Leslie McLellan and Sheila Scarborough talk about how to move beyond one-off press trips or fam tours with travel bloggers. For the 2014 TBEX North America travel blogging conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: http://www.tourismcurrents.com
How Locals on Social Media Can Help Destination MarketingSheila Scarborough
For the 2015 Wyoming state conference on tourism and hospitality, in Cheyenne, WY.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism. More at www.tourismcurrents.com
How to find and connect with your social media championsSheila Scarborough
Finding and building relationships with bloggers, online publishers, and other influencers. A presentation for the Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
A presentation on visual social media like Instagram and Pinterest, for the Michigan state tourism conference 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Slides from a Tourism Currents social media marketing workshop for Wisconsin Main Street & downtown development partners, in Kenosha, WI.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
How Locals on Social Media Can Help Destination MarketingSheila Scarborough
For the 2015 Wyoming state conference on tourism and hospitality, in Cheyenne, WY.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism. More at www.tourismcurrents.com
How to find and connect with your social media championsSheila Scarborough
Finding and building relationships with bloggers, online publishers, and other influencers. A presentation for the Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
A presentation on visual social media like Instagram and Pinterest, for the Michigan state tourism conference 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Slides from a Tourism Currents social media marketing workshop for Wisconsin Main Street & downtown development partners, in Kenosha, WI.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
LoveSpringfield.co is an experiment in crowdsourcing by the Springfield, Missouri Convention & Visitors Bureau. In his presentation, Sean Dixon will discuss the story behind the project, the insights and learnings that were gained from the stories they collected, and how that information will impact their future marketing efforts as an organization.
Sean Dixon is the Interactive Media Manager for the Springfield, Missouri CVB. In his spare time, he enjoys being a father, photographer, video gamer, and software developer. He holds an MA in Communication and a BS in Mass Media from Missouri State University.
#Dtic2014 VisitOSLOs content strategy. It's all about the digital footprint.Katrine Mosfjeld
VisitOSLOs digital content strategy, and how this relates to the overoll strategy of the company. It's about getting views aand viewrs of Oslo content - as many places as possible. A slightly disruptive approach to this topic - have a look!
Presentation at the Digital Tourism Innovation Campus 2014 in Barcelona
Sensible Social Media for Destinations, Attractions, and HotelsSheila Scarborough
Presented as part of a panel at the 2015 New Jersey state tourism conference in Atlantic City, NJ.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at www.tourismcurrents.com
Transforming a DMO in a customer centric organization implies a double movement: no digital transformation without a human transformation. In his presentation, Frank Cuypers will discuss how a DMO should think like a festival.
Frank is one of Europe’s leading experts on destination marketing and will bring an exciting international perspective. This will be a very informative and eye opening presentation that will force you to think outside the box.
Frank has been consulting and transforming the DMO Visit Flanders for four years. He is a Associated Professor of Marketing at the University of Antwerp and also teaches City Marketing at Karel De Grote College.
He is a firm believer in a new way of marketing destinations who argues constantly with people who still confuse marketing with promotion.
All the elements you need for a blog post that meets your destination marketing goals.
Presented at the 2014 Social Media Tourism Symposium (SoMeT) in Nashville, TN.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: http://www.tourismcurrents.com
In 2011, when Ontario, Canada established tourism regions in order to spur the provincial tourism economy, most of those new regions invested in creating and promoting new brands. Regional Tourism Organization Four Inc.(‘RTO4′) went the opposite direction. First, the organization chose a name that couldn’t be more obscure and second, committed to a process of critically assessing all its initiatives based on a strict model of goal – strategy – measurement.
The regional tourism board focuses on helping the destinations in their region to become highly effective in their marketing approach through product development and differentiation.
Today the team works with operators in their region to market their businesses more efficiently through a combination of digital tools and strategies that have a proven ROI.
This is RTO4 – a destination with a highly relevant approach to modern destination marketing.
In this keynote, CEO, David Peacock, shared the history of how RTO4 became a tourism development incubator and their vision for a new approach to destination marketing that is suitable for the connected and distributed economy.
