Each spring I do a “snapshot in time” webinar for the AWC (Association for Women in Communications – I’m on the AWC National Board of Directors) about technology trends for communicators. It also includes a quick wrap-up of trends I noticed at that year’s South by Southwest Interactive tech conference.

Key items for 2012 include the power of images (social photography like Pinterest, Instagram and Foodspotting,) social business, integrating social media, data/measurement/ROI and three of the Interactive Award winners who are doing interesting things.

Look for the hyperlinks within many of the slides, to take you to some of the items mentioned.

Here is the direct link to my tech trends 2012 slide deck on SlideShare, and I’ve embedded the webinar slides below as well.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!) 

A good breakfast makes me happy.

Good coffee to go with it; even better.

Fresh “Juice of the Day” – a bright red, cheery watermelon concoction without seeds or pulp – means I’m smiling and humming and chirping to myself pretty much for hours.

Thanks, Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and the MITBCA (Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference and Awards) for a glass of heaven.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!) 

It was sort of an accident, but a very happy one.

My Tourism Currents social media training business has always been a two-person operation since our launch; just me and my co-founder Becky McCray.

We’ve been so busy ourselves developing content, marketing and doing training/speaking that we had not seriously considered bringing anyone else onto our team, at least, not yet.

That changed about two weeks ago, in the middle of a Google Hangout video business call with Leslie McLellan, a marketing expert based in Lake Arrowhead, California who was one of our BlogWorld tourism track speakers in 2011.

We only planned to get together to bounce some ideas around, but by the end of the call she’d agreed to join Tourism Currents AND jump on a plane to attend the SOBCon business conference with us, in Chicago.

Suddenly, we have another energetic, smart person, in a different region of the US, as part of the team.

I cannot tell you how excited I am by the possibilities now in front of us!  Welcome, Leslie – we are so happy to have you onboard.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

Pay attention to details like this….the color, the texture, the presentation, the craftsmanship….and the stained glass window of your life will be Tiffany Studios-quality.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

Hey, you.

You there, at the CVB or DMO or Tourist Board.

You know all about your town, right?

Awesome, ’cause I’m new here and don’t have much time to see your coolest stuff.

A tailored itinerary list with all kinds of ideas including local, non-chain places to stay, cuisine I can’t get anywhere else, insider tips and a variety of things to do would be super-helpful.

Please give me links and maps, too. I don’t know where things are located, but YOU do.

That PDF itinerary with only a few details, a scanned-in and mostly unreadable map, no links and with “2008″ at the top….plus cheesy stock photos of plastic people?

Not real helpful, thanks.

Love, Your Visitor.

(See more Lolcats and funny pictures)

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

We’re back!

After weeks of problems with the main website that handles carnival administration and submissions, it looks like most issues are fixed, so it’s time to welcome you back to the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city or fair-sized town.

Since we were out of commission for awhile, this is a bigger Carnival edition than usual, but that’s OK – it’s very diverse!

The previous edition was hosted on the Perceptive Travel Blog, and we will return there for the next one on May 2, 2012.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact the Carnival organizer:  Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com.

Here’s more info and background about the Carnival of Cities blog carnival, and thanks so much for your patience and support!

Off we go….

Cities in the Middle East

Cairo, Egypt   MummyT presents Seven Things That Make Cairo Worth the Hassle posted at Travels with a Nine Year Old.

Cities in the Americas

Ottawa, Canada   Anwar presents A tour of Winterlude 2012 posted at Beyond My Front Door, saying, “A tour of Winterlude, one of the largest winter celebrations in the city of Ottawa, Canada”

Tunica, Mississippi, USA   Lisa Konupka presents Tunica Rivergate Festival Celebrates 20th Year posted at Down the Road in Tunica MS Blog.

San Francisco, California, USA   Byteful Travel presents Cable Car Museum Review: A Free San Francisco Mechanical Marvel posted at Byteful Travel, saying, “San Francisco, CA: Even before I stepped inside, I heard the rumbling, churning sound of the massive sheave wheels, the source of motion for all of the cable cars in San Francisco. And although I didn’t know it at the time, I too would soon be harnessing that power as I rode a cable car westward toward Golden Gate Park. I also didn’t know about the hilarious bright-red guy… but we’ll get to that. And as you’ll soon realize, the Cable Car Museum is a must see.”

