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January 14, 2017

12 Travel Instagrammers Who Inspired Me in 2016!

Truth be told, I tend to hate lists but readers seem to love them. The reason I hate them is because it requires me (or one) to choose. As a parent, if someone asked you if you had a favorite child, it's like asking whether you have more love for one or the other, not necessarily who you align with the most. As a traveler, when someone asks you what your favorite country is, dang....it's hard, at least it is for me. I have my least favorites but even in the gloom of some treacherous experiences I had in China when the doors first opened up to westerners so many moons ago, when our room was broken into in Naples or when we were scammed in India, there were insightful outcomes from all of these incidents. And, as all travelers know, one isn't like the other and as easy as it is to stereotype (and I do at times based on a myriad of similar experiences in one place), one STILL isn't like the other. It's important for us to be open and to constantly yearn to learn, for it is in that openness that magic happens, on the road...or not. Above is a shot I posted on my feed towards the end of 2016 which we took near my home along the northern California coast. There's a little distortion from it when I blew it up to nearly 2,000 pixels, but I love how I felt that day and so here it is. Taken on my iPhone 6. I curate this list with trepidation because there were so many feeds that inspired me this past year and 2016 marked a shift for me with Instagram; I became more addicted to the platform and therefore more engaged. As time consuming as it is, I have begun to think about Instagrammers I have met through my travel world and my foodie one through my food Instagram account @LuxuryFoodies, and their lives on a regular basis. This is building community at its essence, at least in an online world. Unlike other platforms, I learn more about their inner worlds and perspective on life -- it's the combination of carefully thought out language, creative descriptors and powerful photography that even long form blog posts like this one can't capture. Note that I didn't select these because they necessarily have the best photos but because I "felt" something powerful through their posts over time, which included their engagement with me and with others. Taking the time to inspire AND be inspired by others is hard and time consuming and deserves applause. Photo credit: @dotzsoh, taken of Singapore, where she says in her description: Never let a little stumble be the end of your journey! (Hear Hear) As a nature lover, there's no doubt that I have had more photography aha moments from folks like @earth.pro (198K followers), @jacob (443K followers), @nature.geography (1.4m followers), @tree_magic (111K followers), @earthpix (10.3m followers), @destinationfervor (389K followers) and one of the earliest feeds I discovered @dotzsoh (@742K followers) whose tagline is: Live the Life you Love and Love the Life you Live. There's plenty others who have truly inspired and touched me this year (and where I felt 'understood' because they resonated with what I wrote or posted), so this Top 12 List could easily be 100 if I had more time. There's a rawness and authenticity to those on this list however and I love that aspect of their feeds. Note: I have listed them alphabetically to keep things simple.

@ConciergeCouple

Amrita and Rich are Canadian-based and it shows through their authenticity. They share their own shots but occasionally of friends they meet on the road; I love the sharing and pro-community piece of this, which is a gift to us as followers of their feed. Their account is genuine and raw and weaves in questions for us to ponder with real-live shots of both their urban and natural experiences. Their tagline: they want to help inspire the traveler inside everyone.

@Dbtravelphotography

She's more of a new discovery for me. Danielle Ashley calls herself a photographer first, not a traveler and while she doesn't have a lot of posts yet, I love the dreaminess and colors she chooses in her editing process. There's plenty of beach shots and sunsets, something that calms my mind in the flurry of stressful moments when I'm not on the road. Her tagline: This is the incredible world we live in. She hopes that her photography will inspire others to travel.

@EstherJulee

Esther makes me laugh -- she provides insights, asks questions and makes us think. Based in Portland Oregon, her tagline has her moving to a new city every year, which will undoubtedly give her a very unique perspective on the U.S. and the world around her. Bravo!

@JSFTravel

Sarah and Kris call themselves JetSettingFools, so there's a bit of humor in their perspective and feed, which I love. Their tagline: One Life, One World -- we want to experience it, not just exist in it. How can you not love that mantra and way of looking at the world? Experiential travel (and I'd argue life), is what truly transforms us.

@MakeTravelCount

Janie and Scott are independent travelers based in San Francisco and yet we still haven't met. No tagline, but all photos are theirs and I find them everywhere -- in other words, they seem to really take the time to engage with their community with words that go a little deeper than I often have time for, even though I almost always feel more moved than perhaps the words "Fabulous shot" invoke. I should create a glossary of what's going on in my head when I say fabulous versus nice versus awesome versus wow moment versus incredible versus you had me at hello. Who doesn't want to feel seen and heard? They make you feel that way by adding more texture to their shares on a regular basis.

@Must.Travel

I love nature and dreamy skies and it shows in my posts, so it should be no surprise that I connect to photos that bring color to life in unique and creative ways or simply happy and joyous ones. This feed is more realistic in that its not full of pinks and oranges that I often gravitate to in nature or cloud porn that makes me reflect. Colors do pop in this feed however which I love -- it's hard to believe that I have shot so many black and white shots in my life given how much I connect to dreamy colors in my life today. Their tagline? There are on foreign lands, it's the traveler who is foreign. I love this and it's so spot on.

@TangoTraci

Traci shares a lot of street and urban shots as well as nature, posting her own and occasionally highlighting others on her feed. She seems to be present; it's what I feel through her feed although we've never met. Her tagline? Dance me to the end of love -- Leonard Cohen. I so so LOVE this! Let's go on a hike together someday Traci.

@TravelKiwis

Could I be biased because they're kiwis and I absolutely fell in love with the authenticity and generosity I experienced in New Zealand? Who knows, but I do love the energy of Terry and Maura's feed. How brave is this? They sold their home to travel. I do feel like I'm browsing through a photo album of sorts but it just works and they draw me in for reasons I can't explain. Perhaps it reminds me of my first world trip or perhaps its their genuineness that just shines through again and again.

@TheWonderlustBlog

Anthea seems like someone I could travel with and well, she's from South Africa, one of my top countries, so we'd likely share a lot of "favorite spots." Remember I lived there twice and my ex-hubby is South African. Now based in Heidelberg, also a gem destination for photography, her tagline is: Photographer, Traveler, Dreamer and Light Chaser. Simple but beautiful, right? Light is so critical to all that we capture, whether it shows up in reality in our photography or remains just in our mind's eye.

@TravelTalesofLife

I discovered this traveling couple a little more recently. Their tagline is: Travelers. Adventurers. Storytellers. AND, they want to prove that you are never too old to explore. Often, I hear people who say they're too old for adventure travel or to change the way they travel or even live their life. You're never too old for a new perspective or a new routine in your life and let's face it, life truly begins just outside your comfort zone. I love that they seem to be big believers and advocates of this viewpoint and are living their dream with new remarkable views each and every day.

@Travlinmad

Lori seems like she'd be a blast to travel with -- she covers food, culture and experiential travel around the world according to her tagline and this is reflected in the photos she shares. I think food is such a big part of my travels and always used to incorporate food shots into my @weblogtheworld feed and only separated it out over to @LuxuryFoodies in 2016, but I applaud people who can weave both into their feed and make it work. She shares a bit more culture than nature, but she does a great job at both. Two thumbs up! I'd love to explore a village or two with her one day.

@WorldTravelBug

Michaela posts a lot of photos from Asia, especially dreamy sunsets, whether that be traditional beach ones or those from a magical experience like a balloon ride. Words that she uses to define her? Cultural, Stylish and Luxury. Bucharest based, her tagline says she loves Asia, sunsets and sunrises and rooftops. I resonated with rooftops since my grandfather was a roofer and I spent most of my childhood looking at the world from the top of them.....and, I'd argue that it has changed my life. One of these days, I have a feeling our paths will cross.

               

January 14, 2017 in Reflections, Social Media, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 19, 2014

Fun New Travel Apps Tout Their Horns at Web Summit

At the fourth annual Web Summit event in Dublin from November 4-6, 2014, 22,000 people from around the world came to see new gadgets, get cool demos and hear the latest scoop on where technology is heading. Since we love travel, we decided to spend a little time learning about what some of the new travel start-ups were up to on the show floor.

While we mostly cover news and destinations for the luxury traveler, we threw in several apps into the mix that would be useful for hotels, airlines, property and guest house owners and even boat owners.

What I found fascinating was just how diverse the nationalities were across the board -- there are some creative apps coming out of Portugal, Israel, Germany, Finland, Greece, the states, France, England, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Russia, Brazil, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Australia and even Monaco and Malta, among countless others. I put together a curation of some of the apps I came across during my scouting exercise across three days at this massive technology event.

Yonderbound is another B2B solution. Based in of all places Monaco, the female founder team (uncanny fact but they're both named Barbara), is trying to help travelers get a kick back for sharing their knowledge and travel experiences. Millions of people share their travel knowledge on popular sites for free and Yonderbound thinks you should be rewarded for it -- up to 70% of the net revenue you produce.

