The Hello Bar is a simple notification bar that engages users and communicates a call to action.

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Freshening Up Your Marketing for Less than $100: Finds on Fiverr

October 17, 2011 HOT TOPics
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The site Fiverr is asking the internet masses one question: What would you do for $5?   Hundreds of people are answering with an array of creative services and ideas. The site has grown into a bizarre and oddly useful online store. It’s a place to go for jewelry, language and music lessons, and professional [...]

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2 Hot Tourism Trends Spotted at US Travel Pow Wow 2011

May 31, 2011 HOT TOPics

This past week I’ve been in San Francisco enjoying sunny weather and hours of discussion about tourism at the US Travel Association’s International Pow Wow 2011.  I attended as a journalist, which is by invitation only, so I’m very grateful for US Travel’s extension of an invite to what is a fantastic event! Pow Wow [...]

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Talking Tourism at SXSW 2011

March 22, 2011 HOT TOPics
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South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive is one of my absolute favourite conferences – it’s a deep dive full of fun, networking, and education, all in Austin Texas, one of America’s most livable cities. Last year we featured four “lessons learned” from conversations and talks heard in the hallways, convention rooms, and cafes of Austin.  Here’s a quick [...]

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Travel Online Marketing: 2010 in Review

December 20, 2010 HOT TOPics
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Whew.  2010 has been one hell of a year.  Facebook rose to prominence, Google kept tweaking its algorithm, and the tourism industry continued to shift and adjust to the changing attitude of consumers.   It’s certainly made for a lot of food of thought, so what I thought would be a nice way to end [...]

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Tourism Geeks Talk Social Media at #SoMeT

November 22, 2010 HOT TOPics
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Last week I attended #SoMeT, the Social Media Tourism Symposium. This is the first year for the event, but it really got my attention for a one huge reason:  The location was “open sourced.” Hotels and destinations pitched themselves to host the event, and then potential attendees voted on those pitches.  That’s a very unique [...]

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Talking Tourism at Blogworld 2010 #BWE10

October 25, 2010 HOT TOPics

This year was my first year at Blogworld & New Media Expo, a popular new media conference held every year in Las Vegas.  I know many of the attendees as well as the conference director, so I was looking forward to it, and the event exceeded my expectations in every way possible.  The networking was [...]

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What To Do When Your Best Is Just Not Enough

June 14, 2010 HOT TOPics

Is there something in the air lately?  I’ve noticed a lot of small business owners feeling a bit stressed out, overstretched, and in general feeling in a bit of a funk. Perhaps we can  point to the economic situation, which some claim isn’t recovering in the way it should. Perhaps we can say that this is [...]

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Is Location-Based Social Media Good for Your Business?

May 10, 2010 HOT TOPics

So, everyone’s been gagging to know my thoughts on location-based social media – it seems to come up in conversation on a regular basis.  To be honest, I really didn’t see the value until my recent trip to Austin for South by Southwest.  Austin is very Wifi and digital-orientated to begin with, so you can [...]

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How Tourism/Hospitality Underdogs Can Fight & Win

April 21, 2010 HOT TOPics

I’ve just spent a few weeks in America’s Pacific Northwest.  Specifically, I’d like to reflect on the bustling city of Seattle – birthplace of Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft and other amazing brand names.  It’s also the home to the iconic coffee brand, Starbucks, who brought luxury coffee and the high-end café experience to countries throughout the [...]

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What’s a small business to do when disaster strikes?

April 19, 2010 HOT TOPics

I really can’t have predicted that today I would be writing about a volcano disrupting the travel sector.  But I suppose stranger things have happened, and the economic impacts of this event are just starting to surface.  The media are already talking about the death of many large businesses, such as airlines, but what about [...]

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