Savannah, Georgia, USA   Kerry Dexter presents Bach, bluegrass, and blues: Savannah Music Festival posted at Perceptive Travel Blog.

Dunbar Township, Oklahoma, USA   Becky McCray presents The mysterious Dunbar Townsite sign posted at Out Standing in My Field, saying, “Sometimes, following a mysterious sign leads to an slice of history.”

Santiago, Chile   Michael Turtle presents It’s a dog’s life posted at Time Travel Turtle.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA   Eileen Ludwig presents Best Sunset Cruise Water Taxi Fort Lauderdale posted at Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

New York, New York, USA   Gina Martin presents Family Fun in New York City’s East Village : The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop posted at Albany Kid, saying, “The genius of the Big Gay Ice Cream team is in the choice of toppings – from sea salt to sriracha to pumpkin butter, this is not your usual frosty freeze joint.”

Toyahvale, Texas, USA   I wrote about Millions of gallons of water in the desert: Balmorhea State Park posted at Perceptive Travel Blog - stay cool and stay wet in the Chihuahuan Desert of western Texas.

Columbus, Ohio, USA   Joe Vargo presents Till Dynamic Fare Features Biodynamic Cuisine posted at The Columbus Experience.

Phoenix, Arizona, USA   Nina Simmons presents Top Ten Mexican Food Restaurants in Phoenix posted at The Hot Sheet, saying, “Here in Phoenix we take our Mexican food seriously. Our Southwestern and Mexican restaurants are supremely authentic and numerous. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, we’ve put together a list of our top ten favorite Mexican food restaurants in Phoenix, although we can assure you this list could have been much, much longer.”

Branson, Missouri, USA   Jeff Sullivan presents George Jones Branson Concert, October 12, November 9 Shows posted at Branson Missouri Tourist Guide.

South Lyon, Michigan, USA   Dominique King presents War Dog tribute stands tall in South Lyon, Michigan posted at Midwest Guest, saying, “This tribute to man’s best friend in metro Detroit was literally hidden history until a group of local veterans and community activists spruced it up in loving memory of some of America’s most loyal and unsung war veterans.”

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA   Jennifer Miner presents Volunteering in New Orleans posted at The Vacation Gals, saying, “Guest post from Jessica Spiegel, who discusses the importance of volunteering during a New Orleans vacation; the city still needs it.”

Canton, Ohio, USA   Kathy Gray presents Culinary Class at Gervasi Dares to Make a Personal Chef Out of Me! posted at What’s Happening in Canton/Stark County, Ohio.

Quebec City, Canada   Mary Jo Manzanares presents Getaway Canada: Quebec City posted at The Traveler’s Way, saying, “Perfect for a long getaway weekend, Quebec City is almost like being in Paris.”

Cities in Australia and New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand   Heather presents Post-quake update from Christchurch, New Zealand posted at The Kiwi Travel Writer, saying, “thought you need one from down under in my quake damaged city”

Melbourne, Australia   Flashpacker presents Missing Melbourne posted at flashpackatforty, saying, “The City of Melbourne, Australia, is a great city and worth a visit by any traveller to the region. This destination offers visitors and array of things to do, which I hope my travel blog post describes.”

Cities in Asia

Chengdu, China   Steve presents Getting annoyed at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Base posted at You’re Not From Around Here, Are You?, saying, “Thanks for putting this together”

Delhi, India   Emma Goho presents The Gohemians Guide To India: Part 1 – Delhi posted at gohemiantravellers, saying, “Hi again, hope you’re well. I finally set off backpacking so I have lotsa new posts. Here is my first one about Delhi, India. Thanks! Em x”

Cities in Europe

Stavanger, Norway   Andrea Nicole presents Introducing Stavanger – Our New Home posted at InspiringTravellers.com.

London, England Mr. Brightside presents The Wild Swans: London Bridge is Going Down (pt III) posted at The Wild Swans.