TripFlr is a new travel app from London-based co-founder Jerome Lapaire and team. The pitch? What else but "travel with flair." Remembering the name of a bar or a shop is often a pain. City by city, you can now store your favorite spots and all the places you have yet to discover in your private Triplogs!

Georama is a real-time vicarious travel platform. They help people experience the world anytime, anywhere. Georama's technology allows viewers to explore a destination in real-time by interacting with a guide who is live streaming their perspective.

They're targeting tourism organizations, hotels, airlines and more to help them inspire and engage with prospective travelers around the world.

The Find Out App helps restaurants, nightclubs and bars interact with users on their key information to improve the experience they have on the ground. Based in Paris, they only started out about a month ago so are trying to add new venues as quickly as they can, and will expand to other cities as things progress. Guestvista is aimed at social travelers. Travelers can learn about useful hints and tips from others. The company is based in Ireland.

InLoco gives you an opportunity to travel with locals. This Brazilian-based company has been loading their content from Brazil and will be adding European users soon. The idea is to discover non-tourist sites, meet new people and find more interesting alternatives by traveling with a local resident.

Plan Chat lets you create a plan for anything with content from everywhere in a familiar centric manner. Hotel Booking say they are the best hotel search engine. It looks a bit like an Expedia but for hotel booking only.

Guest 2gether out of Austria, is a social network for hotels. They create a new vacation experience for each customer.

When you're at your hotel, you can meet up with other people staying at the same hotel and meet up to do activities together or dine together based on common interests.

BookBedder say that they can make hotel booking even better. I chatted with Swiss-based co-founder Yannick Blondeau at the event. BookBedder is a collaborative hotel booking website where hotels and guests join forces to get reduced costs and better deals on hotels.

Quicket is a mobile travel service that combines existing flights, hotels, cars, fees and air services for independent travelers.

BookGreener gives travelers lists of authoritatively rated eco-friendly hotels from around the world. Based out of Indonesia, the ever so eco-conscious founder Alexandre Tsuk wants to change the way people think about hotels and make travelers more conscious about where they stay. What else is cool is that every time a traveler books a hotel, BookGreener plants a tree.

Social Airways has a great idea. The Cyprus-based founder and CEO Stylianos Lambrou wants to help flyers get more value from others on their flight, every time they fly.

It's a social flights platform that connects people who are on the same flight, so they can share rides, information and anything else that might be useful. I love this and hope it sticks.

Conichi say that they plan to revolutionize the interaction between hotels & restaurants and their guests. Through the Conichi App, guests are automatically recognized and their visits are tracked in order to provide optimal customer service.

In addition to being able to greet guests personally, their preferences are stored so hotels and restaurants can grant them personalized recommendations and provide additional benefits that best suit their interests and preferences. 

Big-data, personalization and smart-analytics are combined to optimize the guest experience and explore new levels of guest loyalty.

Family Vacation is a cool app based in Bucharest and New York that helps families book travel. Think of it more like a marketplace where families can find, customize and book personalized vacations provided by locals from around the world.

Inn Style is a web based alternative to irksome spreadsheets and dusty diaries for all kinds of accommodations owners -- they tout, that it will be the easiest way for you or your clients to start taking online bookings.

Hero & Creatives is run by a woman CEO based out of Portugal. I love this idea - essentially they match you up with guide photographers in your destination of choice. How cool to explore the world with a local photographer who can show you an entirely different perspective on a country or city.

Direct Hoteling is a database of hotels and other businesses providing accommodations so you can find the best offer out there.

Travel Myth is another hotel recommendation engine, but one which is based on your interests. Based in Greece, this company's app could be really useful if it sticks - we need more granular ways to search, discover and book hotels based on our personal likes and dislikes, so I really like the idea.

Gloudio is a fun idea out of the UK. They are combining traditional pre-recorded geo-located audio guides for well visited sites like museums with crowd-based audio content for an enhanced user experience when they're on the road.

Exploranza out of the Czech Republic hopes to help travelers discover hidden gems. There's no doubt we need more sites who can curate experiences for travelers in a much more efficient and high quality way but I'm not sure they have quite nailed it yet.

That said, they don't plan on charging tourists for this curated premium content and they hope the value will get better and better over time. Kymboo.com's tagline is Tourism 4.0.

Based in Spain, they say they are the first professional booking system for hotels, resorts, cottages and property owners where they can share marketing of their products.

Boatsetter out of Florida, hopes to offer a safe and secure way for boat owners to charter out their vessels to selected clients. Each charter includes state-of-the-art insurance, on-water support provided by BoatUS and US Coast Guard licensed captains available to hire.

Nifty idea but probably pretty niche, at least initially. The idea is obviously that customers will see value-add immediately since they can subsidize the cost of ownership and have a better maintained boat over time.

Roaming Byme is based in France and their team hopes to solve the roaming cell phone issue. They tout themselves as the traveler's mobile operator, where they hope to solve traveler's roaming bill shock issues.

YapQ, based in Israel, has created a mobile app that tells you what's around you. They curate destinations and activities you want to do frequently in a city or town, such as a well known museum. The other beautiful thing about their app for a traveler is that you can use it offline and get the same benefit.

Pimp Your Stay with a team out of Malta, has certainly found a memorable name that is suggestive but also fun. They provide hotels access to detailed guest data (with opt in permission from the guest of course), so the hotels can add extra value to their stay.

Now, with additional personalized information on a guest in advance, hotels can turn a standardized service into a truly personalized stay.

Naymit, out of Germany, makes places findable, allowing you to create a one word address so visitors can find your front door or any other location in an instant. Imagine in the future that you might be able to type your "Naymit" name into your car navigation system and it'll just work.

Let's Open Now is based in Holland and is trying to help travelers find what they're looking for that is open when they need them. Outria out of Belgium, crowdsources events, information from members and social networks and they distribute that information to new members.

Green Hopping is all about green travel. Through their site greenhopping.eu, you can browse, discover and get inspired by green travel ideas and places.

Cyclister, you shouldn't be surprised to hear, is based out of Copenhagen Denmark, a city of cyclists. You can list your bike on Cyclister, decide on the price you want to rent your bike for and make money off each rental, a bit like the services that allow people to rent out their cars when they're not in use. This is certainly useful in cities where cycling is a preferred way to get around like Copenhagen for example and I could also see this working in Amsterdam and Montreal.

Next to Me, out of Italy, is creating an accurate submeter indoor navigation system that allows users to locate and access their services within their location.

Audio Trip, out of Poland, is a storytelling app that changes your smart phone into a personal local guide.

Cruise Me allows you to search, discover and connect, all within the cruise world. It's still a bit hush hush as they haven't officially launched yet, but apparently the app from this Florida-based startup is slated to go live sometime in January or February 2015.

Share My Taxi, based out of Munich Germany, is a blend of Uber and Lyft. They use professional drivers and there's also a mobile app that makes traveling with taxis, Uber, Wundercar and others social and green by sharing a ride if its available. This is also more economical for travelers who want to get from A to B safely.

Cityist has started out with Paris-based content since that's where they're currently based. They tout themselves as the next Generation Of City Guides. They are a website, offline mobile app & marketplace that turns tourists into local experts.

Local Fixer's Co-Founder Elliot Costello and team are based in Melbourne Australia. Finally, a fun travel app from the Aussies. It's a bit like a LinkedIn for the travel sector, where you can include offers in your profile, ranging from offering your pad to rent for the week, or posts of other things you can offer travelers, such as bikes, your car to use, or things you'd like to sell which might be useful to them during their stay.

Deal Broker is a B2B solution that is targeting travel suppliers and help them find great tours and activities for travelers. They customize the content under the tour operators brand/logo that they can then send out to their travel prospects.

DealBroker can also send mobile notifications through social media, text or email. Deal Broker specializes in relevant offers around a specific destination, such as tours and activity offers. They are leveraging the trend that tour operators and activity suppliers want to cooperate and need easier ways to do so. It would be a great multi-touch solution for example, for rental car companies or airlines.

Tziip is based out of Finland and their pitch is a bit like like Lyft but more social. In other words - get a ride and/or share a ride.

Group Booked from Ireland, touts themselves as the AirBNB for groups, but for more than just accommodations. Another value-add they say is that while they book for groups, they'll take individual payments, making it more flexible for groups of people to book.

Hudway is a mobile app that helps drivers follow directions in fog, snow, rain and at night via road windshield projections.

Tour Plus, based out of Malaysia helps you plan, enjoy and share your trip by creating an automatic itinerary for you. In other words, you put the places you want to see into their app and they'll map out the best way to do it for you. You can also share that itinerary with others.

