Virgin Atlantic V-Jam Event

I had a very corporate day yesterday in London at a Virgin Atlantic event, V-Jam. The agenda was as vague beforehand as it still is retrospectively, get loads of people in a room with either a connection to Virgin, travel or social media and then talk about it...... Ok, so we're going to write their social media strategy for them are we? Hmmm not even sure if we did that, but hey there were some interesting people there, some insightful conversations and free chocolate, so i shouldn't be too critical.

Aside from the usual ice-breaker sessions, the majority of the time was spent in very informal brain-storms, (which, as Alex Bainbridge writes in his post, were seriously lacking in some kind of moderation.) I went to 2 sessions, the first of which was addressing the issue of how Virgin should / could capitalise on social media. We were outnumbered by Virgin employees who were all keen to understand the 'secrets' of social media and how they should be using it.  Toying with the idea of their own social network seemed to be high on their agenda. They are clearly monitoring blogs and forums already for mentions of their customer service and then (like many other large co's) are unsure with what to do with the information.  They have identified the influential bloggers in the industry and are unsure as to how to approach them.  (After the recent blog camp debate 'tread carefully' would be my advice!) They were keen to get our feedback on this dilemma. 

Personally, I think it does pay for a company such as Virgin to be aware of what people are saying about them and to act on the feedback in an open way.  However, rather than getting lost in the fog that is 'social media' they should remember that this is more about good old fashioned customer service, rather than funky web 2.0 technology.

The 2nd meeting was a more generalist conversation about how people can find information about destinations and be inspired by them. This began by everyone in the room being asked to choose 1 word to describe what motivates their decision when booking a holiday.  This infuriated me because there are several 'need states' for a holiday and I think pigeon-holing consumers into one category the 'you have children therefore you must only want child-friendly holidays, therefore I will only try to market family resort holidays to you' is actually very short sighted. 

The conversation then became dominated by a discussion about the collecting and profiling of complex consumer data and thus the ability to market to them according to their needs.  What Amazon do for books etc could be done for travellers.

Now, those who know me will appreciate that I am not exactly an early-adopter of technology, so I'm not necessarily best qualified to judge the technical capability of this.  However, I can't help feeling that tech development should be driven by a consumer insight, rather than an exciting programming proposition. And as an impulsive and unique individual, I would far rather have access to a site that allows be to browse and be inspired (ahem some self-promotion here, how about a site called tourdust?) rather than be told by a programme that I should be going on a package holiday to Spain because I have 2 children.. OK, this is turning into a rant, move on Anna, move on.

The event didn't so much end as peter out, with no conclusions presented on how Virgin will progress on the day. However, I'm told that they will be in touch in 3 months with feedback. So I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

What a Week!

phew, where do the weeks go? We have been megabusy signing up travel companies to feature on our website.  Our initial recruitment plan is to call every one we have identified and speak to them in person and to develop a personal relationship with them.  Despite the fact that this is very time consuming, it has really given us a chance to talk to them and understand their businesses. What has been really gratifying is the support that we have received from nearly everyone we have spoken to.

And we have found some fantastic products to feature. A Question of Taste in Spain, offer gourmet food tours, which look amazing. They have been incredibly supportive in signing up our site.

Another great person we have spoken to is Scottish Fishing Guides up in Scotland.  He was the first person to sign up to the site and despite numerous issues with uploading photos and registering (thankfully all resolved) he stuck with us and gave encouragment throughout.

We still have quite a long way to go until we get to the level of content that we want, but the first signs are incredibly encouraging and exciting.  A big thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way.

 

Cold Calling

We have been a bit quiet here on the blog front this week. As the bug fixing is almost complete  on the website (hurrah), we have thrown all of our energy into signing up tour operators in time for our launch in January.

Cold calling has never been something that has appealed hugely to me, but I can't deny that it has been very good for both of us to step out of our comfort zones. I can't tell you how daunting it was picking up the phone on Monday to speak to the first people on the list. For this I completely blame modern technology. I never use the phone anymore - all my social arrangements are arranged by text and most of my business work is done via email.  So speaking on the phone is something I only really do as a last resort these days.......  However, it has been a positive experience so far and has allowed us to get closer to the people that we will be working with and dare I say it, I think we are both secretly enjoying it. 

So far, we have had a positive approach from 80% of the people who we have called, the question is, how do you convert people from being enthusiastic on the phone to actually signing up on your site? I believe in the world of sales this would be classified as 'closing the deal.' Any tips gratefully appreciated. In the meantime, I'm sure you will hear the screams of joy when we have our first sign up....