Lisbon, Portugal   Karen Bryan presents Visiting Queluz Palace in Lisbon posted at Europe A La Carte Blog, saying, “My visit to Queluz Palace in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.”

Berlin, Germany   Adam Groffman presents An ode to the Berlin Späti posted at Adam, saying, “If you’ve ever been to Berlin, you’ve probably seen a spatkauf (or in the local Berlin lingo, a “späti”). It’s basically the German equivalent to a 7-11 or any other convenience store. And because it’s legal to drink in public (no open container laws), the spaeti is where most Berliners go to grab a drink both before and after a night out! And sometimes it might be the only place you hang out in all night…”

Paris, France   Lisa Goodmurphy presents Luxembourg Gardens with Kids posted at Gone with the Family.

Barcelona, Spain   MoTravels presents My Vueling City – Barcelona posted at MO TRAVELS, saying, “Bloggers exchange cities for weekend to discover each other cities. I get to experience Barcelona.”

London, England   Andy Higgs presents Been there, haven’t done that – 5 things you shouldn’t miss in London posted at Grown-up Travel Guide.com, saying, “Hi! I hope you can use this post on London for the next Carnival of Cities. I would also be interested in hosting the carnival so please contact me if this can be of help. Best regards, Andy” (Sure, will do!)

Istanbul, Turkey   David Leonhardt presents Visit The Beautiful Mosques Of Istanbul posted at World Vacations Travel Blog, saying, “A review of some of the top mosques that a visitor to Istanbul, Turkey, would want to visit.”

Angoulême, France    Laurence Norah / @Lozula presents In Photos: Street Art of Angoulême (Part 2) posted at Finding the universe, saying, “Part two of a two part article celebrating the street art in the French city of Angouleme ”

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom   Stuart Wickes presents She was alright leaving here – Titanic in Belfast posted at The Family Adventure Project, saying, “A piece from Belfast, the city where Titanic was built, on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy.”

Lisbon, Portugal   Ana Astri-O’Reilly presents Lisbon, warts and all posted at Ana Travels.

Copenhagen, Denmark   Andy Hayes presents 5 Great Copenhagen Daytrips by Train posted at Europe Train Planner, saying, “Copenhagen is a wonderful city and has a lot of great daytrips – many of which are easy and relaxing train trips from the Danish capital.”

Berlin, Germany   Audrey Scott presents Berlin Food: Favorite Neighborhood Meals Under €10 posted at Uncornered Market, saying, “People often think that eating in Germany means lots of sausage, knödel and sauerkraut. And it’s expensive. But eating in Berlin is anything but that – the city is full of ethnic and fusion eateries, often with great meals under €5-€10. We share some of our favorite neighborhood eating spots from the summer spent in Berlin.”

London, England   Natasha presents The London Palladium posted at Alternative London Guide, saying, “Start your trip to London here even before you start packing your bags”

That concludes this edition, and thanks very much for visiting.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy, recent) blog post to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form.  Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

I hear this a lot: “My organization/association/industry doesn’t really use social media, but maybe we should. Can you come speak to our group about it?”

When I hear that, it’s akin to waving a red cape in front of a bull, because that is like saying to me:

“My organization/association/industry doesn’t really do any networking, or professional development, or lead generation, or marketing, or training, or Search Engine Optimization but maybe we should….what do you think?”

AAAGGHH.

OK, I’m back. I’m over it.

First, semantics. The term “social media” is too limiting – I’d rather use “social communications” or “the social web” – but then no one would know what I’m talking about.

So, if I can’t change the phrase, I want to change the perception of it.

Social media is a tool (only one of many tools!) that can help tremendously with basic business and organizational functions like networking, communications, professional development, etc.

Strategy – Planning – Execution

When I prepare one of these presentations, I start at the top by talking about how to set up a broad-brush social media / social communications strategy, which for me boils down to asking four very basic questions:

1) Who is the market, or who are the customers/members?

2) What sort of people are those customers or members? (Sometimes it helps to create a composite person, a persona, to represent a typical customer.  For a tourism organization, it’s identifying your ideal visitor.)

