Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

Get a smartphone if you don’t already have one.

Like, NOW.

Having access – in your purse or pocket – to the web, plus your entire social network, is the biggest game-changer since we decided that personal computers in every home wasn’t as stupid as it sounded.

The shift to a mobile life is happening, and it’s happening screamingly fast. Tourism, travel and business overall are changing forever, right this very minute, but it’s hard to truly grasp what that means until you use a mobile device regularly yourself (hence my insistence that you go shopping.)

No, your expertise in checking email on a phone is not what I mean.

Below is the slide deck from my new keynote presentation titled, “Mobile: Is That The Internet In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?” (hat tip to actress Mae West.)

I gave it for the first time at the Annual Meeting of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania regional tourism organization; they were marvelous hosts and I hope they found it helpful. Later I realized that I’d forgotten to mention two specific resources: Tom Martin on QR codes, and Aaron Strout on location-based services. D’oh!

There are short speaker notes on each slide, and hyperlinked sources at the bottom of the stats slides.  Here’s the direct link to the deck on SlideShare.

This was taken at the nightly laser light show in Hong Kong‘s Victoria Harbor (or Harbour if you prefer.)

The view you see is across to Central Hong Kong from the Kowloon side; the show happens at 8 pm and there is even a soundtrack to go with it, blaring out of speakers on the waterside walkway in Tsim Sha Tsui, but here’s the best way to see it….

Grab yourself a gin and tonic in the Lobby Lounge at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kowloon – it has floor-to-ceiling windows and is a MOST civilized viewing spot. (They have a pretty solid hotel Facebook Page and are active on Twitter, as well.)

When people ask me where I’d like to live in the world if money was no object, I usually say Hong Kong.

How about you?

Note:  I started this Travel Post Friday series when I stepped away from writing the BootsnAll Family Travel Blog in December 2010. If you like it, there’s more of my travel work on the Perceptive Travel Blog.

(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!) 

Want to know how NOT to invite writers to your press trip or fam (familiarization) tour?  This guest post by Kara S. Williams will lay it out for you….

The Bait

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email with the subject line, “An Exclusive Invitation to [resort & spa] FAM.” The body of the email was in press release form, and the lack of personal salutation should have tipped me off immediately to its lack of exclusivity. Still, I read the words “Exclusive Invitation” again in the headline and soaked up details about the press trip in the subhead: “Including airfare, lodging, ground transport and most meals for 3 qualified journalists.” A small group with airfare included? Sign me up!

I checked the itinerary – spa treatment! special dinner! – and figured that the short trip would fit beautifully into my fall schedule: not too much time away from my family and I didn’t have plans on those particular dates.

The bottom of the release/invite noted, “Writers must show credentials.” No problem, I thought. As a travel writer and blogger, when I am invited to resorts or to destinations I’m accustomed to telling PR folks where I can place stories (guaranteed on my own blogs) and where I might be able to pitch stories (other magazines and websites I have a freelance relationship with). This didn’t raise a huge flag with me.

I wrote back to the PR person inviting me to this event, “This sounds like an incredible opportunity! What more do you need from me?”

The Switch

She asked for statistics and demographics of the websites I co-own; I sent them and then didn’t hear anything for five days, so I followed up to confirm the trip was a go.

Turns out, as I should have gathered, the “exclusive invitation” was not an exclusive invitation at all. It was a call for interest for this particular press trip.

I was told that the trip did indeed garner a lot of interest from all those who received the “invite,” that my information was passed on to the ultimate decision makers at the resort, and that I did not make the cut.

The Teaching Moment

This ruffled my feathers, even though I should have recognized some warning signs regarding this invite. I decided to tell the PR person that I felt a bit duped – figuring this could be a learning experience for both of us.

Here’s what I wrote back to her:

“I don’t think we’ve worked together before, so I hope you don’t mind this constructive criticism.

1.) Perhaps in the future, consider calling the invite an ‘announcement’ or ‘invitation to show interest’ — not an ‘exclusive invitation.’ That was most definitely not exclusive, if you sent the information to more than the 3 people who could fill your slots.

2.) Perhaps in the future, find the 3 people you really want to have come, and invite them FIRST. If they can’t make it, continue moving down your list.”

I am accustomed to being asked to attend press trips or being invited to visit a resort because the PR folks have vetted me and they want me to attend an event or cover their property. I am MORE THAN HAPPY to share statistics, my outlets, etc. at any time. But I prefer not to be told I’m invited somewhere (with air) and then suddenly… not.