Travel Appeal from Italy, allows hotels to control, manage and improve their reputation.

BELOW SHOTS: On the Show Floor at Web Summit 2014 in Dublin  

 

Photos of apps from vendor websites, 1st Photo taken from Travelblat and photos from Web Summit Show Floor from Renee Blodgett.    

November 19, 2014 in America The Free, Conference Highlights, Europe, Events, Magic Sauce Media, On Technology, Social Media, Travel, TravelingGeeks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Fun New Travel Apps Tout Their Horns at Web Summit

At the fourth annual Web Summit event in Dublin from November 4-6, 2014, 22,000 people from around the world came to see new gadgets, get cool demos and hear the latest scoop on where technology is heading. Since we love travel, we decided to spend a little time learning about what some of the new travel start-ups were up to on the show floor.

While we mostly cover news and destinations for the luxury traveler, we threw in several apps into the mix that would be useful for hotels, airlines, property and guest house owners and even boat owners.

What I found fascinating was just how diverse the nationalities were across the board -- there are some creative apps coming out of Portugal, Israel, Germany, Finland, Greece, the states, France, England, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Russia, Brazil, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Australia and even Monaco and Malta, among countless others. I put together a curation of some of the apps I came across during my scouting exercise across three days at this massive technology event.

Yonderbound is another B2B solution. Based in of all places Monaco, the female founder team (uncanny fact but they're both named Barbara), is trying to help travelers get a kick back for sharing their knowledge and travel experiences. Millions of people share their travel knowledge on popular sites for free and Yonderbound thinks you should be rewarded for it -- up to 70% of the net revenue you produce.

TripFlr is a new travel app from London-based co-founder Jerome Lapaire and team. The pitch? What else but "travel with flair." Remembering the name of a bar or a shop is often a pain. City by city, you can now store your favorite spots and all the places you have yet to discover in your private Triplogs!

Georama is a real-time vicarious travel platform. They help people experience the world anytime, anywhere. Georama's technology allows viewers to explore a destination in real-time by interacting with a guide who is live streaming their perspective.

They're targeting tourism organizations, hotels, airlines and more to help them inspire and engage with prospective travelers around the world.

The Find Out App helps restaurants, nightclubs and bars interact with users on their key information to improve the experience they have on the ground. Based in Paris, they only started out about a month ago so are trying to add new venues as quickly as they can, and will expand to other cities as things progress. Guestvista is aimed at social travelers. Travelers can learn about useful hints and tips from others. The company is based in Ireland.

InLoco gives you an opportunity to travel with locals. This Brazilian-based company has been loading their content from Brazil and will be adding European users soon. The idea is to discover non-tourist sites, meet new people and find more interesting alternatives by traveling with a local resident.

Plan Chat lets you create a plan for anything with content from everywhere in a familiar centric manner. Hotel Booking say they are the best hotel search engine. It looks a bit like an Expedia but for hotel booking only.

Guest 2gether out of Austria, is a social network for hotels. They create a new vacation experience for each customer.

When you're at your hotel, you can meet up with other people staying at the same hotel and meet up to do activities together or dine together based on common interests.

BookBedder say that they can make hotel booking even better. I chatted with Swiss-based co-founder Yannick Blondeau at the event. BookBedder is a collaborative hotel booking website where hotels and guests join forces to get reduced costs and better deals on hotels.

Quicket is a mobile travel service that combines existing flights, hotels, cars, fees and air services for independent travelers.

BookGreener gives travelers lists of authoritatively rated eco-friendly hotels from around the world. Based out of Indonesia, the ever so eco-conscious founder Alexandre Tsuk wants to change the way people think about hotels and make travelers more conscious about where they stay. What else is cool is that every time a traveler books a hotel, BookGreener plants a tree.

Social Airways has a great idea. The Cyprus-based founder and CEO Stylianos Lambrou wants to help flyers get more value from others on their flight, every time they fly.

It's a social flights platform that connects people who are on the same flight, so they can share rides, information and anything else that might be useful. I love this and hope it sticks.

Conichi say that they plan to revolutionize the interaction between hotels & restaurants and their guests. Through the Conichi App, guests are automatically recognized and their visits are tracked in order to provide optimal customer service.

In addition to being able to greet guests personally, their preferences are stored so hotels and restaurants can grant them personalized recommendations and provide additional benefits that best suit their interests and preferences. 

Big-data, personalization and smart-analytics are combined to optimize the guest experience and explore new levels of guest loyalty.

Family Vacation is a cool app based in Bucharest and New York that helps families book travel. Think of it more like a marketplace where families can find, customize and book personalized vacations provided by locals from around the world.

Inn Style is a web based alternative to irksome spreadsheets and dusty diaries for all kinds of accommodations owners -- they tout, that it will be the easiest way for you or your clients to start taking online bookings.

Hero & Creatives is run by a woman CEO based out of Portugal. I love this idea - essentially they match you up with guide photographers in your destination of choice. How cool to explore the world with a local photographer who can show you an entirely different perspective on a country or city.

Direct Hoteling is a database of hotels and other businesses providing accommodations so you can find the best offer out there.

Travel Myth is another hotel recommendation engine, but one which is based on your interests. Based in Greece, this company's app could be really useful if it sticks - we need more granular ways to search, discover and book hotels based on our personal likes and dislikes, so I really like the idea.

Gloudio is a fun idea out of the UK. They are combining traditional pre-recorded geo-located audio guides for well visited sites like museums with crowd-based audio content for an enhanced user experience when they're on the road.

Exploranza out of the Czech Republic hopes to help travelers discover hidden gems. There's no doubt we need more sites who can curate experiences for travelers in a much more efficient and high quality way but I'm not sure they have quite nailed it yet.

That said, they don't plan on charging tourists for this curated premium content and they hope the value will get better and better over time. Kymboo.com's tagline is Tourism 4.0.

Based in Spain, they say they are the first professional booking system for hotels, resorts, cottages and property owners where they can share marketing of their products.

Boatsetter out of Florida, hopes to offer a safe and secure way for boat owners to charter out their vessels to selected clients. Each charter includes state-of-the-art insurance, on-water support provided by BoatUS and US Coast Guard licensed captains available to hire.

Nifty idea but probably pretty niche, at least initially. The idea is obviously that customers will see value-add immediately since they can subsidize the cost of ownership and have a better maintained boat over time.

Roaming Byme is based in France and their team hopes to solve the roaming cell phone issue. They tout themselves as the traveler's mobile operator, where they hope to solve traveler's roaming bill shock issues.

YapQ, based in Israel, has created a mobile app that tells you what's around you. They curate destinations and activities you want to do frequently in a city or town, such as a well known museum. The other beautiful thing about their app for a traveler is that you can use it offline and get the same benefit.

Pimp Your Stay with a team out of Malta, has certainly found a memorable name that is suggestive but also fun. They provide hotels access to detailed guest data (with opt in permission from the guest of course), so the hotels can add extra value to their stay.

Now, with additional personalized information on a guest in advance, hotels can turn a standardized service into a truly personalized stay.

Naymit, out of Germany, makes places findable, allowing you to create a one word address so visitors can find your front door or any other location in an instant. Imagine in the future that you might be able to type your "Naymit" name into your car navigation system and it'll just work.

Let's Open Now is based in Holland and is trying to help travelers find what they're looking for that is open when they need them. Outria out of Belgium, crowdsources events, information from members and social networks and they distribute that information to new members.

Green Hopping is all about green travel. Through their site greenhopping.eu, you can browse, discover and get inspired by green travel ideas and places.

Cyclister, you shouldn't be surprised to hear, is based out of Copenhagen Denmark, a city of cyclists. You can list your bike on Cyclister, decide on the price you want to rent your bike for and make money off each rental, a bit like the services that allow people to rent out their cars when they're not in use. This is certainly useful in cities where cycling is a preferred way to get around like Copenhagen for example and I could also see this working in Amsterdam and Montreal.

Next to Me, out of Italy, is creating an accurate submeter indoor navigation system that allows users to locate and access their services within their location.

Audio Trip, out of Poland, is a storytelling app that changes your smart phone into a personal local guide.

Cruise Me allows you to search, discover and connect, all within the cruise world. It's still a bit hush hush as they haven't officially launched yet, but apparently the app from this Florida-based startup is slated to go live sometime in January or February 2015.

Share My Taxi, based out of Munich Germany, is a blend of Uber and Lyft. They use professional drivers and there's also a mobile app that makes traveling with taxis, Uber, Wundercar and others social and green by sharing a ride if its available. This is also more economical for travelers who want to get from A to B safely.

