Tag: travel blogging

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Blog Texas USA

Reflections on an excellent travel blogging panel at SXSWi

sxswi-travel-blogging-panel-courtesy-bj-mccrayThe room was packed as Pam Mandel and I launched our Blog Highways: Travel Blogging for the Wanderer panel at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference here in Austin.

For Twitter-networked folks, the hashtag was #sxswtravel and the live-tweets were flying from Shannon (@Cajun_Mama) of the Traveling Mamas and Kelly (@kag2u) from Travellious, to name just two.

Thanks also to the biceps/triceps of Canadian travel and tourism marketing expert Todd Lucier, who streamed the panel live to the Web as it happened, using Qik from his cell phone (see Part One video of the panel and Part Two video.)  I’ve shot video from a Flip Ultra, and your arms start to ache holding the camera extra-steady, so I appreciate Todd’s hanging in there for an entire hour.

UpTake’s Elliott Ng attended and wrote a summary post on the UpTake Travel Industry blog; thanks also to writer Laura Moncur and the Austin American-Statesman for their coverage. My co-panelist Pam had her own insights on the panel.

Since others summarized the meat of the panel topics and discussions, here are some of my Big Picture thoughts:

*** Ensure that your audience is comfortable and involved, both in the room and out.  Pam and I scoped out the panel room ahead of time and rearranged everything to bring in more chairs and move a table.  We knew there would be floor-sitters, but we tried to ensure that they had good sightlines. We arranged in advance for people to live-tweet and live-stream, to serve those watching in other timezones around the world. Details matter if you want to step up and bring your A-Game as a speaker.

*** Try to have info nuggets for both newbies and experienced people. Pam discussed basic blog design issues like “yellow on black background is NOT readable,” because she still sees things like that all the time as the Travel Editor at BlogHer.  It’s apparently not too “basic” for some out there.  I spoke briefly about using Utterli to make audio blog posts from your cell phone (for bloggers who are ready to move beyond icky yellow font conundrums.)

*** Experts in the audience enrich the discussion, but speakers must always keep the discussion on track. We’ve all seen conference panels hijacked by big mouths “asking questions” when they’re really making rambling statements. As a yakky, opinionated person myself, I have an inner “Shut up, Sheila!” button that I often poke at conferences. We did NOT have that problem at all; in fact Todd Lucier and Matthew Cashmore of Lonely Planet had super-valuable advice in response to a couple of specific questions from our audience. Don’t be threatened by experts if you’re a speaker; they can enrich your content immeasurably as long as they’re on topic (plus, Cashmore later showed me the new Lonely Planet iPhone app — how cool is that?!)

*** I need to do a better job of creating content on the fly during events/conferences. This post should have gone up days ago; I’m too slow. Every travel blogger has his/her own style – I edit carefully and need quiet time to write full posts, so I need to learn to create other types of content that I can post rapidly without obsessing. Twitter is perfect for me and I use it, but with some concentrated effort I could toss up more photo posts, more to Flickr and TwitPic, more to Facebook, etc. This blog basically went dormant for a week, which is unacceptable to me. The total irony is that my main SXSWi presentation was about how to find maximum blog post material in a short period of travel time, by “thinking like a blogger.” I’m great at finding the material, but not efficient enough in quickly producing timely content from my thoughts.

*** Grab good ideas and go with them despite the extra work, i.e. our travel swag bag at the panel. Pam and I pulled together and bagged up a bunch of travel-related gifts and goodies for the first 45 Blog Highways attendees (I’ll be writing about the bag contents in more detail soon on UpTake’s Travel Industry blog.) It seems to have gone over well, and the surprise added excitement and buzz to our presentation, so it was worth running around town getting things and navigating the tons of stuff piled up in my living room.

I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to present at SXSWi, collaborate with Pam and meet so many other travel enthusiasts, both in person and online. Thank you for the encouragement and support.