Niche products have rapidly gained significance and gone are the days where unfocused product meets the requirements of the discernable consumer. Successful tourism destinations recognise and capitalise on diverse emerging and established niche markets through the development of products to suit these desired experiences. Turning people into vocal advocates for niche products can provide better marketing than any advertising; quickly turning a niche product into a mainstream market for a destination. Exciting tourism locations develop when multiple niche products turn a location into a tourism destination. How is this world wide phenomenon relevant on a local scale?
Wearer of many hats, David Willcox has a broad and somewhat abnormal background in marketing, design, planning, development and tourism. Since finishing his degree he has sometimes dabbled and sometimes excelled in the Web Development, Graphic Design, Film, Fashion, Architecture and Trails industries. Usually learning through osmosis, and typically by surrounding himself with people more smarterer than himself, he has played a vital role in developing products and new markets within tourism industries, which have had tangible impacts on destinations such as his home town of Margaret River.
David has sat on every perceivable five dimensional side of the tourism fence including as consumer, volunteer, designer, developer, community and committee member and tourism association board member. In reality, no one really knows what this guy does, but he always seems busy.
Presentation delivered to the Digital Tourism Think Tank, held in Barcelona in November of 2015. The topic for the presentation was to provide background to Tourism and Event Queensland's experience in developing a mobile application which tapped into the use of Location Based Services, including GeoFences and beacons.
Net giants have become your top competitors. They took power on your brands, reclaimed your margins, and cast doubt on a good deal: the RIP OFF of the century! Positioning your brand and reconnecting a direct link with customers on the internet is the solution. Using concrete examples - and NO MAGIC - we show you how to exercise your commercial business in digital using a consistent approach and MAKETING AUTOMATION tools.
Digital Marketing Strategies for Heritage Tourism in Wales: Jon Monroe (Visit...RCAHMW
Visit Wales is in the business of destination and place marketing. Promoting and selling places is a content led business and if you think about it they have a whole country creating, curating and sharing some great content about Wales. But how do you leverage what is potentially a hugely powerful content ecosystem to help achieve specific marketing objectives? Jon brings experience and expertise from the competitive world of travel and tourism, and from heading up the Visit Wales digital team. Using interesting case studies he will outline their approach to content led digital marketing, demonstrate the results of those efforts, discuss some of the practical lessons learnt and outline how this might be applied to heritage sites and heritage tourism.
Why Twitter is the most powerful social media channel for what your visitors expect today: a digital concierge and digital Visitor Center. A presentation for TTIA Travel and Tourism College 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
We also started a list of travel and tourism Twitter chats - http://www.tourismcurrents.com/travel-tourism-twitter-chats/
An August 2015 presentation for Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana tourism partners. Includes tying social media to overall strategy and goals, how to build community online, how to monitor online reputation, and examples of best practices.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
LoveSpringfield.co is an experiment in crowdsourcing by the Springfield, Missouri Convention & Visitors Bureau. In his presentation, Sean Dixon will discuss the story behind the project, the insights and learnings that were gained from the stories they collected, and how that information will impact their future marketing efforts as an organization.
Sean Dixon is the Interactive Media Manager for the Springfield, Missouri CVB. In his spare time, he enjoys being a father, photographer, video gamer, and software developer. He holds an MA in Communication and a BS in Mass Media from Missouri State University.
#Dtic2014 VisitOSLOs content strategy. It's all about the digital footprint.Katrine Mosfjeld
VisitOSLOs digital content strategy, and how this relates to the overoll strategy of the company. It's about getting views aand viewrs of Oslo content - as many places as possible. A slightly disruptive approach to this topic - have a look!
Presentation at the Digital Tourism Innovation Campus 2014 in Barcelona
Sensible Social Media for Destinations, Attractions, and HotelsSheila Scarborough
Presented as part of a panel at the 2015 New Jersey state tourism conference in Atlantic City, NJ.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at www.tourismcurrents.com
Transforming a DMO in a customer centric organization implies a double movement: no digital transformation without a human transformation. In his presentation, Frank Cuypers will discuss how a DMO should think like a festival.
Frank is one of Europe’s leading experts on destination marketing and will bring an exciting international perspective. This will be a very informative and eye opening presentation that will force you to think outside the box.
Frank has been consulting and transforming the DMO Visit Flanders for four years. He is a Associated Professor of Marketing at the University of Antwerp and also teaches City Marketing at Karel De Grote College.
He is a firm believer in a new way of marketing destinations who argues constantly with people who still confuse marketing with promotion.
