I’ve been experimenting on my new smartphone with location-based services like Gowalla and Foursquare, and have begun leaning hard towards Gowalla as my favorite of the two, particularly since it led me to pies in Houston.

The “killer app” for tourism with Gowalla is the Trips feature; anyone can create a Trip of favorite sights or attractions around a town or region, plus Gowalla has partnered to make branded Trips with organizations like National Geographic, Vail Resorts, the Austin American-Statesman (here’s their Off-Leash Dog Parks, a great idea for visitors and locals alike) and the European Green Capital of Stockholm.

When you boot up Gowalla on your smartphone and select Trips, it shows you nearby Trips based on your location, which it knows from your smartphone’s GPS. I always saw lots of Austin Trips, but nothing for the town where I actually live about 20 miles north: Round Rock.

So, I decided to make my own Trip. Anyone can make up to 10 of them.

Here’s how to do it….

• Decide what would make a good Trip for visitors or locals in your area. Think about a theme and some prospective candidates for checkins. Your downtown walking tour that already exists? Local food places? Historical sites?
• Go to the Trips frontpage on Gowalla, and look to the right side for a big long oval “Create Your Trip” button.
• Fill in the blocks for “Trip Name” and pick the type of Trip from the drop-down menu. There are lots of options. If you have a bunch of different places of different types (like I did for my first Trip) pick Standard.  There are special badges for each.
• Follow the directions:  write up the Trip Details (keep it punchy and succinct – it will mostly be read on smartphone screens) then start picking places by either finding them through Gowalla’s Search or looking at places where you’ve already checked in.
• If you can’t find a Spot, create it yourself! Here are some guidelines for creating a Spot.
• When you get to the descriptive page for your desired Spot, look to the right at the drop-downs for Actions. One of the options is “Add to Trip,” so do that.
• Keep going until you have a reasonable number of places added to your Trip. You must have at least 3 but no more than 20. You can edit the descriptions of Spots in your Trip.
• Polish it up and publish, then put the link on your websites, Facebook Page, announce it on Twitter, etc.

I’m working on a second Trip now, with local places where I like to eat (it will have the Foodie badge.)

Branded badges with your logo require graphics assistance through Gowalla; email Team Gowalla directly at businesses {at} gowalla.com to discuss.

It’s that easy; go jump in!

(Update: I’ve since figured out that my Trip can only be seen on the phone app by people that I’m friends with on Gowalla, although anyone can see it on the main Gowalla website. This is rather problematic since I’m only connecting with people that I really, really feel that I know on location-based services like Gowalla, for obvious security reasons.  I would think that for branded trips by a CVB, coordinated through Gowalla, it would be a little looser, but I’m not certain. More investigation to follow.)

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Are you responsible in some way for a festival or special event, and would like to get jump-started using social media to promote it?

I always advise including social media as an integral part of your overall marketing plan, not sticking it on as an afterthought, but sometimes you do need to push the train forward a bit even if all the track isn’t laid to the end.

Hey, it worked for the US Transcontinental Railroad….

If your festival or special event is coming up quickly, here are some things you can do to enhance your online presence, and then you’ll have a platform to build on more thoughtfully for next year:

1)  Get a Facebook Page.  Not a Group – a Page. Give more than one person administrative access to it. Your event logo is fine as an avatar. Put it in the Organization-NonProfit category; that’s probably the one that applies best to festivals.  Fill out the Info section thoroughly, with event dates, location and times, simple directions from the main access points, links to your website and any other social media sites you have, and a contact email and phone number.

Put up a few Wall posts, especially some photos and short videos from last year’s event if you have them, and get the word out to your networks that some “Likes” of your Page would be appreciated. Once you get to 25, um, “Likers,” you can switch the Facebook URL to a more personalized one with your name.

Connect with your local CVB, DMO, state tourism office, town government, Chamber of Commerce and the businesses that sponsor your event, at a minimum.

Here is why special events expert Penny Reeh likes Facebook (direct link to the video on YouTube if you can’t see it below)

2)  Get a Twitter account. Make sure it’s something that approximates your event name, but is not too long (that uses up valuable characters and you only get 140 per tweet.)  Make sure that more than one person can tweet from the account, and that you’re set up to tweet from mobile devices.  Don’t worry about amassing a ton of followers right away; many won’t be the right folks anyway (unless you want to lose weight with acai berries.)  You want people who care about and want to connect with your event.