The Light Bulb Moment

And you know what happened? Instead of getting an angry response in return, I immediately received an email back from the PR person: she apologized, she said she appreciated my insight, and she admitted some “rookie mistakes.” I was thrilled that my constructive suggestions didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Now, before I get flamed for not appreciating this generous semi-invite/call for interest to begin with, I’d like Sheila’s Guide readers to know that I do feel extremely fortunate for all of the incredible travel opportunities that have come my way over the past couple of decades in the editorial industry. Trust me, I truly value (okay, delight in) all of the amazing trips I’ve taken – alone, with other travel writers and with my family – especially since I decided to focus on travel writing in the past five years. I absolutely adore my job as a travel writer, and I appreciate the perks that come with that job, namely free and discounted travel.

However, as I noted in my email back to the PR person, I also appreciate full transparency when I am offered such fabulous perks.

To me, this story of a press-trip-invite-gone-wrong ended well. I confirmed that being honest and, when needed, politely forthright with PR folks is the best way to conduct business. I’d like to think of my relationships with PR companies as collaborative endeavors – no “us vs. them” mentality – and encourage others in the industry to do the same.

Freelance travel writer Kara Williams is a member of ASJA, SATW and TBEX. The acronym-loving mom makes her home in the Colorado Rockies and blogs about all things travel- and spa-related at two websites she co-owns, TheVacationGals.com and TheSpaGals.com. Learn more about her and read clips of her recent work at KaraSWilliams.com. 

********************

(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!)

For those who are not surrounded by like-minded people (whether you’re into chess, growing roses or technology) the world can feel like a lonely place.

“Am I the only one who understands chess problems like Allumwandlung and Maximummer and Zepler doubling?”

“Am I some sort of nutball because I really like deciding between spotted-bloom roses like Cramoisi Picoté and striped ones like Patriot Kordana?”

“No one else in my small town seems to ‘get’ why I care about broadband Internet access, why I blog and what in the world I’m doing on Twitter.”

Fortunately, social web tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the still-relevant forum/BBS make it so much easier than it used to be to find people who share your enthusiasms and interests.  I’m not up to speed on where chess or rose people hang out online, but I can tell you where a bunch of rural and small town technology and social media enthusiasts will be on September 20, 2011.

They’ll be at the 140 Characters Conference Small Town in the gorgeous Fox Theatre in downtown Hutchinson, Kansas.

Uh, where?

Look below:

Right; so if you’re a city kid like me, you’re probably thinking….geesh, look at all that empty space, and those absolutely straight roads going through nothingness, it’s probably flat as a pancake, and I think I recognize the name Wichita for that nearby city….look, did I hear correctly….this is a technology event in the middle of Kansas?

It is, and I give it my City Kid Stamp of Approval.

Not that rural folks need any approval from anyone, and that’s partly the point of this particular event – rural and small town people are geeks and communicators just like urbanites, but it’s a bit harder for them to find one another, learn and socialize when they’re all spread out in less populated areas. This is the first technology-based conference that brings them all together, on their terms but with a global audience, in a cool small town like “Hutch,” with speakers that include farmers, ranchers and small town economic development experts who don’t think a one-stoplight community is a bad idea at all.

After attending the first version of 140 Small Town in 2010, I knew I’d return this year, and I’m honored to be one of many speakers from 17 states on the schedule. My topic is “City Kid Among the Cattle - How Twitter Connects Me to Another World,” wherein I’ll talk about my newfound appreciation, thanks to Twitter, of wide-open spaces, cattle management and farm equipment with mysterious prongy things.

Each speaker only gets one 10-15 minute time slot (better make it snappy!) and no PowerPoint is allowed.  WIN.

Follow the #140conf hashtag on Twitter for info and discussion about all the 140 conferences, including this one, and if you can’t make it in person, Small Town will be livestreamed on UStream.

The best idea, though, is to see it in person: student passes are only $14 and pssst….for non-students/adults, code “friendof140″ gives you a nice, fat discount when you register here.

If you’re a journalist or media person who would like to cover the conference and/or the topic of tech in small towns, here’s the excellent, comprehensive Small Town Media page.

For a quick 90 second overview of the conference, here’s my Tourism Currents business partner Becky McCray (who organizes Small Town along with its original founder Jeff Pulver) on an Oklahoma Horizon TV episode (direct link to video here.)

Hope I meet you in Hutchinson!

(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!) 