Cityist has started out with Paris-based content since that's where they're currently based. They tout themselves as the next Generation Of City Guides. They are a website, offline mobile app & marketplace that turns tourists into local experts.

Local Fixer's Co-Founder Elliot Costello and team are based in Melbourne Australia. Finally, a fun travel app from the Aussies. It's a bit like a LinkedIn for the travel sector, where you can include offers in your profile, ranging from offering your pad to rent for the week, or posts of other things you can offer travelers, such as bikes, your car to use, or things you'd like to sell which might be useful to them during their stay.

Deal Broker is a B2B solution that is targeting travel suppliers and help them find great tours and activities for travelers. They customize the content under the tour operators brand/logo that they can then send out to their travel prospects.

DealBroker can also send mobile notifications through social media, text or email. Deal Broker specializes in relevant offers around a specific destination, such as tours and activity offers. They are leveraging the trend that tour operators and activity suppliers want to cooperate and need easier ways to do so. It would be a great multi-touch solution for example, for rental car companies or airlines.

Tziip is based out of Finland and their pitch is a bit like like Lyft but more social. In other words - get a ride and/or share a ride.

Group Booked from Ireland, touts themselves as the AirBNB for groups, but for more than just accommodations. Another value-add they say is that while they book for groups, they'll take individual payments, making it more flexible for groups of people to book.

Hudway is a mobile app that helps drivers follow directions in fog, snow, rain and at night via road windshield projections.

Tour Plus, based out of Malaysia helps you plan, enjoy and share your trip by creating an automatic itinerary for you. In other words, you put the places you want to see into their app and they'll map out the best way to do it for you. You can also share that itinerary with others.

Travel Appeal from Italy, allows hotels to control, manage and improve their reputation.

BELOW SHOTS: On the Show Floor at Web Summit 2014 in Dublin  

 

Photos of apps from vendor websites, 1st Photo taken from Travelblat and photos from Web Summit Show Floor from Renee Blodgett.    

November 19, 2014 in America The Free, Conference Highlights, Europe, Events, Magic Sauce Media, On Technology, Social Media, Travel, TravelingGeeks | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 06, 2014

Reflecting on the 2014 Social Media Oscars!

It's been about a month since the Shorty Awards ceremony in New York, otherwise known as the Social Media Oscars! Now in its sixth year, it is an annual event which honors the best people and organizations on Twitter and social media.

Shorty_logo

This year, I was a finalist in the Business Influencer category, which is a great category to be in as a communicator of other people's magic, a talent that some simply toss in the generic publicist category.

Over the years, I have found that many executives don't think publicists understand business; they're merely there to communicate a CEO's vision.

As odd as that may sound, this mentality is what often leads to failed campaigns and when communications are not made a "strategic" priority of the company, it also leads to failed businesses. And so, business influencer is a great category as far as categories go yet the process had me on edge for days. Here's why!

Making it to finalist and staying in the top seven before the voting deadline required work, but not soulful work. It was a sales pitch, that kind of pushy ask that gave the used car salesman a bad name.

Shorty_awards

Once you've been nominated, you need to solicit people to vote for you just like you would if you were running for office. The ask wasn't a quick or easy one since it was confusing for many people to decipher what they had to do to cast a vote....some were miffed they had to give the awards site permission to access their Twitter account, while others were annoyed they couldn't vote from Facebook.

Supporters had to send a tweet from ShortyAwards.com or from Twitter that went something like this: I nominate @username for a Shorty Award in #category because...REASON!

While I realize that using social media is precisely the place you'd alert your community you're up for a "social media" award and ask for their support, bottom line, asking didn't feel good.

Shorty trophies

Here's what I learned in the process. 

Social media for me is all about being social and the main reason it was that much easier for me to jump on board in the early days faster than some of my colleagues. I also dove into Twitter because I saw its inherent marketing value as well as it being a great source of news and insights from thought leaders and influencers I admired and respected. Social media also served as a platform to catch up with friends from around the world I rarely had a chance to see. It's clear that social media is a incredibly powerful tool for bridging cultural gaps and bringing the world closer together socially, politically and economically.

Third, I have always loved the engagement part of the social media experience. The thing I love most about social media was missing during the voting solitication process. That said, I understand and get the value of bringing community input to the table. After all, social media is all about community so the "ask" needs to be there in some way shape or form.

Having thousands of people from around the world cast votes through Twitter using the #ShortyAwards hashtag also does wonders for their brand, escalating the hype and perceived value of the honor. It's a brilliant marketing strategy -- let's not forget Will Farrell's hilarious acceptance speech for his Lifetime Achievement Award where he talked about the obscurity of an award no one has ever heard of...

And yet, those who are prolific on social media are aware of the Shorty Awards and year after year for the past five, people participate across countless categories from countless countries.

The award categories are diverse and run the gammit, from acting, humor, directing, fansites, campaigns, food, TV shows, tech & innovation, gaming, podcasting, sports team, art, fashion and celebrities to quirky categories like best Kickstarter campaign, weird, science, gif of the year (yes really) best fake accounts and non-humans (yes really). 

I sat next to Bulk Wolf (@wolfb) in the fourth row during the ceremony who won in the WEIRD category; it made my category name sound a little lame, at the very least conservative.

Buck Wolf

Previous Shorty Awards ceremonies have welcomed The Daily Show's Samantha Bee and Jason Jones, Ricky Gervais, Aasif Mandvi, Tiffani Thiessen, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Gaffigan, Amanda Palmer, Conan O'Brien, Cory Booker, Sesame Street's Grover, Ted Leo, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Fry, Suze Orman, Rachel Maddow, William Shatner, Carrie Keagan, Chris Hardwick, David Karp, Biz Stone, Coco Rocha, George Takei, Jimmy Kimmel and Felicia Day.

To give you an idea of how much traffic the Shorties generate, more than two million tweet-nominations were sent during last year's Shorty Awards nomination process. The Hollywood Reporter even covered the nominees. 

Here are this year's finalists across the myriad of categories. Discovering what is happening on Twitter outside my worlds of technology and travel was both inspiring and well....fun!

From social causes and non-profit work to witty marketing campaigns, comedy and rare oddities, there was no shortage of great stories from Shorty finalists in other categories. 

No surprise that Guy Kawasaki with over ten books under his belt and 1.4 million Twitter followers, took home the glass trophy in the Business Influencer category. I love Guy's sense of humor and the candid sarcasm he uses to drive his messages home. Hats off!

In addition to myself (@magicsaucemedia), other finalists in the Business Influencer category included Gemma Godfrey (@GCGodfrey), Marsha Collier (@MarshaCollier), Lolly Daskal (@LollyDaskal), Ted Coine (@tedcoine) and Scott Levy (@fuelonline). I have a lot of respect for their work and hopefully we can all drink a fabulous Bordeaux together in some foreign city at some juncture in the future.

Business Influencer Finalists

Here's the upside to the solicitation process -- I learned a bit more about my business and myself as the tweets came pouring in and people asked me random questions about things I hadn't thought about in years.

CC Chapman Big

Elisa Comahort

Mary Trigiani

 

Many people know that I wear two very active hats: Magic Sauce Media and We Blog the World -- two disparate worlds and yet I learned through the voting process that the audience overlaps much moreso than I thought.

 Shorty Award Tweet

David Berlind

David Smith tweet

David Spark on WBTW support

Bradkava

I also reflected on personal branding alignment in the process. While I love identifying the "magic sauce" of companies, products and individuals, that Je ne sais quoi doesn't always hit me in the face when I first start working with a client. 

As we all know, the hardest job is determining what your own magic is even if you're savvy on stage or in front of customers and have the most confidence in the world.

Time and time again, I talk to executives, celebrities, inventors and creators who think their greatest talent and gift to the world is something other than the recipients of that gift think it is. How we perceive ourselves is rarely how others perceive us, even for the most perceptive among us.

I'd encourage you to create your own submission process to solicit feedback, asking people to be as honest and raw as they can about your work and about you. I'm not talking about a testimonial, but perhaps a one or two liner that describes your magic sauce. Do you know what yours is?

I'd also ask you to pay attention to who shows up to the table. Who takes the time to give you their feedback? Sometimes you find that your supporters are those you may least expect and those you think will run miles for you, are suddenly too busy. It will help you distill down your community and focus on what and who matters!

Below are a some random shots from this year's Awards ceremony in the Big Apple on April 7, 2014 at The Times Center in Times Square.

Shorty-Awards 2014 (14)

In this group shot is Martin Jones of #Cox Business, who were the sponsors of our category, Business Influencer.

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Learning from other category finalists.

   Shorty-Awards 2014 (6)

 

 

Shorty-Awards 2014 (4)

Scott Beale from Laughing Squid on the left.

