Categories
Blog

Live, from New York, it’s Condé Nast Traveler!

CNTraveler Readers\' Choice AwardsYes, the annual Condé Nast Traveler 2008 Readers’ Choice Awards will be coming to you live from their big awards ceremony on the evening of October 15, because I’m going to be there to “live-tweet” the event on my Twitter stream.

That woman in evening attire at the New York Public Library XYZ swanky Manhattan venue (details to follow on ceremony location) who is supersonically typing on her laptop? That will be me.

Hopefully my Merlot and crudités won’t get dumped onto the keyboard.   🙂

I’ll be sending up-to-the-minute accounts of who won which award for hotels, cruise lines, airlines, islands and cities across the globe. I’ll tell you how the crowd is reacting, what the award winners say and any other fun tidbits that come across my radar.

Over 30,000 people vote in this survey, and I also plan to write a blog post about the woman behind the questions and the methodology used to determine the winners.  This isn’t that guy who won a fake wine award; this is a carefully vetted process with input from savvy readers.

Last year, for example, the readers of the magazine and Web site chose Sydney, Australia as their favorite city worldwide, and San Francisco as their favorite US city. Here’s some more of the 2007 list on BootsnAll’s Business Travel Logue.

I plan to do as many on-the-fly interviews as I can, with a focus on two areas:

  • The magazine is pretty upscale, and you know that’s not how I travel. How can a budget-minded person, especially with kids, take advantage of the companies and properties that are chosen as winners?  Is there room for us at the Gucci table?  I think there is, Wendy has convinced me that there is, and I’m going to find out how for you.
  • I’d like to know what the high-scoring companies are doing to establish a presence on the Web in social media. Do they blog? Are they on Twitter? Facebook?  Are their personnel on LinkedIn? How do they reach out to customers in a Web 2.0 manner?

I’m actually not the first to live-tweet for Traveler — that honor goes to my friend and fellow travel blogger Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View, who did a fabulous job of live-tweeting the recent World Savers Congress (here are most of the posts that everyone tweeted to cover that event, so you can see what it looks like.)

See you in New York in October….

Categories
Blog

Become a Family Travel Logue fan on Facebook

Are you active on Facebook?

When I’m wearing my Web 2.0 teacher hat over at Every Dot Connects, people often ask me how to get started in social media without getting completely overwhelmed.

I tell them to establish a professional profile on LinkedIn (here’s mine) and go play on Facebook.

There are three places on Facebook where I’d love to see my readers come by and say hello:

  • If you want to see how I consult and teach about Web 2.0/social media, visit the Every Dot Connects Facebook page —  it’s kind of our “digital storefront” and there is always plenty of free parking.

Thanks for “friending.”

Categories
Asia Blog

Breaking news: I’m going to China!

My readers know what a semi-psychotic fan I am of Web 2.0/social media, not because the shiny tools themselves give me vapors, but because they allow me to meet and become friends with the most amazing people.

One of those friendships just brought me a stupendous opportunity – Elliott Ng of the travel research site UpTake and Christine Lu of the China Business Network have kindly invited me to be a participating blogger in the China 2.0 Tour in November, which ends with attending China BloggerCon in Guangzhou.

It’s hard to even type that, I’m so excited!

Other participants include author Shel Israel, tech expert Robert Scoble and Sam Lawrence of Jive Software.

This is certainly not a family travel opportunity, per se, nor is it really travel at all although we will have a little time for that. It’s mostly a tour to plug into what’s going on in social media in China, and meet many of the major players face-to-face. Since I teach Web 2.0/social media workshops and do consulting with Every Dot Connects, it’s a wonderful fit for me.

More information to follow as soon as I have it, and thanks for the support!

Categories
Blog

Why don’t they get it? I’ll tell you why….

Age of ConversationIt’s outta here, launched, gone, hasta la bye-bye — my contribution to the next edition of the Age of Conversation, a multi-author book about collaborative marketing and business in the world of Web 2.0 and social media.

The first edition of Age of Conversation had 103 authors from 12 countries (including my dynamic colleague Connie Reece over at Every Dot Connects) so I’m thrilled that the book’s editors Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton selected me to participate in the 2008 edition.

All proceeds from sales of the book go to Variety – The Children’s Charity.

Our topic theme for this edition is “Why Don’t People Get It?” (meaning Web 2.0/social media.)

I’ll tell you why….well, maybe not until the book is published in August 2008, but here’s a hint:

We don’t make it clear why people SHOULD “get” something that….

  • can inhale your available time
  • involves occasionally frustrating technology
  • overwhelms with many tools and applications; things like blogs, YouTube, flickr, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Del.icio.us, digg — does your head hurt yet?

Sometimes, we Web 2.0 evangelists are our own worst enemy when we don’t answer the basic “what’s in it for me?” questions. I personally think that the human connections and friendships that I’ve developed thanks to social media tools make the drawbacks worth overcoming, but if I can’t address fundamental concerns, I’ve failed as a teacher.

I’ll let you know as soon as possible how to buy the next edition of the book, or click the graphic above to grab a copy of the current edition.

Here are my fellow authors, in a massive linkfest shoutout:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Categories
Blog Video Posts

Socializing on social media

I had about five minutes worth of thoughts on social media and Web 2.0, but first I had to overcome technical hassles and keep the cats out of the litter box….

(and here’s the YouTube URL for it, in case the video box is acting squirrelly)

Categories
Blog Book Reviews Philosophy Product Reviews Site reviews Tips

What you see here is what you get: new FTC rules and this blog

Many of you may have seen news items and/or blog posts about the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules pertaining to blogger disclosures and celebrity endorsements.   They take effect on 1 December 2009 and violations will incur fines of up to US$11,000.

I have rather strong opinions about bloggers who get freebies, including free travel, and then don’t disclose to their readers when content is based on those nice opportunities.

For myself, I think there are rules about that sort of thing, so I’ve posted my thoughts in a new permanent Page: the Blog Disclosure Policy for the Family Travel Guide.

You can see the link in the upper right corner of the blog Home page, under Family & Travel Resources.

In sum, I say that if I get free stuff to write about, you’ll know it because I’ll disclose it.

I prefer to pay for my own stuff, though, so I can be truly mouthy about it.  But you kind of expected that from me, right?

For more detailed thoughts on the new FTC rules, you may wish to bounce over to one of my other blogs and read: What do new FTC blogging rules mean for press trips and fam tours?

Keeping it real, so you know what you’re getting….