Welcome 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.)

The previous edition was hosted on Edutech Musings (my husband Chris’ teacher blog – thanks, Sweetie!) and the September 7 edition will be over on La Vie Francaise.

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

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

Loudun, France   Jason tells the odd story of 1634: Urbain Grandier, for the Loudon possessions posted at Executed Today.

Cities in the Americas

Columbus, Ohio, USA   Joe Vargo saves your morning with the Top Three Coffee Shops in Columbus at The Columbus Experience, saying, “Columbus Breakfast Blogger Nick Dekker saves visitors from hotel-lobby coffee with his top three picks for a cup of joe in the city.”

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada   Sleep tight! Julie Ovenell-Carter presents Vancouver Hotels: Rosewood Hotel Georgia posted at WhyGo Canada, saying, “Classy is cool again and in the world of Canadian hospitality, no one does it better that the recently revamped Rosewood Hotel Georgia–home of Vancouver’s newest “it” restaurant, Hawksworth.”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA   jeri has cool photos of A wooden street in Philadelphia on touristmodern.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA   Trey presents art plus biology in Alex Grey Redefines Human Anatomy in Atlanta posted at Always ATL.

Portland, Oregon, USA   Kara Williams speeds up your travel with Willamette Jetboat Tours in Portland, Oregon posted at The Vacation Gals, saying, “We love this guest post from Jessica Spiegel about exciting jet boat rides in Portland, Oregon!”

Destin, Florida, USA   Heather Thomas wrote a guest post - Destin Florida One of top 25 destinations according to tripadvisor for Freelance Tourist: Travel Tips.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil   Be careful out there. Katie Sorene wrote Rio Travelers BEWARE these 6 Common Dangers for the Tripbase blog, saying, “Safety tips for travelers to Rio de Janeiro. Heed this important advice to avoid being robbed, arrested or scammed in Rio.”

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA   Estella Gold makes you drool about Commander’s Palace; tuck in a napkin for …. In Which I Ride A Streetcar Named Delicious posted at One For The Road.

Lake Placid, New York, USA   Zhu finds Olympic glory in Lake Placid, NY State posted at Correr Es Mi Destino, saying, “We crossed the border at Prescott/Ogdensburg, stopped to have a look at the car show and kept driving West, on small scenic roads. Most sported yellow Amish buggy signs, warning motorists they could get stuck behind these vehicles for a while. I wouldn’t have minded, the road was very nice, bordered by corn fields and farms.”

Stevensville, Montana, USA   Tractor parades and other delights! Donna Hull writes about Traveling Slow in Small Town America on her Boomer travel blog My Itchy Travel Feet, saying, “The 99th Annual Creamery Picnic Parade in Stevensville, Montana introduces visitors to small town America. Tractors, horse groups, fire brigades, muscle cars – you can’t beat it.”

New York, New York, USA   Why a live, experienced guide like Stan O’Connor can save a tour despite insane traffic – Off-season and Off-route, or, “Tours Shouldn’t Be Given by CD-ROMs.” posted at The Green Guide’s Tour, saying, “The post highlights a long detour through Manhattan and the impromptu point-to-point touring that was necessitated by the detour.”

Paris, Texas, USA  A getaway without the jet lag!  Tui Cameron takes a Weekend Road Trip to Paris, Texas posted at Mental Mosaic, saying, “Paris is one of those rare American towns which resists looking like “Anytown, USA” by actively cultivating its charms. Plus, you’ve gotta love the Eiffel Tower replica, the Jesus in Cowboy Boots, and the beautiful marble fountain in the town square.”

Canton, Ohio, USA   The 25th US President gets his due, as Dominique King presents Discover something for everyone at the William McKinley Museum in Canton, Ohio posted at Midwest Guest, saying, “Dinosaurs? Star gazing? A vintage village? The William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in Canton, Ohio, has so much more beyond presidential papers.”

That concludes this Carnival edition, and thank you for visiting.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy) 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!) 

This is a handmade decorative ornament made from “114 heads representing 5 generations of the Fleming family” in Nolan County, Texas.

Said my daughter in reaction to the ornament:  ”It’d be really pretty if it wasn’t, um, HAIR.”

You can see it in one of the upstairs bedrooms in the Pioneer Museum in Sweetwater, a West Texas town with three big claims to fame: constant blowing wind that is now being harnessed by a booming wind power industry, an annual Rattlesnake Roundup hunting event and Avenger Field,  the original training grounds for the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) in World War II and now the site of the National WASP WWII Museum.

