund it accordingly.
That Number 3 option? Often, it won’t happen. Those are some of the same folks who blew off the impact of the Web and mobile phones.
The first-ever SoMeT conference in Loudoun County, Virginia this week – you can still drop everything, look at the speakers and register here - will be attended by people who very much “get it,” and are on the front lines with visitors every day both online and off. I give full credit to the organizations that are paying the way of their hard-working employees, or that would pay for them to go, if they could afford it.
There are, however, other tourism professionals who are taking personal leave and paying out of pocket to attend – not because of funding restrictions, but because thanks to a recalcitrant boss, there’s no other way to get there.
It’s lonely at the “tip of the spear,” but those who are there right now need not despair.
People will either catch up with you and laud your sense of vision, or you will end up someplace that is happy to have you precisely because of who you are and how you connect online with your visitors and supporters.
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I’ll cut to the chase, because BlogWorld conference pass prices go up after September 16.
Why tourism and travel professionals need to go to BlogWorld and New Media Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Oct 14-16:
1) Because to really grasp what social media and tech can do for your marketing and communications, you need to go where the geeks are.
2) Because our Tourism Track gives you a full day of training in social media for tourism…how to listen to the conversations that matter online, better video for tourism, blogger press trips/fam tours and more.
3) Because it will be participatory, hands-on, no fear training with me and my Tourism Currents co-founder Becky McCray, PLUS….
4) Because at BlogWorld, you’ll be able to get your tourism organization in front of thousands of bloggers, podcasters and video bloggers from around the world. Denise Wakeman from The Blog Squad calls it THE social marketing event of the season. Wired PR Works calls it one of her must-attend events.
If you want attention from online content creators (travel, food, parenting and every other sort of blogger) you have to know who’s who, speak their language and be where they can find you.
That means be in Las Vegas October 14-16.
If you use code TC20 you can knock 20% off of the price of any pass.
You know that part of CVB that deals with meetings? CVB stands for Convention and Visitors Bureau, after all.
I’ll cut to the chase, because BlogWorld conference pass prices go up after September 16.