There are other travel blogging panels coming up in 2009 – Travel Bloggers as Boundary-Breaking Evangelists on Saturday, July 25 at the sold-out BlogHer conference in Chicago, the Travel Blog Exchange meetup in Chicago on July 26, a travel track has been added to Blog World & New Media Expo in Las Vegas October 2009 and Travel Blog Camp in London, on November 10 and hosted by the UK’s Darren Cronian of Travel Rants.

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Blog Texas USA

We’re talking travel blogging at South by Southwest

//sxsw.com) Well, hurray for success the second time around….

Last year, I sent in a proposal for a travel blogging panel at SXSWi (the South by Southwest Interactive tech/online media conference) here in Austin, Texas, but it was not selected.

I only pouted for about a week, really.

Always bull-headed, I tried again this year and re-submitted my proposal, since I figured that it was a good idea that deserved another try.

The conference organizers apparently agreed; I just got an email telling me that Blog Highways: Travel Blogging for the Wanderer is on the docket for the next SXSWi, to be held in downtown Austin March 13-17, 2009.

My outstanding co-presenter will be writer/photographer Pam Mandel —  she is the BlogHer Travel Editor, writes and takes photos on Nerd’s Eye View and corrals a lively crew of bloggers on the Travelblogger’s Forum.

There will be a gaggle of experts in the audience as well to lend their insights and advice; I hear that Condé Nast Traveler‘s Wendy Perrin may attend, and Leif Pettersen of Killing Batteries unless he’s stuck in Italy during March updating the Lonely Planet Guide to Tuscany (let’s see….Austin or Tuscany? Hmmm, tough call.)

Thanks to all who have supported this idea and left wonderfully supportive comments through two Panel Picker iterations, and I look forward to seeing all of you in person at “South by.”

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Asia Blog

The travel blogger’s lament

You know what drives travel bloggers crazy?

We don’t have time to blog when we travel.

I mean, we do only if we don’t sleep.

Sure, just gather info all day, take notes, shoot video, shoot photos, then spend all night drafting blog posts, uploading/grooming/tagging video, uploading/grooming/tagging photos and launching all of that info out into the blogosphere.

Just add a lot of Red Bull to your life, right?

I’ve been here in China (on the China 2.0 Tour) since November 9, in both Beijing and Shanghai, and have oodles of material for the Family Travel blog and other blogs/publications, but either no time to craft posts or no WiFi to upload it to the world.

All of us on the Tour have been actively covering Tour events on Twitter, but it doesn’t quite have the richness of a full blog post.

So, I ask for your patience until I can get some combination of time and connectivity. Meantime, here I am at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, under the watchful eyes of Chairman Mao’s portrait, and having the time of my life.

You’ll just have to trust me on that until I have time to tell you more. 🙂

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Blog

South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, travel blogging and you

South by Southwest banner, Austin Convention Center (Scarborough photo)One of the biggest creative blowouts of the year is down the road from me in Austin, Texas: South by Southwest (SXSW.) It’s actually a three-parter conference of Interactive, Film and Music.

The organizers describe the Interactive portion as a conference for “the brightest minds in emerging technology,” including bloggers.

Hey, that’s me!  (Well, the blogger part – I dunno about the “brightest minds” part.)

This will be my third consecutive SXSWi coming up March 13-17, 2009; I would not miss it.

Technology is changing the world too much, including the travel world, for anyone to remain intimidated by the pocket-protector crowd….and as far as I’ve been able to tell, there’s never been a single pocket protector around, just a lot of interesting, fun people with glowing laptops and iPhones.

I have a blast when I attend  –  who knew that so much of Interactive is panels about blogging, podcasting and online media? As a writer and Web 2.0 geek, I’m in heaven.

This year, I’ve proposed a panel on travel blogging for SXSWi 2009, and I’d like to request your assistance in commenting and voting, because this process closes after tomorrow, August 29th.

The “Panel Picker” lets possible SXSWi attendees indicate which panels really interest them, and that weighs heavily into whether a panel is ultimately scheduled for the conference.

If you’re thinking about infiltrating SXSWi (and there’s something there for everyone, with 1,300 panel proposals) or are simply a travel blogging enthusiast, then I would request that you complete the quick/free registration process and please vote for my proposed panel:

Blog Highways: Travel Blogging for the Wanderer

Either as a speaker or audience member, I still plan to attend and get my geek on.  Thanks so much for your support!