(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!) 

Welcome 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.)

The previous edition was hosted on June 15 by Stark County, Ohio News and Views and the July 13 edition will be over at the Perceptive Travel Blog.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

Paris, France Mary Jo Manzanares presents A Different View of Paris: Going Underground posted at The Traveler’s Way, saying, “Get over the “ick” factor and take a look at Paris from down below.”

Kiev, Ukraine Anne-Sophie Redisch presents What to do in Kiev posted at Sophie’s World, saying, “What first springs to mind when you hear the name Kiev? Capital of the Ukraine? You’re right, of course. Some might think of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. If pop culture is your thing, Kiev might mean the venue of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Into politics? Then, perhaps the Orange Revolution of 2004?”

York, England Mike Sowden presents York – Foundations posted at Fevered Mutterings, saying, “There’s one rule you should always follow when dining out in York, England, and it’s this: *look up*.”

Barcelona, Spain Marc Fav presents Barcelona – - – A Dream posted at Marc Fav.

Cities in the Americas

Seattle, Washington, USA Rachel Center presents The happiest place on earth posted at Balance and Blueberries, saying, “This blogger fell in love with Seattle in the short 24 hours she was there. Read the recap of the sights!”

Portland, Maine, USA Jason presents 1790: Thomas Bird, the first federal execution under the U.S. constitution posted at Executed Today, saying, “Notable local history in Portland, Maine.”

San Francisco, California, USA Matthew Hyde presents Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay (some memories of San Francisco) posted at Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.

Staunton, Virginia, USA I wrote a short Travel Post Friday entry on this blog, about a snazzy Presidential Pierce-Arrow: Woodrow Wilson’s car is the cat’s pajamas.

Los Angeles, California, USA Zhu presents The Rich L.A. posted at Correr Es Mi Destino, saying, “I was curious to see the other side of L.A, the glamorous one. So far, I wasn’t too impressed: houses looked nice but nothing out of the ordinary. I certainly couldn’t picture all these movie stars and socialites living here, in Korea Town or in Little Armenia.”

Houston, Texas, USA Sarah V. presents Making the Most of 24 Hours in Houston posted at Wandering Off, saying, “A quick trip to Houston where we enjoyed everything from butterflies to Byzantine frescoes.”

Pensacola, Florida, USA Jennifer presents Three Days in Pensacola with Your Family posted at Two Kids and a Map.

Seattle, Washington, USA Amy @ The Q Family presents Seattle With Kids: Hand-On Fun For Family @ Pacific Science Center posted at The Q Family Adventures Travel Blog.

New York, New York, USA Mary T presents Explore New York City’s High Line Linear Park posted at Travel With Teens and Tweens, saying, “As part of a multi-day high school field trip to New York City our teenage son took a walk on the City’s High Line linear park on a picture perfect spring day.”

Santa Monica, California, USA Simpsonsparadox presents SCVNGR posted at Simpson’s Paradox.

Cities in the Middle East

Manama, Bahrain Travelrat presents The Camel Farm posted at Travelrat’s Travels, saying, “Shortly after this visit, it all kicked off in Bahrain. I hope things are back to normal soon, and the camel farm survives!”

That concludes this Carnival edition, and thank you for visiting.

Please submit your (ONE, non-spammy) 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.

This is Woodrow Wilson’s restored Pierce-Arrow limousine, at his Presidential Library in Staunton, Virginia.  Nice museum, with a small new World War I exhibit, and Staunton is a charming town in the Shenandoah Valley. (The cat’s pajamas is 1920′s slang for “pretty awesome.”)

I took the photo with my Android phone (a Motorola) and have to say that I’ve been more than pleased with its camera. Shutter lag is significant, but picture quality is good enough that lately I’ve forgotten about using my regular Canon digital point-and-shoot camera. Plus, with the phone, I can send things up to Facebook (as this one was sent) and Twitter while standing right there.

A good smartphone camera is really changing how I create content when I travel.

(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’s a logical question from busy hospitality professionals….

How in the world are they supposed to do all this “social media stuff” while also, you know, running a hotel or resort?!

I asked this question of Andy Hayes, a tourism marketing expert, travel enthusiast, writer, speaker and all-around swell guy. With his typical humor and direct approach, he gave me some terrific answers, so I thought I’d publish the results of our email back-and-forth here, as a Q&A session.

