Disqus - Latest Comments for Shannon

Re: Reflections on Blogging at G20 Summit in London

Shannon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:28:33 -0000

Todd - I was so proud and happy for you to see you represent at G20 Summit. Your tweets were great and engaged people like me stuck in the Southern US. You rocked the place!

Re: Tidbit of the Day: Thoughts about BlogWorld 2008, and some people to meet

Shannon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:57:53 -0000

Daniel it was truly awesome to meet you. The Traveling Mamas heart you. Great post and I look forward to seeing you next year.

Re: 2008/10/06/joffreys-free-coffee/

Shannon — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:27:06 -0000

I'm normally a Louisiana Community Coffee drinker, but as a Traveling Mama who subsidises her income as a 911 Fire Operator and works many nights and weekends, I would love to try something that can keep me awake past that 3am witching hour where toothpicks are required to keep my lids open.

Plus, I love the marketing efforts :)

Re: The Me Game

Shannon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:57:52 -0000

I totally believe in getting out there to network, in fact it is how I've made most of my money and sponsorships. Plus, I think meeting others in the same field that I write about or have similar interests just makes the world a happy place.

There's something to be said about just being nice, and that is what you're really getting at, right? Let the person you are conversing with know that you are interested in THEM.

My grandma always said, "You can catch more flies with honey than lemon." Boy, was she right. Don't be a soupuss, people. Get out there and meet each other.

Great points in your post.

twitter.com/cajun_mama

Re: Tourism Bureaus and Bloggers

Shannon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:57:40 -0000

Hi Chris - I'm really glad that you bring this subject up. As you may already know, http://TravelingMamas.com is a blog written by four professional travel writers. As writers for print media, the four of us have made it our mission to school the travel industry on the importance of social media.

Many tourism bureaus and pr firms already see the value of introducing themselves to travel bloggers. On the otherhand, there ar many others in the industry that are old-school and resistant to change and still only value a magazine article, no matter how regional that magazine may be. They don't understand that through social media, they just might entice a new group of consumers to experience their destination.

Tourism provides jobs for so many people at various destinations. A drop in the number of travelers hurts entire communities. This is why we Boycotted the Staycation throughout the summer. If people stop traveling, entire cities will have serious economic problems in these trying times.

Kudos to such entities as VisitPittsburg, VisitFlorida, VisitPhilly, Oak Ridge CVB, and MWC-Anthology Group (as well as many others) for seeing the value in blogs.
When the tourism industry as a whole starts to recognize blogs as "real" medium, then maybe things will start to change.

Also, when new media and social media begins to recognize Travel Bloggers the same way they recognize the sports bloggers, the mommy bloggers, and tech bloggers, then I will be doing a dance of joy.

Re: How Bloggers Can Work With Tourism Boards

Shannon — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:49:49 -0000

Chris - Yet more words of wisdom comes from your greatness. I would like to echo the thoughts of a few of the commenters regarding tourism boards focusing on local bloggers. This isn't just on a city level, it is also on a state level.

I live in Louisiana and I am just going to throw myself out there and call them out for not being supportive of locals like myself (excluding the SW Louisiana area which is golden in my book). I've written NUMEROUS travel guides about this state and her various regions and many feature stories. I can't tell you how many times I want to bang my head against the wall when just trying to speak with these people. I even met with a local tourism board for a major city near me. I had to go to NC to get a 15 minute meeting with these people who work 10 minutes from my home. They were all nice and positive, yet when following up with them, NO RETURN CALLS. Oh wait, I did get an email, about 6 months later asking me to recommend them for a professional society.

It is very frustrating. I want to be able to tell people new things going on my area, but when the local tourist boards won't even help me with PRINT stories, I find it very hard to believe they would embrace a blog.

The great thing about blogging is that there is no one to dictate the subject of the post. If I want to write just about the chef that cooked me a fantastic meal, I can do that and I am not limited to the two sentences or so I'm allowed in a print pub to highlight a great experience. I've found wonderful treasures in blog when I research before I travel anywhere, whether for business or pleasure. Many times I will return on my own to a destination after attending a media fam, just to talk to other visitors and get their impression of an area.

Tourims boards need to do their research and coming to this blog is a great start for them to dip their toes into social media. Thanks for this post, Chris.

Re: How to Launch a Group Blog Project

Shannon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:40:34 -0000

One again, Chris, you rock the world with your posts. This is very helpful in assisting me in TRYING to explain what communities can accomplish. I will be sure to pass this around to the tourism industry in any way I can.

Thanks!

Re: Your 3 Goals for 2009

Shannon — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:23:01 -0000

Write - When I write, not only am I sharing my knowledge and experiences with my readers, but it also helps me release things that have been kept inside. I hope my words to inspire others to write (and travel), just as you are doing, Chris.

Teach - This is a big year for me, as an individual. I'm teaching various travel writing workshops in international destinations, organizing gatherings of travel industry peeps, and have taken on more consulting jobs in my field.

Travel - This is a given every year for me with family and with friends, but this year I plan on taking a short walkabout to regroup and reflect on who I am (and get away from my home area where five minutes alone is a gift in itself or someplace that isn't for work reasons). It may sound selfish to some, but as a mother and a wife, I just need that soul recharge, and fortunately my husband and children are understanding of this. I don't do this every year, but gosh dog it, everyone should do this at least once in their life. I'm Mom and I'm a wife, but I am also Me.

Re: When Pirates Board a New Ship

Shannon — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:52:58 -0000

Chris - How fun was that for you? I know you will always remember that "moment" of being on The Song. Things like this are so cool and that's why I love social media. You've been able to accomplish something that even travel writers haven't been able to do. You are a Rock Star!

Re: How Hotels Can Win More Business Travel

Shannon — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:01:54 -0000

Chris - Once again, fantastic post. I do consulting for hotels, small lodging, destinations, and attractions. Earlier this week I was walking along a private beach with an island owner, discussing these same issues.

One big thing that ALL lodgings should offer is comped wifi. It seems the more expensive the hotel, the more they charge you for the extras. Value is key.