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Blog

Family Travel blog recognized by Real Simple magazine

Real Simple magazine logo

It’s quite an honor to be noticed….

The March 2008 issue of one of my favorite lifestyle magazines, Real Simple, includes the Family Travel blog in its list of The Best Blogs.

Thank you! That’s a pretty nice 2-year birthday present, don’t you think?

I’m in august company with some heavy travel hitters:

There are a variety of topics on the “Best of” list; I saw my own personal favorites Zen Habits, Kathy Maister’s Start Cooking and personal organizing with 43 Folders. Even though I’m a bit constrained by budget, I also plan to check out the perfectly-named Blogdorf Goodman (written from non-fashiony Youngstown, Ohio!)

That’s a serendipitous moment in blogging — toiling away, hoping you’re being helpful to someone, and big ol’ Mainstream Media actually stops and takes a look. 🙂

For my fans at Real Simple and wherever else you are, I do appreciate it very much.

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Blog

Breaking news: Travel Rants (hearts) Family Travel

What a nice early Christmas present….

Darren Cronian at the well-known, UK-based Travel Rants blog has kindly mentioned Family Travel as one of his “favourite travel blogs 2007.”  I’m the runner-up behind Lonely Planet’s blog for providing best travel inspiration….pretty good company, I’d say.  Cruise over to Travel Rants and check it out.

Thanks Darren! 

(I wrote a guest post for Darren awhile back if you’re interested  —  Off the beaten path in the U.S.)

While we’re at it, I also have a guest post up this week at one of the blogs that is most responsible for getting me off to a strong start in blogging:  Successful Blog, written by Chicago community genius Liz Strauss.  My post talks about steps to take when you’re ready to move to the next level as a freelancer, in any field.

 

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Blog

Travel and family blogtipping 12.1.2007

Tip your blogs, not your cows (courtesy Easton Ellsworth)It’s the first of the month and time to join the honored Business Blogwire custom of Blogtipping three blogs that I enjoy and think you might want to know about:

  1. BootsnAll Logues. OK, shameless plug here, because over the next few months the Family Travel blog is going to be transformed into one of these specialized BootsnAll “logues” (short for “travelogue” and yes, I think the term is a little clunky, too.) Despite my editorial grumbling, I know you’ll enjoy the many localized topic areas on the Logues, including Bali, Paris, South Africa, Hawaii, Eco Travel, Adventure Travel and even one for soccer/”real” football, the Offside.
  2. Fly Away Cafe. I’m a big fan of do-it-all Mary Jo Manzanares, who is a writer, editor, speaking coach, lawyer AND a flight attendant. Her Fly Away Cafe blog covers her flight attendant life, and she just started a handy series called “Back to Basics” that can help new and less-experienced flyers in the confusing post-9/11 world. (If you live in or near the Seattle, WA area, also check out her Seattle Traveler blog.)
  3. Globespotters. You can’t get much better; local information written by the International Herald Tribune reporters who live in Rome, Berlin, my favorite city of Hong Kong, Istanbul, London and a few others. There are all sorts of little insights that you won’t get unless you really spend time pounding the pavement for months/years, so it’s great to find experienced writers who live in some of the most dynamic cities in the world.

Thanks for the opportunity to recognize some great blogs out there!

Technorati tags: travel, family travel, blogtipping

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Blog

Regularly scheduled programming (and we do have some)

As my writing and blogging life gets busier, with some possible consulting work coming up, it’s time to seek order in the universe and create some semblance of a publishing schedule, known in writer parlance as an editorial calendar.

The entrepreneurial life without set working hours (or meetings!) is quite heavenly, unless you’re an inveterate multitasker and overloader who could use a little structure.

Ahem.