All the elements you need for a blog post that meets your destination marketing goals.
Presented at the 2014 Social Media Tourism Symposium (SoMeT) in Nashville, TN.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: http://www.tourismcurrents.com
In 2011, when Ontario, Canada established tourism regions in order to spur the provincial tourism economy, most of those new regions invested in creating and promoting new brands. Regional Tourism Organization Four Inc.(‘RTO4′) went the opposite direction. First, the organization chose a name that couldn’t be more obscure and second, committed to a process of critically assessing all its initiatives based on a strict model of goal – strategy – measurement.
The regional tourism board focuses on helping the destinations in their region to become highly effective in their marketing approach through product development and differentiation.
Today the team works with operators in their region to market their businesses more efficiently through a combination of digital tools and strategies that have a proven ROI.
This is RTO4 – a destination with a highly relevant approach to modern destination marketing.
In this keynote, CEO, David Peacock, shared the history of how RTO4 became a tourism development incubator and their vision for a new approach to destination marketing that is suitable for the connected and distributed economy.
Niche products have rapidly gained significance and gone are the days where unfocused product meets the requirements of the discernable consumer. Successful tourism destinations recognise and capitalise on diverse emerging and established niche markets through the development of products to suit these desired experiences. Turning people into vocal advocates for niche products can provide better marketing than any advertising; quickly turning a niche product into a mainstream market for a destination. Exciting tourism locations develop when multiple niche products turn a location into a tourism destination. How is this world wide phenomenon relevant on a local scale?
Wearer of many hats, David Willcox has a broad and somewhat abnormal background in marketing, design, planning, development and tourism. Since finishing his degree he has sometimes dabbled and sometimes excelled in the Web Development, Graphic Design, Film, Fashion, Architecture and Trails industries. Usually learning through osmosis, and typically by surrounding himself with people more smarterer than himself, he has played a vital role in developing products and new markets within tourism industries, which have had tangible impacts on destinations such as his home town of Margaret River.
David has sat on every perceivable five dimensional side of the tourism fence including as consumer, volunteer, designer, developer, community and committee member and tourism association board member. In reality, no one really knows what this guy does, but he always seems busy.
Presentation delivered to the Digital Tourism Think Tank, held in Barcelona in November of 2015. The topic for the presentation was to provide background to Tourism and Event Queensland's experience in developing a mobile application which tapped into the use of Location Based Services, including GeoFences and beacons.
Net giants have become your top competitors. They took power on your brands, reclaimed your margins, and cast doubt on a good deal: the RIP OFF of the century! Positioning your brand and reconnecting a direct link with customers on the internet is the solution. Using concrete examples - and NO MAGIC - we show you how to exercise your commercial business in digital using a consistent approach and MAKETING AUTOMATION tools.
Digital Marketing Strategies for Heritage Tourism in Wales: Jon Monroe (Visit...RCAHMW
Visit Wales is in the business of destination and place marketing. Promoting and selling places is a content led business and if you think about it they have a whole country creating, curating and sharing some great content about Wales. But how do you leverage what is potentially a hugely powerful content ecosystem to help achieve specific marketing objectives? Jon brings experience and expertise from the competitive world of travel and tourism, and from heading up the Visit Wales digital team. Using interesting case studies he will outline their approach to content led digital marketing, demonstrate the results of those efforts, discuss some of the practical lessons learnt and outline how this might be applied to heritage sites and heritage tourism.
Why Twitter is the most powerful social media channel for what your visitors expect today: a digital concierge and digital Visitor Center. A presentation for TTIA Travel and Tourism College 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
We also started a list of travel and tourism Twitter chats - http://www.tourismcurrents.com/travel-tourism-twitter-chats/
An August 2015 presentation for Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana tourism partners. Includes tying social media to overall strategy and goals, how to build community online, how to monitor online reputation, and examples of best practices.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
How much does a zebra weigh? With Kyle Brown at #OH2014ObesityHelp
Self confidence comes from building a sound mind in a healthy, strong body. Celebrity fitness & nutrition expert and host of “The Empower Hour” on ESPN Radio, Kyle Brown will help you discover the fitness & nutrition secrets of the animal kingdom, learn what only world class athletes and health gurus know, and feel the happiness and confidence of a champion.