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Below, Cox Media's Martin Jones, Renee Blodgett and Greg Galant (@gregory), CEO of Sawhorse Media, the producers of the Shorty Awards. Sawhorse also created and runs Muck Rack, a leading network to connect with journalists on social media. 

Shorty-Awards 2014 (9)

Awards winner announcements from the main stage.

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A somewhat blurry shot of on-stage entertainment in the main room.

Shorty-Awards 2014 (22)

Also, have a look at what England-based Dean Johnson aka Activ Right Brain wrote about his experience since the vote was centered around a specific campaign or product, so not the case with those in my category. He also flew across the Atlantic to be on the ground for the ceremony and in the end, sadly lost out to Digg.

Photo credits: tropies from blog.publicisna.com, Vote for Us from BakerStreetBabes.com, others taken on my Canon 7D and my iPhone.

May 6, 2014 in America The Free, Conference Highlights, Events, New York, Reflections, Social Media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 03, 2014

Next Generation Power Summit Kicks off on March 5

I recently agreed to participate in an online video series on social media in business called Next Generation Power Summit, produced and organized by Australian entrepreneur Rosemary Burnett.

Net gen

The series will kick off March 5, 2014 and run through March 18 and the schedule of social media gurus and expert interviews are listed below.

Video Summit Series

The video interview series aims to help businesses with their online and digital strategy through advice and insights from a host of folks living it and breathing it every day. Objectives of the series are to:

  • Get clear about your core message and brand
  • Build a following on social media
  • Attract and connect with your ideal client in the places they are hanging out.
  • Turn those connections into relationships and sales
  • Learn the strategies the experts have adopted themselves, to achieve ‘big business’ success.

I'm up on March 17 however there's a host of great other consultants and specialists in the line-up starting on March 5 beginning with Rosemary's kick off. Note that it is free to participate but you have to register on the main Next Generation Power Summit home page.

I'm told that this Tele-summit series is similar in approach to a Global Mentor Mastermind event. There will be the opportunity to watch the video interview replays for a limited time if you can’t make it on the launch date however you will need to register regardless to get access to the content.

 

March 3, 2014 in Conference Highlights, Events, On Social CRM, Social Media, TravelingGeeks, WBTW, Web 2.0 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 03, 2013

2013 AlwaysOn Power Players in Technology Business Media List Announced

AlwaysOn just announced their first annual Power Players in Technology Business Media List. The AlwaysOn Power Players in Technology Business Media list honors editors, writers, and bloggers in the technology world who are keeping technology entrepreneurs informed and connected. Reporting on the massive technology breakthroughs hitting the market almost every day, this list of media have become the voices behind the ideas that make the Global Silicon Valley an incubator for success.
press_blogger_power_players_300x260

Cool beans that We Blog the World made the cut, which at face value may not make sense, but it's largely because I also write about technology trends, conferences, events, startups, launches and entrepreneurs on Down the Avenue, on the Huffington Post and of course on We Blog the World, mostly in the products and events section. The site also has a Mobile category as well as a technology category, however the products covered range from luggage and fashion to mobile devices, social apps, gadgets which may help the on-the-go warrior and digital cameras.

While the list is extremely long, and the more traditional cast of characters are listed (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Mashable, etc), numerous bloggers are also listed who not just cover technology trends, but also social media and various vertical market industries, such as digital music, technology that moms and/or women care about and lifestyle issues.

As venture capital-backed on-demand companies continue to bring new, innovative products and services to the world, the founders and their products and services are being covered by the people on this list. Many of the winners of this competition will be featured at the upcoming OnMobile 2013: Mobile Venture Summit, which will be held at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, CA on October 10.

If interested in attending, you can register here to secure your ticket at the lowest possible rate while tickets are still available.   The list is below. (warning: it's long, but it is an eclectic and interesting curation of writers and pundits, so it's worth browsing through).


Introducing the 2013 Power Players in Technology Business Media

Byron Acohido
Technology Reporter
USA Today

Kiran Aditham
Editor
Mediabistro

Erin Ailworth
Business Reporter
Boston Globe

Mickey Alam Kahn
Editor in Chief
Mobile Marketer

Chris Albrecht
Host, Reporter
GigaOm TV and GigaOM Podcast

Cristina Alesci
Producer, M&A
Bloomberg Television

Anjuman Ali
Mobile Editor
The Washington Post

Jason Alkeny
Executive Editor
FierceWireless

Mike Allen
Reporter
The San Diego Business Journal

Monica Alleven
Editor-in-Chief
Wireless Week

James Altucher
Blogger
Altucher Confidential

Chris C. Anderson
Senior Editor
Business Insider: The Wire

Larissa Anderson
Producer
Marketplace Tech Report – American Public Media

Nate Anderson
Deputy Editor
Ars Technica

Tim Andreacci
Segment Producer
Bloomberg Television

Robert Andrews
Senior Editor, International
GigaOM

Julia Angwin
Senior Technology Editor
The Wall Street Journal

Robert Anthony
Editor
Stadium Circle Features

Simon Applebaum
Producer / Host
Tomorrow Will Be Televised / BlogTalk Radio

Charles Arthur
Technology Editor
The Guardian

Scott Austin
Senior Technology Editor
Dow Jones VentureWire

Ed Baig
Reporter
USA Today

Brandon Bailey
Business and Technology Reporter
San Jose Mercury News

Chris Baker
Contributing Writer
Wired

Roberto Baldwin
Staff Writer
Wired

Eric Bangeman
Managing Editor
Ars Technica

Emily Banks
Managing Editor
Mashable

Mike Barton
Editor
Wired

Ronald Barusch
Columnist
The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, MoneyBeat, The Wall Street Journal (Europe Edition), MoneyBeat (E.U.)

Zoran Basich
Editor
Dow Jones VentureWire

Dusan Belic
Editor
IntoMobile

Shawn Bender
Digital Editor
WSJ.com

Kevin Benedict
Editor
MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Drake Bennett
Reporter
Bloomberg Businesweek

David Benoit
Blogger, Deals
The Wall Street Journal

Greg Bensinger
Reporter
The Wall Street Journal

Andrew Berg
Editor in Chief
Wireless Week

David Berlind
Editor-In-Chief
ProgrammableWeb / TechWeb

Nick Bilton
Technology Reporter
The New York Times

Jon Birger
Contributing Writer
Fortune

Matthew Bishop
New York Bureau Chief
The Economist

John Blackstone
News Correspondent
CBS News Network

Nancy Blair
Online Technology Editor
USA Today

Steve Blank
Blogger
Steve Blank

Dana Blankenhorn
Contributing Writer
Seeking Alpha

Beth Blecherman
Founder
TechMamas

Henry Blodget
CEO / Editor in Chief
Business Insider

Renee Blodgett
Editor
We Blog the World

Rebecca Blumenstein
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
The Wall Street Journal

Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal
Senior Editor
Barron’s

John Blyler
Editorial Director
Extension Media

Katherine Boehret
Writer
AllThingsD

Christina Bonnington
Staff Writer
Wired

Julie Bort
Editor
Business Insider

Wendy Boswell
Web Search Guide
About.com – Computing

John Boudreau
Business Reporter
The Mercury News

Clint Boulton
Staff Writer
The Wall Street Journal

Paul Boutin
Freelanc Journalist / Bits
The New York Times

Toni Bowers
Managing Editor
TechRepublic

Tim Bradshaw
Digital Media Correspondent
Financial Times

David Brancaccio
Host
Marketplace – Tech Report

Nic Brisbourne
Blogger / Venture Capitalist
The Equity Kicker / Forward Investment Partners

Russ Britt
Bureau Chief, Los Angeles
MarketWatch

Chris Brogan
Blogger
Chris Brogan

Joe Brown
New York Editor
Wired Magazine

Alexandra Bruell
Reporter
Advertising Age

Wendy Brundige
West Coast TV Bureau Chief
Bloomberg TV West

Daniel Brusilovsky
Head of Business Development and Growth
Ribbon

Joshua Brustein
Technology Writer
Businessweek

Martin Bryant
Managing Editor / Co-Founder of TechHub Manchester
The Next Web / TechHub Manchester