See the Texas Book Festival – @texasbookfest – as an example.

Connect with your local CVB, DMO, state tourism office, town government, Chamber of Commerce and the businesses that sponsor your event, at a minimum.

3)  Create a hashtag for your event.  You don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to do so. A hashtag is a unique identifier for tweets related to your event, plus it can go in the descriptions of Flickr photos, YouTube videos, etc. Pick something short.

Take a look at #TBEX (a travel blogger’s conference) tweets as an example of a very engaged bunch following a hashtag.

Make sure your followers know to use it; if you can get folks to use it, it will be easier to monitor your event as it occurs (I use hashtags all the time to follow conferences from a distance.)

4)  Start thinking visually about coverage.  Not a photo or video expert? Don’t let that stop you. Simply think hard about what sort of compelling visual opportunities may be coming up in your event….backstage excitement? Anything you can catch up close in rehearsal? Fun moments at the cotton candy concession?  Get that digital point-and-shoot camera in your pocket and remember to use it liberally, including the video function that most of them now have.

Photos and videos are popular and evoke emotion and interest. They really amp up your Facebook Page and can also go up to Twitter via services like TwitPic and TwitVid.

If you have a smartphone, learn ahead of time how to shoot a photo and upload it from the phone to Facebook and Twitter. You can’t beat the ease and convenience of such coverage.

5)  Tell your fans and supporters where to find you online.  Put it up on posters, at the event entry and exit points, print it out on flyers and the festival map, announce it on the PA – let visitors know that you’d like to hear from them (before, during and after the fun) on Facebook and Twitter, and that they can post their best photos and video to your Wall.

Did that about cover it for quick-launch?

I’ll be speaking at the 2010 TFEA (Texas Festivals and Events Association) annual conference this week about social media for special events;  say hello if you see me there, or please leave a comment below if I missed a good tip.

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A follow-up to my earlier post about not getting an HD video camera till you know what you’re getting into….

I have been practically welded to my tripod (a three-legged Sunpak 6060) for the last few weeks as I’ve shot video (and still photos to incorporate into those videos) for a client CVB.

There is no question that it has enhanced my good shots and totally saved several otherwise crummy ones.

Before you shoot another frame of any visual digital medium, go get a tripod.  Your viewers will thank you.

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Some days, the ideas come pouring out of your head and it’s hard to get them recorded fast enough.

Other days, not so much.

An editorial calendar can really help with “blogger’s block.”  It’s simply a calendar (looking forward through the next few weeks, at least) of which topic you’re going to write about on which day.

Sit down now and project through 2010 what you’ll want to write about and when, in very general terms. You know you’re going to do something related to July 4, 2010 if you’re located in the US, right?  Commonwealth nations will have something about Remembrance Day every year, and so on. Then, break it down by month and then week.

You can have a rolling schedule of “video post on Monday, highlight our latest package deal on Tuesday, photo of the week from our Flickr Group Pool on Wednesday,” etc. if that helps.

For those days when the creativity fountain is dribbling rather than gushing, here are some post ideas to help kick-start your keyboard:

1. Itineraries.  Give visitors eat-sleep-play itinerary ideas for your destination. Go hyper-focused and do specific ones for foodies, history buffs, families, adult couples, birders/nature lovers, sports fans, genealogists, photographers, geocaching fans, etc.  Do seasonally tailored ones for spring, summer, fall, winter.
2. Coming attractions, highlighted by using photos or video.  Yes, of course, talking about upcoming events is a no-brainer, but make it fresh. Use one WOW! photo or a fun, short (2-3 minute) video, with a link deeper into your blog or Web site for more info. Let the graphics sell the event without you pumping out marketing text.
3. “On this day in 1841 (or 1917 or 1969….)” You know what to do with this one, right? Short and sweet.  Make that history come alive.
4. Breakfast with/Lunch with/Dinner with one of your distinctive local eateries. Economic redevelopment bonus: feature one in your historic downtown. Include drool-worthy food photos, videos of the chef at work, photos of locals eating there. Bonus round two: put those same photos on your CVB Facebook Fan Page and tag some of the people in the photos.
5. Promotions and package deals.  Don’t overdo this, but it can’t hurt to remind people to check your site for exclusive deals and packages. A lot of people really have no idea what a CVB/DMO does and don’t think to check your site for offers (which is why I wrote this reminder post on my family travel blog.)
6. Answer a frequent visitor question.  You know the ones that you keep hearing over and over in your Visitor’s Center.  No, not “Do you have a bathroom?”  The other ones.
7. Introduce one of your frequent visitors.  Have them talk about why they love your destination or attraction, and why they keep returning. Bonus: shoot a video of them for your YouTube channel. Double bonus:  upload the video to your Facebook Fan Page and tag them in it. Of course, you’ll link back to their Web site or blog from your blog post, right? Right.
8. Create a custom, targeted Google Map (here’s how to do it plus more background info.)  Make one with fun spots to visit on a weekend in your town.  Consider one with all of your local microbreweries, or your antique shops, quilting places or bars with regular live music.  Create one with your ice cream shops and bakeries; call that one “Sugar Shacks.”     How about your coffee shops and inns with free WiFi;  that one’s called “Blogger’s Heavenly Spots.”
9. Explain how to use Twitter as a “Twisitor Center”, so visitors can ask you questions (sometimes by including a dedicated hashtag in their tweets.)  Need an update on the concept?  See this Twisitor Center site, and also how Abilene, TX or Kissimmee, FL or Portland, OR do it.
10. How does your community support the arts?  Profile a local glassblower, painter, potter, dancer or musician – photo and video opportunities abound.  Is there a special museum exhibit or gallery opening?  A concert with the new work of a local composer?  A book by a local author that has a setting you can talk about? What’s your town’s equivalent to what Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil does for Savannah, GA?

Good tourism-related blogging is helpful information and story-telling that gives a sense of place.  Do what blogging thought leader Liz Strauss recommends: capture the irresistible ideas and tell your story.

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If you have an account on the Flickr photo-sharing site – like the Pacific Aviation Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii or South African Tourism – it’s easy to make one of your sets of pictures into a little rotating gallery.

You can do this in a number of ways….in a blog post (the way you see it below in this post,) in a wiki page like this one for Jelly Coworking in Round Rock, Texas, or anywhere else that allows you to embed HTML code, which are the letters and numbers that are seen as text or graphics on a website.

Here’s how I did the Christmas ornament one featured here….

Go to the page in your Flickr account where you’ve grouped your set – here’s mine for the ornament pictures.  At the top right you’ll see a clickable link labeled “Slideshow.”  When you click that, it will open in slideshow mode.

Look again in the upper right corner, where it says “Share.”  Click that, and you’ll see two options: a URL to copy and paste somewhere, and “Grab the embed HTML.”  Copy the embed HTML to your clipboard (or right click the text to copy it) then paste the whole thing it wherever you’d like to show off your gallery.

In a blog post or wiki, for example, paste it when your draft is in “HTML” or “Source code” mode (the pasted code doesn’t seem to “take” in other modes.)  Include a direct URL link just before the gallery graphic – as I’ve done in this post –  in case the slideshow box can’t be seen on some readers’ computers.

That’s it! You’re a genius!  Happy Holidays….

For RSS readers and anyone who can’t see the box below, the URL for the slideshow is here.

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For those of you who are interested in really ramping up your blogging skills, I’ll be participating in a Webinar next week called the Girlfriend’s Guide to the Business of Blogging.

Conference organizer Debbie Lawrence saw me on Twitter – I don’t shut up much there, either  - and was kind enough to invite me to speak.

There are lots of sessions, all online, across three days (Tuesday, December 8 through Thursday, December 10) all for only US$15.  You can even earn a free ticket through their affiliate program.

Speakers include Michael Martine (Remarkablogger) Julie Gallaher (travel site Things You Should Do) a TweetNote keynote by Charles J. Orlando (he’ll be talking about “How to Build a Sustainable Brand from Scratch—for Less Than $250/mo”) and a lively bunch of others.