Tips to Double Your Website Traffic by ChristmasWill Hanke
Presented at the St Louis Small Business Group on October 21, this presentation tackles tips and ideas of things any small business owner can do that will help them get more traffic to their website.
What does it take to build a network in your local community to enhance your life and grow your business? Presented 10-25-14 to The Parker Experience, in Dallas, Texas.
A presentation for the TBEX North America travel creators conference in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2022, about getting more value out of your LinkedIn profiles and Pages.
A presentation for the 2020 Real Places heritage tourism conference, by Sheila Scarborough from Tourism Currents. Related blog post - https://www.tourismcurrents.com/7-questions-to-ask-before-starting-a-tourism-podcast/
Get more out of your 24 hours: more content in less timeSheila Scarborough
A presentation for Freelance Austin in January 2019. Related post on my personal blog - https://www.sheilasguide.com/2019/05/31/get-more-out-of-your-24-hours-4-steps-to-more-content-in-less-time/
How to avoid blogger burnout - particularly in tourism - and stay inspired and creative as an online publisher. Presented at the Building Community / Midwest Travel Bloggers conference 2018 held in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Related post on my personal blog - https://www.sheilasguide.com/2018/08/06/avoiding-blogger-burnout-particularly-in-tourism/
Why even small town tourism partners need to be on social media, how they can succeed with it, & WIIFM (What's In It For Me?) why they must figure it out. A presentation for the Brady, Texas / McCulloch County Chamber of Commerce.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
For CVB and DMO sales staff - social media for B2B outreach - social media for tourism B2B - networking on LinkedIn and beyond. Presented in a session with LinkedIn's Head of Travel at eTourism Summit 2016 in San Francisco.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Why, How, and WIIFM - Sensible Social Media for Tourism PartnersSheila Scarborough
Why even small town tourism partners need to be on social media, how they can succeed with it, & WIIFM (What's In It For Me?) why they must figure it out. A presentation for the City of Kemah, Texas.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
A Cross-Promotion Marketing Layer Cake for Scenic BywaysSheila Scarborough
A presentation on marketing, cross-promotion, & building community, for the 2016 Heartland Byways Conference for scenic byways, heritage highways, & themed trails.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
A presentation for the tourism track at the GSMS (Government Social Media Summit) in Dubai, Fall 2015.
At Tourism Currents, we do online & in-person training in social media for tourism & hospitality. More at http://www.tourismcurrents.com/
Social Media for Festivals and Events: Texas Downtown AssociationSheila Scarborough
Social media marketing for festivals and special events, presented at the 2014 Texas Downtown Association conference in Granbury, Texas.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: https://www.tourismcurrents.com/
A review of the current social media landscape and trends. Part of a Tourism Currents education package for the Webster City, Iowa Area Chamber of Commerce and Hamilton County.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Social Media: Why, How, What's In It For You Webster City IowaSheila Scarborough
Why social media matters, how to succeed with social communications, and answering WIIFM - What's In It For Me? Part of an education package for the Webster City, Iowa Area Chamber of Commerce and Hamilton County.
Tourism Currents does online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Find out more here: http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Social Media for B2B and Sales in Tourism: LinkedIn and BeyondSheila Scarborough
Learn how social networking can help a CVB or DMO connect with B2B markets like meeting and event planners and tour operators. A presentation at the 2014 TTIA (Texas Travel Industry Association) Travel and Tourism College - http://www.ttia.org/events/event_details.asp?id=360106
My Tourism Currents team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality - http://www.tourismcurrents.com
How to make more of an impact with your personal profile and Company Page on LinkedIn. A breakout session at the Heartland Byways conference April 2014 in Manhattan, Kansas.
My Tourism Currents team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality - http://www.tourismcurrents.com
Stop freaking out about social media; learn how to tell the stories you already know, but online. Opening keynote for the Heartland Byways conference April 2014 in Manhattan, Kansas.
My Tourism Currents team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality - http://www.tourismcurrents.com
A presentation for ICTT 2013 (International Conference on Travel Technology India) in Kovalam, Kerala. Most of the slides have notes as well.
Conference website: http://icttindia.org/
My Tourism Currents team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality - http://www.tourismcurrents.com
More Content in Less Time: Smarter Ways to Create Content and Attract VisitorsSheila Scarborough
For a May 2013 webinar with TTIA (Texas Travel Industry Association.)