Peter Burrows
Senior Writer
Bloomberg News

Ward Bushee
Executive Vice President / Editor
The San Francisco Chronicle

Jeff Bussgang
Blogger / Venture Capitalist
Seeing Both Sides / Flybridge Capital

Claire Cain Miller
Technology Reporter
The New York Times

Jason Calacanis
Blogger
Calacanis.com

Michael Calore
Reviews Editor
Wired

Elisa Camahort
Blogger
BlogHer

Christina Capecchi
Contributor
The New York Times

Pete Carey
Business Reporter
The San Jose Mercury News

Jennifer Carinci
Producer
Yahoo! Finance

Nicholas Carlson
Deputy Editor
Business Insider Silicon Alley Insider

Callie Carmichael
Senior Associate Producer, CNN Mobile
CNN.com

Sean Carroll
Managing Editor, Software, Internetm andNetworking
PCMag.com

Pete Cashmore
CEO
Mashable

Ben Casnocha
Blogger
Ben Casnocha

John Cassidy
Staff Writer / Blogger
The New Yorker

Mike Cassidy
Business Columnist
The San Jose Mercury News

Josh Catone
Executive Director, Editorial Projects
Mashable

Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology Correspondent
BBC News

Bonnie Cha
Writer
AllThingsD

Andrea Chang
Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Times

Emily Chang
Host, BloombergWest
Bloomberg TV

Laura Chapman
Head, U.S. Broadcast Interview Team
Bloomberg Television

Lizette Chapman
Reporter
Dow Jones VentureWire

Stephen Chapman
Contributor
ZDNet

Mike Chapple
Databases Guide
About.com – Computing

Brian X. Chen
Reporter
The New York Times

Kevin Chen
Blogger
Seeking Alpha

Larry Chiang
CEO
Duck9

Ericka Chickowski
Contributing Writer
DarkReading

Mark Choueke
Editor
Marketing Week

Lela Christine
Editor in Chief
The Power Player Lifestyle Magazine, Inc.

Brian Clark
Blogger
Copyblogger

Cynthia Clark
Senior Writer
1to1 Media

Don Clark
Deputy Bureau Chief
The Wall Street Journal

Jason Cohen
Founder
WP Engine / Smart Bear Software.

Sarah Cohen
Senior Reporter
Mergermarket – New York, NY

Alex Colon
Mobile Writer
GigaOM

Louis Columbus
Contributor
Forbes

David Connell
Editor
Techmeme

Jim Cooper
Executive Editor
Adweek

Lane Cooper
Founder and Editorial Director
BizTechReports

Michael Copeland
Partner
Andreessen Horowitz

Stacy Cowley
Technology Editor
CNNMoney

Jason Cozza
Research Analyst
MergerMarket

Robert Cringely
Blogger
I, Cringely

Rex Crum
Technology Reporter
Marketwatch

Mark Cuban
Blogger
Blog Maverick

Kim-Mai Cutler
Writer
Tech Crunch

Dancho Danchev
Zero Day Blogger
ZDNet News

Chris Dannen
Senior Editor
Fast Company

Mike Dano
Executive Editor, Telecom Group
FierceWireless

Mila D’Antonio
Editor-in-Chief
1to1 Media

Matt Danzico
Reporter
BBC America

Damon Darlin
International Business Editor
The New York Times

Anil Dash
CEO
Anil Dash

Lidija Davis
Editor
Techmeme

Lucia Davis
Executive Editor
iMedia Connection

Wendy Davis
Senior Writer
MediaPost Publications

Michael de la Merced
Reporter
The New York Times

Anthony De Rosa
Editor in Chief
Circa

Brian Deagon
Business and Technology Journalist
Investor’s Business Daily

Martha DeGrasse
Writer / Editor
RCR Wireless News

Jason Del Rey
Writer
AllThingsD

Peter Delevett
Business Reporter
The San Jose Mercury News

Cotton Delo
San Francisco Bureau Chief
Advertising Age

April Dembosky
Technology Blogger
The Financial Times

Kathleen DeVere
Reporter
Inside Network

Jesus Diaz
Senior Contributing Editor and Art Director
Gizmodo

Marla Dickerson
Business Editor
The Los Angeles Times

Larry Dignan
Editor-in-Chief
ZDNet US

Sheila Dougherty
Assistant Managing Editor
Advertising Age

John Dvorak
Columnist
MarketWatch – San Francisco, PCMag

Esther Dyson
Chairman
EdVenture.com

Cliff Edwards
Reporter
Bloomberg News

Jim Edwards
Senior Editor, Advertising
BusinessInsider

Eric Eldon
Co-Editor
Techcrunch

Noah Elkin
Principal Analyst
EMarketer

Tobi Elkin
Senior Digital Strategist
EMarketer

Stuart Elliott
Blogger
The New York Times / In Advertising

Shelley Elmblad
Personal Finance Software Guide
Examiner.com, Freelance, About.com – Computing

Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Freelance Journalist / Senior Writer
Fortune.com

Rip Empson
Writer
Techcrunch

Ariana Eunjung Cha
Business and Technology Editor
The Washington Post

Benny Evangelista
Reporter
The San Francisco Chronicle

Joel Evans
Blogger
ZDNet

David Ewalt
Senior Editor
Forbes

Rebecca Fannin
Journalist
Silicon Dragon / Forbes

Nicole Farghalli
Business Reporter
Marketplace – NPR

Cyrus Farivar
Senior Business Editor
Ars Technica

Sajid Farooq
West Coast Bureau
Bloomberg West – Bloomberg Television

Katie Fehrenbacher
Senior Writer and Features Editor
GigaOm

Brad Feld
Managing Director
Foundry Group

Loren Feldman
Small Business Editor
The New York Times

Seth Fiegerman
Business Reporter
Mashable

Jim Finkle
Bureau Chief
Reuters

Brian Fitzgerald
Deputy Technology Editor
The Wall Street Journal

Michael Fitzgerald
Contributing Editor
MIT Sloan Management Review and Information Week

Alex Fitzpatrick
Editor, Digital Journalist
TIME

Michele Fleury
Producer / Reporter
BBC America

Robin Flynn
Senior Analyst and Research Director
SNL Kagan

Tom Forbes
Writer / Reporter
MarketingDaily Top of the News

Tom Foremski
Editor and Publisher
Silicon Valley Watcher

Bree Fowler
Technology and Media Writer
Associated Press

Zoe Fox
Writer and Content Coordinator
Mashable

Mike Freeman
Staff Writer
The San Diego Union Tribune

Wayne Freidman
West Coast Editor
MediaPost Publications

Ina Fried
Senior Editor
AllThingsD

Sarah Frier
Reporter
Bloomberg

Ben Frumin
Editor-in-Chief
The Week

Deborah Gage
Reporter
Dow Jones VentureWire

Amy Gahran
Mobile Tech Contributor
CNN.com

Dan Gallagher
Technology Editor
MarketWatch

Liz Gannes
Writer
AllThingsD

John Gapper
Chairman and Co-Founder
Financial Times

Antoine Gara
Deals Reporter
TheStreet.com

Josie Garthwaite
Freelance Reporter and Editor
The New York Times, GigaOM

Adriana Gascoigne
Founder
Girls in Tech

Marilyn Geewax
Senior Business Editor
National Public Radio (NPR) Online

David Gelles
Reporter
The New York Times

Nancy-Marshall Genzer
Senior Reporter
Marketplace – American Public Media

Tomio Geron
Reporter
Forbes

Colin Gibbs
Mobile Curator
GigaOM

Kate Gibson
Reporter
MarketWatch – New York

Melinda Gibson
Contributor
DM2 Media.com

Tom Giles
Reporter
Bloomberg

David Gillen
Deputy Business Editor
The New York Times

Amanda (A.J.) Glasser
Managing Editor
Inside Network

Seth Godin
Blogger
Seth’s Blog

Vindu Goel
Technology Reporter
The New York Times

Kaomi Goetz
Reporter
NPR

David Goldman
Technology Editor
CNNMoney – Tech Tumblr

Michael Goldstein
CEO
Stun Media

Phil Goldstein
Editor
FierceWireless

Lauren Goode
Tech Reporter
AllThingsD

Lisa Granatstein
Managing Editor
Adweek

Andy Greenberg
Tech Reporter
Forbes

Zack O. Greenburg
Senior Editor
Forbes

Kerima Greene
Senior Segment Producer, Power Lunch
CNBC

Stephen Gregory
Editor, Marketplace
Marketplace Tech Report – American Public Media

Erin Griffith
Reporter
PandoDaily

Grant Gross
Reporter
IDG News Service, Washington Bureau

Lev Grossman
Senior Writer
TIME

Galen Gruman
Executive Editor, Features
InfoWorld

Connie Guglielmo
Technology Editor
Forbes

Marc Gunther
Contributing Writer
Fortune

Bill Gurley
Blogger / General Partner
AboveThe Crwd / Benchmark Capital

Jessica Guynn
Reporter
The Los Angeles Times

Anthony Ha
Media, Advertising, and Startups Reporter
Techcrunch

Stephanie Haberman
Social and Digital Producer
NBC News

Salim Hafid
Editor
Techmeme

Walter Hamilton
Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Times

Jonathan Handel
Contributing Editor / Blogger
The Hollywood Reporter / The Huffington Post