1)  Let’s imagine that the busy operator of a hotel comes to Becky and me at Tourism Currents and says, “Tell me the first 3-5 things I need to do in the next month, in order to begin to establish a better online presence.” What would you suggest?

First thing is to remind yourself:  who are your Dream Customers and what are they looking for from you? If you get clear on that, you’ll have a good idea about the websites, platforms and types of content you’ll want to deliver online.

For example, if you’re a romantic hotel for couples, I’m guessing that photos and romantic stories will be a highlight and maybe a juicy email newsletter with tips for keeping that spark in the relationship. Family hotel? Videos of kids splashing in the pool and fun contests on Facebook might be up your alley.

Think less about “I’m a hotel” and more about “I’m an expert on hospitality and _______________.”

Secondly, get clear on what medium is your strength. If you consider yourself the next Oprah, then get yourself a camera and start doing snappy video. A talker, but not interested in being on screen? Podcasting might be for you. Maybe you’re a photographer – or a writer. It doesn’t matter, but get clear on your strengths and how that meshes with your customer’s desires – if you do the things you’re good at, you’ll keep doing it, and your customers will love it in the process.

Now, with those two pieces of information, experiment. Talk to people. Try things – coupons, discounts, special wacky promotions, interviews, lots and lots of storytelling. I believe the saying is “throw it on the wall and see what sticks.” Now, I know you’re timestrapped, but the magic is in watching carefully and deciding whether you need to keep trying or whether you need to try something else. (Hint: keep those conversations with your favorite, bestest customers going. They’ll give you invaluable advice.)

2)  A hotel operator says, “I can’t sit trapped at a computer all day, but I do have a smartphone. How can it help me listen to and respond to customers ‘on the fly’ as I go through my day?”

It’s all about flow – a lot of the things you do already every day you can incorporate into monitoring and promoting your social media presence.

Let’s take it step by step:

a. Get your toolbelt in place. There are a million and one phone apps out there, so decide on which things you’re going to use….something for images? Video? A Facebook app?  That means testing things out. That means being frustrated and time-stretched for a couple of weeks. (You might remember this feeling when you opened your hotel. Welcome back to the future.)

b. Get your habits in place. Start getting into some habits – they’re good for you, and they’re good for your customers. Maybe you do a room walkthrough at 1PM everyday – use that opportunity to always tweet a picture of something interesting. Maybe you get into the office an hour before anybody else – spare 15 minutes to flip through TripAdvisor and other review sites to ensure there isn’t anything you need to address or respond to. Check your Tweets and Facebook to answer questions at least a couple of times a day. Do these things every day until you don’t notice you’re doing them.

c. Get in the mindset of being a reporter. Start to be mindful of when a “story” is developing in front of you. Maybe a guest has a story. Maybe one of your staff has a story. Maybe you just saw something that’s been there for ages and thought, “Oh – that would be a fab blog post!” Well, write it down, or heck, type it up quick on your phone with those snazzy tools you put in your toolbelt. You’re in charge, so tell that story – you do it so well, ya know.

3)  How can my business keep our online content fresh and interesting? There are only so many times that we can talk about our rooms or our pool or our business center, right?

Let me share with you two fallacies that you may be under the influence of, my dear hotelier:

One, what is boring and not interesting to you may be very interesting to your customer. Why did you call your hotel the Big Green Dream Machine? Why did you even open a hotel? Why did you hire that one kid whose left foot is bigger than the right?

(Tip: the opposite can also be true. You know that press release you sent out to the media about your swimming pool being re-caulked in time for summer? Er, that wasn’t news.)

Two, there is no rule to say that if there is nothing interesting going on, you can’t create a diversion. And the story doesn’t always have to be about you! If there is a big parade in town, bake some specialty cupcakes and tell your Twitter followers to stop in for one (then ask them to tweet about it). Try a new color of paint in a room and ask folks to vote on their fave. Ask the new restaurant in town to give you a few bottles of champagne for guest bookings in exchange for a bit of a Q&A interview on your blog.

Fresh and interesting? The possibilities are ENDLESS. I repeat. ENDLESS. Have fun, let loose (but stay professional). Get creative. If you don’t, your competition will.

(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’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.

I love restaurants like this, especially for breakfast….unpretentious joints like Lou Mitchell’s in Chicago or the Brookside Restaurant in Luray, VA or Cookie’s Soul Food Kitchen in minuscule Ames, TX.

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.”

The CVB descriptive listing for Near Southside? It is blank.

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.)

(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!)