My Tourism Currents team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality - http://www.tourismcurrents.com
There's a lot of buzz right now about "content marketing" but it's nothing more than what you're probably already doing: creating content across the social web on your blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, etc. so that people will find it, and then find YOU. As an online publisher with access to inexpensive and powerful communications tools, you have the ability to create tons of great content, but - hello! - you have a few other things to do in your job, right?
Let's talk about how you can create more content in less time; the kind of content that builds online word-of-mouth and brings visitors and customers to your door.
Welcome, what covering: the importance of long term relationships between bloggers and destinations, how bloggers and destinations can work together, we’ll talk about this from the destination side and the blogger side, and by the end of this session you should have a clear idea of how to achieve a long term relationship. I’m going to address the smaller destination side while Sheila will talk about working with a larger DMO.
We’re not looking for a one night stand –So many smaller destinations have fantastic tourism draws but very little money and most likely no budget to pay for someone to write about them. What can you do, how can bloggers and destinations work together? I was hired by one of those small destinations, the San Jacinto Valley in So Cal, to build a multicultural tourism marketing program. Working with destinations and small businesses with small budgets is my niche. Our marketing focuses on 4 cultures – Hispanic, Native American, Agriculture and Snowbirds.
Her 5 page proposal consisted of:
An about page
The Media Proposal page
Her stats – 3 month average
Links and Contact info
The contract was nearly a “deal breaker!”
It included: Lawyer language which was daunting like “Operative provisions” and “recitals,” Insurance requirements, Scope of Services, Delivery of tangible work products, 14 pages all totaled
ALL OF THIS TURNED OUT TO BE NO BIG DEAL but it sure freaked us out!!
Remember not totally savvy – city wanted to control content, but we easily worked that out.
Make sure that as a blogger you understand EXACTLY what you are receiving:
Contract indicated internet & cable tv – there actually was no internet or cable (another learning moment for the city) Deb says deep breathing works well…
not available due to home location (up on a hill with a gorgeous view), 5 gb hotspot was provided
3 bdrm home – only one bedroom had a bed and as Deb brought her 17 yo daughter (who was a senior being homeschooled) that was a bit of a bummer
On DMO end – wanted to bring dog, but it was a large dog and the home is rural with coyotes, etc.
Again stress NO budget, so it was a trial for Deb to drive from Michigan to So Cal, but that was the only way we could do it and it was not negotiable.
Side trips – so much to do in So Cal – San Diego, Disneyland, Palm Springs – beach, mountains, desert in a day - it was tough to get things scheduled in, but that’s also a plus for where the San Jacinto Valley is located – in the heart of So Cal.
Get community EXCITED by talking up the blogger’s visit BEFORE hand.
Steps taken BEFORE she arrived – food gift cards, list of who I wanted her to meet with, along with phone numbers and emails so she could set her own schedule
Several FB posts like you see here
Host a Welcome Reception
Encourage community speaking engagements if time permits
Have blogger attend as many community events as possible – not the ribbon cutting ones though, only ones supporting tourism
Have the blogger “Live like a Local.” Only something you can do when a blogger has a long term relationship with a destination.
Final media report (she did provide weekly ones) – way beyond expectations
Repurposing content, that’s what it’s all about.
Deb still posts on Twitter nearly weekly about San Jacinto Valley.
She has repurposed and rebundled what she wrote for us and has added it to her 2 websites
She’ll repurpose to whoever she can get to publish
This type of online marketing is an opener/ an introduction (and that’s my mission with bloggers) and she has done her job well for us!
Surprises – Mary Walker, Hispanic and food bloggers in SoCal – via Deb’s network
Listed prominently on our website. We retweet what she tweets. We still post about her visit on Facebook and she remains active on our page. We repurpose her photos and give her credit. She’s coming back to do it again in 2015.
Bottom line - Bloggers and destinations should look to build long term relationships whether its for several days or weeks at a time or coming back to visit several times – not have one night stands. Smaller destinations can think slightly out of the box and you as bloggers can suggest perhaps some of the things we do in the San Jacinto Valley to build long term blogging relationships without having any cold hard cash to do so. And remember, great things can start here at TBEX!