Tag: destination marketing

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Blog Podcasts

Travel, tourism and the social web on Blog Talk Radio

Radio....City Music Hall! (Courtesy CarbonNYC on Flickr CC)Last week I enjoyed spending 30 minutes on Blog Talk Radio with Australian entrepreneur and coach Des Walsh.  He has a regular program called Des Walsh and Friends, with a wide variety of guests all discussing some aspect of technology and business.

The noteworthy advantage of Blog Talk Radio (or any “Internet radio” service) is that not only can you listen live, but the shows are usually archived if you can’t be there at broadcast time, plus they’re also downloadable for later listening on your iPod or other digital audio player.

It gives radio/audio the worldwide reach that it never had before, as I discussed in this post about online radio and destination marketing for the Beaumont, Texas CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.)

Des and I talked about my background in travel, how Becky McCray and I launched Tourism Currents to teach tourism professionals about social media, and why businesses need to ensure a strong Web presence as customer search and interaction preferences shift online.

I loved having a fun chat with someone halfway around the world, and the time zones worked in my favor since it was afternoon my time, but very early morning for Des.  🙂

Here is our episode:  talking social media, travel and tourism with Des Walsh.

(This is cross-posted on my Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff blog.)

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Blog

Sleep? What sleep? My new business launches in about a week

Sheila Scarborough, Liz Strauss and Becky McCray at SOBCon in Chicago, where it all started (photo courtesy Sheila Scarborough)Actually, it’s not that bad, but I’m certainly getting some of the frenetic startup-flavored experience as my partner Becky McCray and I prepare to launch a new online business next week.

I’ve been writing about tourism and the social Web on another blog for a couple of months (Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff) and now we’re preparing to open the digital doors to a learning community for tourism professionals.

We’d like to think we know something about travel, tourism and social media, so we’re sticking our flag in the ground at the intersection of all that and launching a paid membership site called Tourism Currents.

We’re really excited about bringing useful, practical information to a wide variety of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs,) Chambers of Commerce, PR professionals who work in tourism, heritage/preservation organizations, agritourism, festival planners – really anyone involved in destination marketing.

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Categories
50 State Series

Family travel in Ohio

Parade the Circle citizen's event in Cleveland Ohio (courtesy Kind of Bruin at Flickr CC)Every Tuesday (or Wednesday if Twitter crashes, which it did late yesterday as I was compiling this post) until we run out of states, I plan to post about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word.

Please don’t email suggestions to me; that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state.

We’re going in alphabetical order but started with the end, so our first state for the series was Wyoming, then we investigated Wisconsin , West Virginia , Washington, Virginia, Vermont, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Oklahoma and now we’re moving on to….Ohio!

Their state tourism organization is on Twitter at @DiscoverOhio, plus there’s @OhioStateParks and state tourism e-info coordinator Roger Barker is @Roger_OHTourism.  Additionally, 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 links for all of those social media sites are clearly displayed on their main Ohio tourism Web site.  That is rather rare, unfortunately – so many state Web sites give no indication that they’re on social media, or the links are buried somewhere.

When I asked for ideas, here’s what came in….

Twitter Travel Tips for Ohio

***  From deef217 via @deef217 on Twitter  –  In Oct there is a very cool large farm outside Wooster which has an extreme corn maze and hay rides and fab pumpkins/decorations.  [Also] Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta. See the moon rocks! Better fam friendly prices…go to a minor leage baseball game in Akron or Columbus. Cheap yet fab seats & kid giveaways often! How about a day of canoeing at Mohican State Park? Many fun memories as a kid!

***  From decillis via @decillis on Twitter  —  A trip to Ohio is not complete unless you’ve stopped in Columbus for Jeni’s Ice Creams (see @jenisicecreams.)

***  From Hancock County CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) via @VisitFindlay on Twitter  —  Mazza Museum at Univ. of #Findlay is world’s first teaching museum for children’s book illustrations. Awesome tours & activities! Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation does weekly and theme train rides on antique trains. Kaleidoscope Xmas Tree Farm boasts sleigh rides, live reindeer and super-fun people late Nov thru Xmas (fun people are available all year round, of course.) @artpartnership (The Arts Partnership) hosts KidsFest in July – draws families from many states for massive quantities of kid fun, freebies and activities. Findlay is visited by 30+ hot air balloons annually for #Balloonfest (w/ car & bike show, outdoor movies & balloon competitions.) How many costumed wiener dogs can you handle? National Dachshund Races in Findlay Sept 26-27. New this year – dog parade. Major cute!

***  From Craig via @Craigorama on Twitter  —  Take a canal boat ride on the Miami Erie Canal in Piqua, Ohio – Piqua Historical Area.

***  From Travels With Children via @minnemom on Twitter  — Columbus Zoo is nice. The Works in Newark is nice museum but not crazy-busy. We liked it. Driving part of the Old National Road and seeing the S bridges and Y bridge was exciting for our family. The Boonshoft Museum in Dayton has one of the most affordable museum memberships I’ve seen, with excellent reciprocity benefits. Columbus COSI (Center of Science and Industry) is great for families. We spent an entire day there. Good for all ages of kids.

Continue reading “Family travel in Ohio”