Inspirational Travel Companies

Life has been incredibly hectic over the past few days, so I haven't had much time to digest our day at the WTM at ExCel on Tuesday.

It was a hugely over-whelming experience, with so many people both visiting and exhibiting. From my point of view, the event didn't quite live up to what I had hoped - the operators there were, for the most part, much larger and mainstream than we are looking to recruit for tourdust.

However, we did meet a couple of individuals who were truly inspiring in their attitudes to responsible travel and local communties which I would like to share with you;

The Storms River Adventure Company offer high wire adventures, trekking and exploring activities in the Tsitsikamma National Park in South Africa.  At the heart of the company's ethos is their attitude and commitment to their local community; food programmes with local schools and sports initiatives with local children are just a couple of the ways that they are trying to improve the lives of local children affected by HIV.

In India, The Blue Yonder is another tour operator dedicated to responsible tourism. This company is dedicated to support their local community whilst offering travellers an authentic tour of their country. Initiatives include raising of funds and awareness for their local Nila foundation and working with street children in Delhi.

Amongst the commercialism of the WTM (and London itself), it was so refreshing to speak to such dedicated and inspirational companies who were putting local projects and people at the heart of their business. I think we could all learn a thing or too from them about our responsibility to the environment and our local communities. Even small gestures can make a difference, like making an effort to shop for fruit and veg at your local market or buying your Christmas cards from a charity shop instead of a supermarket.........

Travel blog camp write-up

Yesterday was a full day of exposure for the team at Tourdust (that being Anna and I). Following a long march around the hallowed halls of Excel for the World Travel Market, we were off to the Travel Blog Camp.  Ostensibly an excuse to network with travel bloggers and people in the industry and hopefully learn a bit about blogging. (As you can tell, I've a lot to learn)

The first half an hour was great, an informal opportunity to meet some people.  Met a nice guy, Jared Salter, who is in a similar stage of start-up to us.  An interesting sounding idea, matching travel planning up with events / festivals etc.  and certainly looks like it is well executed (joobili.com) - one to look out for.  (Sorry Jared if I have explained it poorly)

After that there was a succession of speakers talking about blogging.  Alex Bainbridge did a good job of distilling the essence of succesful blogging.  Which seemed to be (1) getting around and adding relevant / helpful topics on other people's blogs and (2) writing your own stuff with your own angle (not just re-hashing).

Karen from Europe a la carte had some interesting things to say about consumer travel blogs trying to make money from a consumer audience.  Which by all accounts is a struggle.  Alex B. made a good point comparing Europe a la carte to someone like worldreviewer.com.  Does make you wonder if a blog is the right format for this kind of information.  If you've got editorial content to inspire and inform travellers, then it makes sense to me to structure it in some kind of geographical & activity taxonomy (so people can easily find what they want), and invest time and effort to monetise the traffic by cross-selling relevant hotels, flights, activities. (which is kind of what worldreviewer do very well).  Both Europe a la carte and worldreviewer.com do this to some extent, but there is no doubt that worldreviewer have put more attention to making the content appear in an inspiring format, and in trying to monetize it.  

The next speaker raised the temperature a little.  A lady from a social media agency talked about STA travel buzz.   In my opinion, having had a little experience of marketing in large corporates, this is a great example.  They are pulling in all sorts of commentary from around the net into one place, so travellers who want to find out about STA can come to one place and find everybody's feedback.  A great and transparent service to their customers, and probably pretty much the extent to which a large brand can engage in social media.   However an argument raged around how involved a brand should get in individual consumer conversations.    From the reactions in the room you certainly get the impression that the blogging community tended to treat large brands' social media strategies with scorn.   I've been on both sides of this fence in various guises, and I do think it is hard for outsiders to comprehend the context in which large brands operate and the internal cultures at play.  For what it's worth, I believe it's ok for a brand to wade in & put things right if someone is really shouting out loud about a bad experience.  After all this is what the blogger is asking for.  In most other circumstances though, the danger is too high.  The online community can turn very quickly on a brand, and the PR consequences can be drastic - which is just not something an individual blogger need worry about in the same way.

The final talk was from Kevin May (Travolution) and he wanted to create a bit of debate. Unfortunately what ensued was a navel gazing circular conversation about the triumvirate of PR, journalism and blogs (must admit I kind of switched off).  The shame was that by highlighting the distinctions this rather poisoned the mood for mutual supportive networking.