My speaking session is scheduled for Thursday, December 10 at 9 am EST (yes, that’s 8 am my time in Texas. Blargh. I hope my coffee is strong!)

It’s called “Let’s Get Visual: How Flickr and YouTube Can Amp Up Your Blog.”

We’ll talk about shooting basic video with a Flip camera or using the video function on most digital cameras, minor editing using software like Microsoft’s MovieMaker (which comes with most PCs) and then uploading to YouTube and embedding back in a blog post. We’ll also discuss the importance of images to the power of your blog’s content, and ways to find great photos through the Creative Commons alternative copyright on the Flickr photo-sharing site. Finally, and very important for human and Google-y search, we’ll talk about how to title, describe and tag both videos and photos so that they can help drive traffic to your blog.

You can read more about Flickr in my guest post Every Picture Tells A Story on the Girlfriend’s Guide blog, and I hope you have time to attend some or all of the webinar sessions. I think it’s a ton of good information for an incredible price, and even better, a portion of the proceeds go to the American Stroke Association in honor of blogger Anissa Mayhew, who recently suffered a devastating stroke.

See you next Thursday?

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What do people who live and breathe travel have to say about Twitter?

Look no further than a recent survey of members of the Travel Insights 100.

It’s a group of 100 travel writers, bloggers and thought leaders across eight travel categories, and yes, I am honored to be a part of the 100, a wonderful project co-sponsored by Tips From the T-List, the BootsnAll Travel Network and UpTake.

So, what do we think about Twitter?

Bottom line: it is here to stay, and we like it for finding travel tips, deals, information and connections, insider tips and recommendations and sometimes to connect with Twitterers in the places where we travel.

37 – 39% of us recommended that consumers use Twitter to follow the hotel where they will be staying, and follow the destination management organization/company (or CVB) to learn about the destination.  Don’t you think that percentage should be higher? I do.

How do we decide who to follow?

As fellow 100 member Vera Marie Badertscher pointed out in her analysis post about the results:

“When asked how they decide who to follow, NO ONE said they follow only those that they know.  Twitter is a place to break new ground and find out about new things….They are looking for intelligent people with interesting posts.”

Most respondents aren’t just looking for tweets about travel, but some want only that information. We’re a diverse group with diverse interests, like any bunch of humans. One respondent said, “I follow people who seem interesting” but another said, “Must be 90% tweeting about travel.”

To each their own on Twitter. Do your thing and be yourself; those who don’t like it, don’t have to follow you.

When asked who others should follow on Twitter, this is what I said (we could only pick 5 and there are a ton of others who are worthy, too….)

***  @Marilyn_Res because she casts a wide net & works for a magazine I love (National Geographic Traveler.)
***  @nerdseyeview because she writes like she talks, which is a great compliment.
***  @WyomingTourism because they sell their destination with poetic thoughts.
***  @SeattleMaven because she sounds like your best friend who just happens to PWN the city of Seattle.
***  @CoffeeGroundz because you need an awesome coffee shop and wine bar in Houston TX.

What we tweet about varies as well – travel industry news, our latest blog post, links we like, general travel and event information. My favorite summary from one of the 100 was, “Is it a 140 character postcard? If so, it’s on.”

What did I say about what I tweet as @SheilaS? “People get (mostly) the Whole Me, and I’m chatty.”

I also tweet as @TourismCurrents and @FreelanceAustin, and I try to keep those tweets specifically focused on their respective topics: tourism/social media and freelance tips/opportunities.

Don’t over-analyze it, though.

The other day I was reading this excellent interview with the guys who do social media outreach for New York’s Roger Smith Hotel (@RSHotel on Twitter) and one of the two hoteliers said:

“I did a sort of Twitter 101 course for a bunch of hotels in the region and I said, “Reach out to this person. Ask them if they’re coming in this weekend. Ask them what they’ve got planned.”  I could see them [the audience members] cringing. “I don’t know if I could say that or do that.”

OK, come on, you’re in the tourism and hospitality business and you don’t know how to interact with customers?  Of course you do; that’s your bread and butter! With Twitter and other social media tools, it’s simply digitized and has an incredible reach that you’ve never had before.