3) Where is that market active right now on the social web (and where might they go in the near future?)

4)  How can your particular organization or business best engage with them where they are right now?

That’s it. Really. No magic beans.

Once you’ve nailed that down, then do four more things to implement that strategy:

1)  Go where your market is, and observe/listen to what they’re talking about.

2)  Based on where they are active and what they’re talking about, set up your system to engage. If your market is only really busy on LinkedIn, then fine, decide how you wish to incorporate LinkedIn activities into your overall communications strategy. When you set up your system, do not forget to establish goals. What do you want to get out of this engagement?

3)  Now, engage. Answer questions. Provide resources. Be helpful. Leave comments. Do not broadcast the usual corporate gobbledygook - it doesn’t work in social media. ENGAGE.

4)  Monitor and measure the effectiveness of your efforts. This is how you determine the ROI (Return on Investment) of your time, energy and any money you spend. Remember how you set goals two steps ago? When you set a goal, you must decide the metrics you’ll use to measure whether you’re achieving the goal or not.

I know, DUH, right?  Well, I wouldn’t lay it all out like this if I didn’t see so many who don’t do some or all of it.

Overcoming Skepticism

Now that the audience is (hopefully) convinced that even social media requires some basic strategizing and thought, I then try to “make it real” for their particular industry.

For me to be believable to audiences who think that social media is something that other industries do, but oh no, not their industry, I need to show them real examples of real people in their industry getting real value out of social media.

To do that, I go off and find the online places where their industry peers are hanging out.

**  Blogs. I go to Alltop.com and type in some industry keywords. For a recent presentation to the Austin chapter of the SMPS (Society of Marketing Professional Services) I wanted blogs relating to their clientele in A/E/C (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) so I tried “construction,” “building,” “civil engineering” and “architecture.”

That brought back the Construction, Masonry, Plumbing, Architecture and Engineering channels. Some had better blogs and news feeds than others, but it got SMPS started in seeing who’s exchanging what kind of information in their line of work. Here’s the Faith Technologies Electrical Contractor blog, for example.

**  LinkedIn.  I go to LinkedIn and look for Groups related to both the markets and the professional associations for my audience. For the SMPS, I showed them the A/E/C LinkedIn Group and a LinkedIn Answers construction-related discussion.

**  Facebook. I go to Facebook and a few search engines and again search industry-related keywords. For the SMPS, I liked the Sloan Valve Company Facebook Page, “Delivering pioneered products for the complete restroom solution.” Yes, toilets on Facebook. Huzzah!

….and so on, through all the major social media channels plus a few extras that I can usually find.

I love the moment when the audience’s eyes bug out at the possibilities  :)  but that’s when I remind them to only spend time and effort in a way that makes sense for their strategy and implementation plan.

Below is my slide deck for SMPS; note that many of the slide info bullets are hyperlinked. Here’s the direct link to the A/E/C marketing preso on SlideShare if you can’t see the embed box.

How do YOU convince skeptics?

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

I’m honored and excited to announce that I’ve been asked to speak at the MITBCA (Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference and Awards) event, May 8-9, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur.

Since the other speakers include the Hon. YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, it promises to be a pretty high-level conference, and I look forward to learning more about travel and tourism blogging in that part of Asia.

My topics include how to find and connect with bloggers outside of the travel blogging scene, and how social media can help any destination play in the “big time” across continents and time zones in a way that hasn’t been possible until now, unless you had a lot of money and a large staff.

Nominations are also open for Malaysian tourism-related blogs across many categories, and I’ll be attending the awards ceremony for the eventual winners. Yes, there’s a little scrambling going on in my closet right now for evening wear.

You can follow MITBCA 2012 on Twitter and on the MITBCA Facebook Page.

Of course, I’m working to connect with Tourism Malaysia and hopefully add one day to see some of the sights after the conference. Anyone have any ideas for me?  Give a shout down in the comments!

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!) 

Does your organization have a plan in place for content creation and social media monitoring during holidays and weekends?

You know….that time when people travel to your destination, stay in your hotel, look for things to do, places to eat, etc.?

Is someone “answering the social media phone” during those times?