Devindra Hardawar
National Editor and Lead Writer, MobileBeat
VentureBeat

Francine Hardaway
Press
Stealthmode Partners

Quentin Hardy
Deputy Technology Editor
The New York Times

Peter Hargrove
Managing Editor
IBR News

Lex Haris
Managing Editor
CNNMoney

Derrick Harris
Senior Writer
GigaOM

Timothy Hay
Reporter
Dow Jones Newswires

Jon He
Editorial Writer
The Los Angeles Times

Pia Heikkila
Freelance Journalist
mergermarket

Christopher Heine
Staff Writer
Adweek

Jessi Hempel
Press, Internet and Technolgy
Fortune

Stephen Henn
Technology Correspondent
NPR

Arik Hesseldahl
Senior Editor
AllThingsD

Michael Hickins
Editor
The Wall Street Journal / CIO Journal

Patrice Hill
Chief Economic Correspondent
The Washington Times

Michael Hiltzik
Business Columnist
The Los Angeles Times

Peter Himler
Founder
Flatiron Communications

Dion Hinchcliffe
Contributor
ZDNet News

Adam Hirsch
Senior Editor
Mashable

David Ho
Editor for Mobile, Tablets, and Emerging Technology
The Wall Street Journal

Robert Hoff
Writer
Forbes

Melissa Hoffman
Deputy News Editor
Adweek

Matthias Hohensee
Senior U.S. correspondent and columnist
Wirtschaftswoche

Christopher Hosford
East Coast Bureau Chief
BtoB

Denise Howell
Press
ZDNet, TWiT

Dan “Shoe” Hsu
Editor-in-Chief, GamesBeat
VentureBeat

Jackie Huba
Blogger
Church Of The Customer

Katherine Hunt
Content Editor
Mergermarket

Elise Hu-Stiles
Digital Editorial Coordinator
NPR

Abraham Hyatt
Editor
ReadWriteWeb

Gretchen Hyman
Editor-in-Chief
iMedia Connection.com

Julie Ianuzzi
Executive Producer Vieo
MarketWatch

Mike Isaac
Senior Editor
AllThingsD

Amish Jani
Blogger / Venture Capitalist
Just Getting Started / Firstmark Capital

Adrianne Jeffries
Reporter
BetaBeat / The New York Observer

Nicholas Jesdanun
Techology Writer
Associated Press

Zem Joaquin
Blogger
ecofabulous

Ben Johnson
Producer
Marketplace Tech Report – American Public Media

Branwell Johnson
Deputy Editor
Marketing Week

Steve Johnson
Business Reporter
The San Jose Mercury News

Dan Jones
Journalist
Light Reading Mobile

Pradnya Joshi
News Editor
The New York Times

Peter Kafka
Senior Editor
AllThingsD

S. Mitra Kalita
Commentary Editor
Quartz

Ziad Kane
Editor-in-Chief
The Next Web

Cecilia Kang
Reporter / Blogger
The Washington Post

Matt Kapko
Writer
ClickZ.com

Rimma Kats
Staff Reporter
Mobile Commerce Daily

Guy Kawasaki
Blogger
How to Change the World

Kate Kaye
Managing Editor
ClickZ

Kevin Kelly
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October 3, 2013 in America The Free, Events, Magic Sauce Media, On Blogging, On Technology, Social Media, TravelingGeeks, WBTW | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2013

Embracing & Owning Your Imperfections Opens More Doors, Not Less...

People who know me well know that I'm a sucker for a new read. As long as there's not six other books in queue or the recommended book is so uncompelling I can't get through it, it's mine for the taking. When I was beating up on myself recently, a friend recommended I look into the work of Brene Brown.

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I started with her TED talk and then moved to her book: The Gifts of Imperfection -- oh such a compelling title in a country that deems itself more perfect than any other. Some may call it a personal self help book, and while aspects of that may be true, the category has gotten such a bad rap lately that I'd prefer to call content what it is designed to do: help you get from A to B through whatever wisdom the author shares through their vantage point and skillset. If that's self help, fine.

Is it self help when you need to learn a specific management skill and an expert who has the wisdom shares it through a book to get you unstuck? We look down upon wisdom that might help elevate ourselves and our sense of humanity but praise things that help our skills and ability to accomplish and succeed. You get my point.

Frankly if you dive deep enough into most things we do of "external value," there's always an underlining emotional issue that gets in the way. Take money. While clearly there's a skillset in trading, investing and allotting the right money to the right buckets, selling too quickly or making the wrong decision often comes from a place of emotional fear rather than following a code of what works and what doesn't. The best guys on Wall Street keep their emotions out of it but not all of us can. The same applies to raising kids, keeping a marriage together, staying healthy or running a company.

While most of Brown's references are personal ones, the gift that this "read" gave me was largely professional. Here's why. While clearly we all have moments where we're afraid to be honest with ourselves and others, throwing our vulnerabilities out there with a friend or group of friends tends to be easier, at least for me. I'm more likely to lift the shield in a personal environment than in a professional one. The former can expel me from their group while the latter can fire me, impact my revenue, reputation and most importantly, self esteem.

When I read that Brown was a "shame researcher," my immediate reaction was: how much is there to research about shame? Really? It's so specific that I couldn't imagine a professor dedicating her entire career to something that specific and yet, there are professors who dedicate themselves to ants and write lengthy scientific papers on the latest Melanesian ant fauna which end up as a TED talk, so why not?

Little did I know. Shame is not as specific as you might think. Through reading her book and doing some additional digging on my own, I can see how prolific it is in our lives, weaving its way into all aspects, from how we interact with family, peers, and loved ones to the person who hands us our double latte in the morning.

To deny that "shame" shows up in my personal life would be to deny being human, for we've all experienced it, however the piece which most resonated with me is how it awkwardly plays into professional relationships and dynamics, a place that doesn't use the word "shame."

Getting beyond it requires courage and compassion daily in order to live what she refers to as a wholehearted life. It requires practice. Malcolm Gladwell said it best in his 10,000 rule analogy. How can you ever ace something you don't spend time practicing over and over and over again? The same applies to our personal lives. In other words, proactively practicing courage, compassion, connection and empathy is how we ultimately cultivate worthiness.

Time and time again, I have witnessed people not asking for what they're worth and "owning it" while they're at it. I've been there - we all have. Given that PR in general is often perceived as being useless, provides little or no value and can't be measured, I find that many practitioners and consultants undersell themselves or charge on a transaction basis to bring the cost down in order to get the business. It's an act of desperation when you do this - it not only commoditizes our business and our value but delivers an "action" rather than the "value of that action."  

Women often have a harder time feeling worthiness and the moment we attempt to prove our worthiness is the moment we've lost the game. Often, we feel as if we have to prove ourselves particularly when a CEO or worse, a COO suggests that what we do didn't move the needle today. The problem at least in my industry, is that branding, communications and marketing doesn't move a needle in a day, or a week or even a month, although sometimes it can. It's a process, just like building relationships is a process. We cannot and must not ever measure our worthiness based on that formula and model.

Because of the nature of my industry, it's even easier to undercut our worthiness than say a doctor, who performs a surgery and suddenly a limb is working again. At the heart of what we do as communications pros is storytelling. Aren't the best stories the ones which are authentic, intimate and vulnerable at their core? 

I often feel that when I begin to go there with a client, fear gets in the way...not just on my side but on the client's side as well. The more I rely on emotion, intuition and creativity which is the essence of what makes me thrive at what I do, the more the client throws up roadblocks or devalues the deed because it's so untangible. Beauty, art and yes, even moving the needle often comes from untangible.

Is a brand that you buy again and again always tangible? Sometimes it is (it's faster, more durable) but more often, it's a feeling you have about the brand that brings you back again and again. This feeling is the result of years of storytelling and messaging, not six month's worth. And, consistency is key.

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One of our inherent gifts as professionals is that we excel at not just creating that story, but delivering it consistently again and again. It's an art and our clients need to understand that it's an art, not a science. Own that art and you own your worthiness. We shouldn't have to 'sell or prove our worthiness' again and again as if somehow showing a stat suddenly proves that our "art" is worthy.

Brown talks about owning our story and I'd ask you to think about how what she says here shows up or doesn't show up in the workplace. Where she refers to love, belonging and joy, replace the words with self respect, connection and courage.

She writes: "Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love, belonging and joy -- the experiences that makes us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light."

She also quotes Pema Chodron, a Buddhist writer who is one of my favorite authors. "In cultivating compassion, we draw from the wholeness of our experience: our suffering, our empathy, as well as our cruelty and terror. It has to be this way. Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounder - it's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity."