So here’s the plan; Family Travel is going to move to roughly Monday-Friday posting, in anticipation of a blog upgrade/re-launch here on BootsnAll in the near future. Here’s the current plan for daily topics, posted here to keep me honest: 🙂

  • Monday – Great Travel Links (news, good articles/blogs/Web sites, updates, tools, products and travel deals.)
  • Tuesday – an original post from me, or a guest post.
  • Wednesday – Photo or Video of the Week (mine or a cool one that I find) and Blog Carnival Round-up, if applicable.
  • Thursday – What’s On Worldwide (worthwhile, often seasonal events for travel with kids in the next week, in the next month or so, and about 3-6 months down the road.)
  • Friday – an original post from me, or a guest post.

I will write extra posts and also post on weekends, or course, if something’s too good to wait. Once I get some tech stuff sorted out, I’ll add more video blog posts and possibly podcasts.

Over at the Perceptive Travel blog, I plan to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because I share writing duties with two other authors on that site.

If you don’t want to have to visit here every day to see what’s new, you can subscribe to my RSS feed. The buttons are at the top of the page.

Ah, now if I can also remember that Wednesday is Laundry Day at my house….

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Blog

Twittering the blogosphere

Who's that guy? Darren Rowse, the ProBlogger (photo courtesy Darren Rowse)
Blogging is all about community through comments, feedback and links. I enjoy being electronically “out and about,” looking for not only for good travel ideas but also learning about other bloggers and communicators.

Anyone who starts blogging is going to eventually learn about Aussie Darren Rowse and his ProBlogger site. It’s a real giant in the online world, so I’m thrilled to report that Darren accepted a guest post from me that went online yesterday, “Why Twitter Isn’t a Waste of Time.”

Twitter is just one of those many Web 2.0 applications that you keep hearing about: MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, etc. Blogging is considered a “Web 2.0” application as well, because like the others, one of its bedrock ideas is two-way communication.

I don’t jump into every application that I see, but after following my old friend Dwight Silverman on Twitter and reading his thoughts about it on his TechBlog, I went for it.

Twitter is basically Instant Messaging to a Web site; a stream of micro blog posts answering the question, “What are you doing right now?” although I prefer another question; “What’s on your mind right now?” It’s great for people like me who can’t shut up. 🙂

Read through my Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/SheilaS if you want to see what I talk about, and sign up to follow me if you’d like.

Since I read just about everything in Darren’s Blogging for Beginners ProBlogger section last spring as I began building Family Travel, it’s a real honor to now be in a position to contribute something to him.

Here’s why online networking is so cool — my on- and off-line friend Connie Reece mentioned my ProBlogger guest post on Twitter yesterday, and her friend Kim (khaynes) saw the “tweet,” went and read my post and then was kind enough to write about it on her Texas Gal Ramblings blog. We found that we both live in the Austin area; who knew?

For a more humorous summary of Twitter, here is a great graphic from Pete Cashmore at Mashable:

Evolution of social media apps (courtesy Pete Cashmore at Mashable)

Technorati tags: travel, family travel, Twitter, blogging

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Blog

Blog change: opening links in a new window

We’ve had a previous discussion about whether readers prefer their links on this blog to open in a new window, or do they just want to use tabs or the “Back” button up on the upper left side of the blog page.

My personal preference was to have links open in a new window, but the more I look into this, the more I think that I need to have them open in the same window on Family Travel. 

An article by blogging expert Lorelle VanFossen in this month’s Blogger and Podcaster magazine, “7 Steps to a Better Blog,” sealed the deal for me (and schooled me on the proper use of block quotes in a blog post:)

“In fact, forcing links to open in a new window now violates Web and accessibility standards, and can even cause the blogger to lose readers. The ability of Firefox and Internet Explorer to open Web pages in tabs instead of full windows with a simple click or keystroke combination gives control back to readers, letting them decide how they want to visit link recommendations. Most know how to use their back buttons, too.”

I’ve also been tracking how other sites that I respect do business, and the fact is that I’m one of the few who opens in a new window for a link.  While I generally have no problem at all with going against the grain, this is a situation where I fear I’m just annoying people.

So, from now on, starting with this post, once you choose to go look at a link on a Family Travel blog post, you’ll need to come back here via the back button, or other method that you prefer.

Technorati tags: travel, family travel, blogging