Customer Service

The social web is a place to put content, sure, but it is also becoming a place where you must be ready to provide customer service.

Visitors and guests expect that someone will answer their questions and respond to them even when it’s your “day off.” It’s not much fun for the destination marketer or hotelier but it is what it is; you’ve got to plan for it.

Working one person to death on social media because everyone else waves their hands helplessly and says, “Oh, but I’m not a techie!” is horse manure.

I’d say, cross-train your staff in social media for tourism to build a deeper bench.

Answer The Social Media Phone

Holidays and weekends are a massive opportunity to:

1)  Make solid connections with new visitors.

2)  Reconnect with and welcome those former locals who are returning home for a visit.

3)  Reconnect with and welcome repeat visitors who are not new to your destination/hotel, but ARE new to your Facebook Page, Twitter account or blog.

4)  Chat online with those “expats” who aren’t physically in town but are talking on social media about their memories of you; they would love it if you’d say hello in response.

You can build a whole army of supporters who will go back home and sing your praises, online and off.

Or, you could “not answer the phone.”

Your call.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

I’m not a professional meeting planner and don’t particularly want to become one, but since joining the National Board of Directors for the AWC (Association for Women in Communications) I’ve found myself on a team that is researching venues and options for a possible event.

It seems as though a lot of people I know have unexpectedly found themselves in the event planning business, pulling together conferences because it’s fun and professionally rewarding….and because sometimes, if you don’t volunteer to do it, it won’t happen.

Liz Strauss brought her blog’s online community together offline for the first SOBCon in 2007, Becky McCray organized the first State of NOW/140 Conference SmallTown in 2010 and my teacher husband Chris Fancher ran the first EdCamp Manor education unconference in 2011.

The takeaway for places that host meetings is that anyone can become a meeting planner these days, rather like anyone can be an online publisher.

People like me may not have experience in the business, but we have definite ideas of what we want and don’t want.

My Two Concerns As A Meeting Planner

Now that the planning shoe is on my foot, here’s what I’m looking for….

1)  Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.  We are steering clear of hotels and “going indie” to keep costs low.

The sense is that with hotels, you can get a good deal for rooms (conference and attendee rooms) but then you’ll fork over for every other little expense after that, including extension cords.

May not always be true, but that’s the perception among many.

The true value of a conference is the people who attend, not how fancy a hotel can get plating up a rubber chicken lunch with a green bean side.  Expensive food and beverage costs will eat us alive, so yes, we’ll take a decent box lunch in lieu of “the usual” meals.

Whenever I start freaking out about whether this meeting will come together, I tell myself that if all else fails, I will sit in a hotel room with a pitcher of margaritas and we’ll have a conference with whoever shows up.

I know that it will be great. Seriously.

2)  Free wireless internet access. Conferences these days are not only happening within the four walls of the host venue; they are being shared continuously, worldwide, through the social web via laptops and smartphones.

An entire community has formed around BlogWorld and New Media Expo, for example, and the chatter keeps going year-round. Community members both at the event and watching it from afar expect to be able to communicate continuously.

WiFi is becoming a major sticking point as more and more meetings have people live-blogging, live-tweeting and otherwise wanting to be online. Host hotels charge through the nose for it, in your room and in the conference venue, and it’s often crappy to boot.

People are tired of putting up with that – WiFi is now the number one hotel amenity that people want, and the sooner conference venues wake up to this insatiable demand, the better.

What Does a Cheapo, Connected Conference Look Like?

For our tentative event, we might….

….use available space on an urban college campus near public transportation, have at least part of the event be an unconference in barcamp/podcamp style, get a sponsor to provide some sort of simple/box lunch and have attendees get their own hotels.

We want people to be able to fly in and out easily, get to the hotel and the venue on public transportation and spend a minimal amount on food.  Get there, get settled and get on with communicating and connecting.

We want attendees to walk away saying, “Wow, I met so many interesting people and learned a lot, plus it didn’t cost me much, either. No frills, but who cares – it was great!”

We’ve broken the code that “great” does NOT necessarily mean “expensive.”

What can you, the meeting venue, do for people like us?

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is on the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)