Hear hear Pema.

Flower

Here's another little bit of wisdom for those who have a hard time with imperfection and asking for help. Depending on what circles you travel in, some have a tight network (let's not forget the old school boy network, which yes, does still exist, especially in Washington), they rely on and often, they don't even have to 'ask' for help. It shows up just because they're part of that network. Others have different networks who help them out from time-to-time and others try to do it themselves...all the time: parenting, managing, creating, producing and running with very little delegating along the way.

Asking for help is hard when we are conditioned to strive for perfection, even if its something we disguise as perfect. From that place, we often feel that if we ask for help, we're indebted to someone and that lays over us like a negative card. Within the confines of that negative card, it's as if we're always trying to figure out how to repay for that help, even if the help wasn't a financial one.

This is how it shows up in many of our lives. While the following statement may sound counter-intuitive, it's true and she's right. Brown writes, "until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help."

This is also true: "Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us....because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance."

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While I know many a narcissist in my business circles and on the flip side, others who have gone through the hard journey to get to self-acceptance, many of us still struggle with pieces of it from time-to-time. When that piece shows up in our professional lives, we second guess our decisions when our intuition tells us its the right one or we don't ask for what we're worth because a client widdles us down or leads us to believe our value isn't worth a specific amount.

Suddenly we're in a place of proving that we matter when we matter for just showing up and sharing the gifts we can deliver better than that client or possibly anyone else. Bottom line, we should be paid well for it: the value of it, not the task of it even if some of that value can't be measured right away. I know people who have gone to psychologists for ten years - does the value of their work show up after a visit or does it take time to get results? What about a tennis coach? Does the value of a dentist's work show up after one time or let's put it another way, how would your teeth look and feel if you didn't have those bi-annual check ups and cleans?

Value shows up over time and if you believe in yourself, your client needs to believe in your value too or don't work with them. Walk away. I mean it - walk away. It's the biggest gift you can give yourself. When one door closes, another one opens. And if you're feeling fearful about that statement, think about Helen Keller's fabulous quote: "when one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one opening before us." 

Live from a place of true worthiness, self-respect and authentic living and as Brown puts it, a wholehearted life and things will blow open for you. While it may not happen overnight, it will happen as long as you trust in the process. As an old wise monk said to me on a hike in Nepal many years ago, Patience, grasshopper, patience.

Photo Credits: Original Impulse. Andrew S. Gibson. Tiny Buddha. Jenny's Endeavors.

May 26, 2013 in America The Free, Books, On People & Life, On Poems, Literature & Stuff, On Spirituality, On Women, PR & Marketing, Reflections, Social Media, WBTW | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 02, 2013

Lithuanian Start-Up Demos Cool GooGPS Travel App on Tablet PC

I discovered (and used) an interesting new GPS app from a Lithuanian company when I was in Vilnius Lithuania recently.

Gogoapp (4)

They call it GooGPS, and the model is data for travel and tourism for visitors. Imagine a Samsung like tablet PC that is loaded with all the best of a city - main attractions, festivals, events, museums, churches, restaurants and hotels, that is light enough to hang around your neck while you meander through a new city.

Then, imagine along side of that data, you have access to all your social apps like Foursquare, Twitter and Instagram, a video camera for easy capturing and a browser to check email....all on a device that is connected 24/7 and limited for E10 a day.

Gogoapp (5)

UAB is a global pioneer that is successfully developing a new business model – rent of tablet PCs for travelers. These guys have created a set of programs called “interactive travel guide” that works with a modified Android operational system.

In the system which is within a portable 7-inch tablet, you have 3D navigational maps, connected to their controlled interactive guide with places of interest, routes and audio content.

Gogoapp (1)

It is currently available for visitors to Lithuania and Latvia with plans to expand to other regions in the future. 

I tested it out for the day, which included site seeing in Vilnius, the main city and the outskirts. The only glitch I had was limited battery life, so the tablet died half way through my day but when it was up and running, it worked like a charm and was fun to use. Below is a video of me chatting to the product manager.

May 2, 2013 in Europe, On Technology, Social Media, Travel, Videos, WBTW | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 27, 2012

Paul Gillin's Attack of the Customers: Don't Be A Victim

THUMBNAIL_IMAGEI now have a copy of Paul Gillin's book Attack of the Customers, available on Amazon, which I'll dive into just after CES. The jist of it is how customers are rising up to have their voices heard: Why critics assault brands online and how to avoid becoming a victim.

He raises the point that an attack from a customer or a flurry of customers can go global and viral ina matter of hours, not days or weeks. The impact to a big brand once something negative goes viral can be traumatic.

Attack of the Customers explains how social media can be used to destroy as well as to build. It offers actionable strategies to prevent and prepare for disasters before they strike a company, demonstrating ways that creative engagement can turn critics into raving fans.

Read an excerpt from the book Gillin published many months ago before the book was published using the example of when Procter & Gamble announced the most significant technical advance in disposable diapers in a quarter century. The new Dry Max line featured an absorbent gel that improved diaper efficiency while cutting materials and costs by 20%.  

He uses real examples from some of the biggest brands today. He asserts that customers complain because they care and when they care, you can turn a disaster or potential one into a positive outcome using social media and other effective ways to communicate online. 

Additionally, Paul's blog post on the book's unveiling offers a discount code for 30% off.

 

December 27, 2012 in America The Free, Books, On Blogging, On Branding, PR & Marketing, Social Media, WBTW | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 16, 2012

Mobile Loco Brings the Best of Advertising, Geo-Location & Branding to the Mobile World

Crashing the pinatta (19)Held last week in San Francisco, the MobileLoco event merged the best of geo-location, advertising, branding and the mobile world.

Run by serial marketer Mark Evans, the event aspires to dive into the brand, advertiser and mobile convergence in the context of the Social, Local and Mobile (SoLoMo) marketplace.

The discussions revolved around what this convergence means for big brands, consumers, SMBs and the mobile and location industry.  

On-stage, we heard from the likes of Andrew Mason of Groupon, Benchmark Capital's Bill Gurley, Banjo's Danien Patton and the Mobile Engineering Lead of Airbnb Andrew Vilcsak.  Other voices included Bloomberg TV's Cory Johnson, Google's Don Dodge, Nextdoor's Nirav Tolia, Postmates Bastian Lehmann, Foursquare's Holger Luedorf, Micello's Ankit Agarwal and others. 

Andrew-Mason on stage (6)

Above: Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon

Client inTooch partnered with MobileLoco so users could easily and seamlessly exchange contact and social network information on the fly. A free mobile app for iPhone and Android, attendees could network that much faster and more efficiently using the app rather than have to exchange business cards or manually add Twitter and Facebook 'handles.'

Intooch booth (10)

Above: Steve Brehaut, Renee Blodgett, Julien Salanon

Since geo-tagging is built in, the inTooch app tracks where connection requests are made and will link all connection requests to the location, in this case the Mobile-Loco event in San Francisco, CA. When users browse through their connections, they can see all the connections they made at Mobile-Loco. 

There were other cool products there too. A group out of Japan from Daq was on-site showing off their creative iPhone and iPad IRUAL cases.  I find that most cases are pretty bland, come in plain colors or are frankly too tacky. Then there are those specifically targeted to the 13-18 year old market, but what happens if you don't fall into any of those categories? I loved their designs specifically aimed at women - from soft and feminine to daring and electric.

Irual iphonecase (2)

Then, I had a demo of DigitalGlobe, who apparently did a deal with MapBox on the same day. Mapbox, which is a provider of open source solutions for designing and publishing maps via the cloud, chose DigitalGlobe as their commercial and earth imagery provider.

Users can now incorporate DigitalGlobe's high-resolution satellite imagery as their maps' base layer for added quality and rich detail. The result can be quite beautiful, especially compared to the bland offerings today.

Mapping company (1)

Then I went back in time to my speech recognition and natural language processing days. I saw a nifty demo from a group who call themselves SpeakToIt. What they do? Develop talking personal assistants.

The SpeaktoIt Assistant is a virtual buddy for your smartphone that answers questions in natural language, performs tasks and notifies you of important events. The Assistant is meant to save you time and make communication with gadgets and web services easier and less stressful. 

Russian avatar speech NLP company (1)

All photos by Renee Blodgett.

Cormac Conroy
VP, Engineering, Products, Qualcomm
David Staas, President, JiWire

December 16, 2012 in America The Free, Client Announcements, Client Media Kudos, Conference Highlights, Events, Magic Sauce Media, On Geo-Location, On Mobile & Wireless, On Technology, Social Media, TravelingGeeks, WBTW, Web 2.0 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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