Want to dig in further about what the 100 say regarding Twitter? Here’s a SlideShare presentation with more of the results:

Travel Insights 100 Media Page.

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This may be stating the obvious for many, but I’m seeing the same problem so often that there’s obviously a disconnect….

If your tourism organization is participating in social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., do not forget to put a prominent link to those on your main destination Web site.

Give your eager and enthusiastic customers multiple ways to find you, connect with you and talk about you.

Yes, I know that Web site real estate is a precious thing, and you may have to break some “personal rice bowls” to make this happen (meaning things can get political, your Webmaster may not want to give space/links to other platforms, etc.,) but here’s why you want to do it….

For example, when someone becomes a Fan of your state tourism Facebook page, a note to that effect goes onto that individual’s personal Profile page.  This means that all of, say, “Susie Smith’s” Facebook friends can see that she just became a Fan of XYZ state.  Some of them may click through to see what you’re all about, because they trust Susie and are interested in her interests.

Result? More eyeballs are seeing what your destination has to offer.

Here’s a Web site to emulate:  Discover Ohio.

Their state tourism organization is on Twitter at @DiscoverOhio, they have an Ohio Flickr Group for photo-sharing, an Ohio YouTube channel and here’s the Ohio Tourism Facebook page.

You know what’s really great? The logo links (widgets) for all of those social media sites are clearly displayed on the right-hand side on the front page of the main Ohio tourism Web site.

It makes it a no-brainer for Ohio enthusiasts to click through, connect and communicate with Ohio tourism in at least four different places. That’s how you can seem to be “everywhere.”

Make it easy to connect.  Make it easy for your visitors (and your residents) to talk with you and about you.

That’s just good destination marketing, right?

Who else would you recommend for providing multiple ways to connect?  I’d love to read about them in the comments below.

(Oh, and one more thing I don’t see often enough – give me easy access to some images from your destination. See that Lake Erie lighthouse up there at the top of the post? Discover Ohio made it easy for me to use, as long as I gave them credit. They have a simple-to-find free images page for media on their Web site. Thank you, Ohio!)

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The publication of my Social Media and Tourism ebook yesterday marked the start of an exciting business collaboration with Oklahoma-based entrepreneur and small town business expert Becky McCray.

We are going to work together as speakers, trainers and consultants, showing others how to use social media for economic development.

There are a number of ideas and products in the works including interactive training packages and possibly paid membership to a Web-supported community.

Here at the beginning, Becky will focus largely on small town entrepreneurship and I’ll focus on what we call “Tourism 2.0″ – how travel and tourism can use social media tools to raise awareness of their destinations.

We see them as part of a greater economic development whole for any size of town or city, anywhere.

As a small town entrepreneur herself, Becky noticed lately that many “Shop Local” campaigns seemed to be targeted to larger cities, and she had specific ideas about how to execute such a project in a small town.

Being Becky, she went ahead and wrote the book on it:  a step-by-step guide to starting a “Shop Local” campaign in a small town.   I recommend it for any business person, especially in this tough economy.

I assure you that as we launch the rest of our business, you’ll hear about it on this blog, from me on Twitter or from @BeckyMcCray on Twitter.

Thanks for your support!

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This morning I Stumbled a post on the Travels with Children blog; it’s a fairly negative review of the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Author Linda didn’t feel that the place met her expectations for a creative experience for her kids. There was no “wild blogger” ranting or digital spittle – she was simply disappointed in what visitors get there for their money and time.

Since she linked to the Crayola establishment (they should see that by monitoring inbound links/backlinks) and wrote about them as “Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania” (which any decent Google Alert should catch) I would expect a sharp PR/marketing person from the company to check out the post and leave a comment.

You know, at least something along the lines of “We’re sorry you were disappointed, we’ll take your ideas into consideration, we have a facility redesign in the works, blah blah.”

Figure the odds that anyone actually does that.

A quick glance would show anyone that Linda’s blog isn’t the home of some pajama’d nutcase. She has active and engaged readers who are interested in her family travel topic.

The business communications world often still doesn’t get it, so the review will probably sit there, unanswered.

To me, that’s a lost opportunity for Crayola to reach out to customers and possibly turn a negative impression into a positive one.

Your thoughts?

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