Overall though a huge thankyou to Darren from Travelrants for organising the event.  Darren came across as a really genuine guy with little pretentions, and it's no small feat organising something like this.

Anyway my main recommendation for future events (and I personally hope there are some future events like this) is that we should try to create a more open and supportive network. There was definitely a pecking order last night, and in this respect the difference between this event and many of the events I've attended in the tech community was huge (e.g. opencoffee meetup).    Everybody in the room will benefit from a larger online travel community in UK, be it bloggers, startups or established brands.  And you only get a community if the newbies are made to feel comfortable to approach some of the more experienced hats for advice and tips.

places to get the travel-buzz in blighty

Starting a business has somewhat limited our travelling options recently - much to our consternation!  So we have become suckers for things to do at the weekend that can somehow feel a bit exotic and well travel-esque.  So here is a list of places that feel a little bit different:

1. Camden Lock Market, London.  Ok there are some pretty strange looking people, the food from the stalls never tastes as good as it looks, and you have to deal with a curious mix of vegetarians, rockers, hippies & barrow boys, but there is no denying it is different.  Loads to look at and none of your bland high street here.  You even get the crazy women shouting at you trying to sell you some egg fried rice slop just like you do in Thailand!

flickr user: Toni Verd flickr user: Rob Inh00d

2. Borough Market, London.  Definitely more well heeled than Camden.  Cheap street food from around the world becomes pricey gourmet delight for moneyed londoners.   Still you can get some delicious food here, and very (very) vague reminders of night markets in Malaysia....

flickr user: Rob Qld 

4. The Lanes, Brighton: Much in the same vane as Camden, but a little less weird and less mainstream at the same time.  Loads of independent stores and coffee shops.  The San Fancisco or Melbourne of England.

flickr user: lewisamdreamer

3. East Anglia, The Norfolk Broads etc.: hmm a strange one (in more ways than one), and must admit I've never spent a lot of time here, but I've always thought that is a bit different to the rest of England.  All that flatness and the broads.  Kind of feels a little bit different.

Unfortunately pretty much all the other towns in England are all "same same but different" - so am struggling to think of any more.  Anyone have any ideas?

Nearly there........

After the births of both of our children, Ben and I have suffered from a severe case of itchy feet. Shortly after the birth of Alex we relocated our family down from Manchester to the South East and Emily's birth also threw us totally off kilter and in a new direction altogether. I have thought quite hard about why their births caused such a profound shift for us and think that the main reason is that they caused us both to really question what we were doing with our lives and why. This new weight of responsibility meant that we couldn't continue with the norm, but forced us to question every aspect of our lives.

So, in June 2007, when Emily was 2 months old, we went on holiday to Devon, where we spent the whole time the kids were asleep plotting our next move.  We had established that we were fanatically passionate about 2 things; our love of offbeat travel and our family, the question was, how to combine these two parts of our lives. The answer, it seemed to us, was simple; start a travel business and share the childcare and the business between us. Ok, now for the hard bit, how?

We spent nearly all of our spare time in the following 6 months (in between working, weaning babies, potty training toddlers etc) developing our nugget of an idea into a robust business plan, with much blood, sweat and tears along the way. Finally, at the beginning of 2008, we were ready to start talking to close friends and family about our plans and the new direction that our lives were going to take.  In the months that followed, we managed to secure funding for our business and briefed several agencies about our idea and how we wanted to execute it.

Then, in June, we began work with 2 agencies who we felt (and have proved themselves to be) a cut above the other people we spoke to; Clearleft for the front end and New Bamboo for the back end. The development of the website began in all earnest, with the 2 agencies, me, Ben and Peter (my Dad) our techhie guru.  This was such a steep learning curve, with decisions needing to be made left right and centre, we needed to learn to trust each other's judgement and everyone on the team.

Finally, in October, we reached the point when we could start putting all of our focus into our new business venture and since then have been working hell for leather in getting the site ready for launch. With brief handovers at lunchtime, when we exchange tales of the events of the morning at  pre-school, nursery and work, we have now settled into a routine of juggling our lives and (fingers crossed) so far everyone seems to be surviving and even enjoying it.

So, the site is almost there, with, at the time of writing, only a handful of bugs left to fix and then it is over to us to get the content up and to reveal the site to you all, can't wait to see our dream finally come alive.........