Golf courses and private golf clubs in particular may be the premier example of offline social networking. In a presentation at the National Golf Course Owners Association annual Conference, RockCheetah’s Robert Cole and ChrisStrauss of OB Sports Golf Management explain how to creatively apply social media and mobile technologies to help players and members interact with each other, drive more rounds and improve the end-to-end experience of the game itself.
The Yin and Yang of Social Media
February 8, 2012 By 1 Comment
The theme of the luncheon keynote presentation to the 2012 Receptive Services Association of America Summit Conference was “The Yin and Yang of Social Media.” The event was held at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans on February 7, 2012.
Social Commerce – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Social Commerce will evolve from the intersection of social computing, location based services and mobile technologies. Travel companies leveraging SoLoMo-Commerce (SoLoMoCo) will have an unprecedented opportunity to engage customers, create value and capture profits from an enhanced set of technologies by applying creative, traveler-centric marketing strategies.
Are Your Facebook Friends Revealing Secrets?
September 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Facebook’s privacy controls are much improved, but now the greatest challenge is users understanding of all those settings. without a viable method to view a friend’s privacy settings for posts made on their walls, Facebook users need to utilize tags and privacy settings normally used to manage posts made to one’s own wall to effectively control the distribution of posts on friends walls.
Say Anything… Fast Times at Social Media High School
April 8, 2010 By 2 Comments
Relationships are the foundation of social media. Relevance, engagement, honesty & trust are the four cornerstones when establishing interpersonal relationships. The same factors impact social media relationships. Parallels can be drawn between the perspectives on relationships provided in Say Anything…, the seminal coming of age film about the complexities of teenage relationships and the business-customer dynamics in social media relationships. Social media appears to have matured to a point where it is about to graduate from High School.
What a Skull Fracture Can Teach Us About Social Media
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The travel industry can create intensely personal and life changing experiences, but travel companies are still working to communicate with travelers in a more personalized and relevant manner. Social networking literally changes the rules of engagement. During times of crisis, social networks gain importance to support for personal relationships while brand relationships may be disregarded. Social media and social networking are constants – engagement is now variable. Travel organizations must now consider the value of a consumer’s social network and level of engagement into their lifetime customer value. With increased interactivity, brand relationships are becoming more like personal relationships. Emotional connections may take time to develop, require significant resources to maintain and turn ugly if mutual trust is violated.
New FTC Rule Helps Improve Social Media & Travel Reviews
October 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took a much needed positive step forward by introducing guidelines designed to differentiate between legitimate personal opinions and sponsored commercial endorsements made through social media. Individuals blogging or posting product reviews are now required, under threat of fines up to $11,000 per post, to disclose any material connections between themselves and the companies selling the products they are reviewing. This will improve the accuracy and reliability of hotel reviews and help eliminate unethical practices designed to artificially improve travel industry product rankings.
Change Your Thinking about Social Media
September 30, 2009 By 3 Comments
A parable of two men sharing a hospital room provides a foundation for considering the true spirit of hospitality and how the sharing of experiences through effective communication can create inspiration. For hotels, resorts, attractions, destinations and other travel suppliers, it is extremely important to provide a quality experience that meets or exceeds the customer’s expectations. With the growth of social networks, effective communication that is authentic and personal has the ability to inspire travel. To succeed, travel companies need to focus more on the “social” and less on the “media.” As opposed to communicating with customers solely to attain short-term sales, the goal should be to improve travel experiences and enrich the lives of their customers to establish true engagement. This approach helps grow a community that can inspire others to travel and enhance the cycle.
Socialnomics Should Not Be Voodoo Economics
August 27, 2009 By 33 Comments
Socialnomics runs into some fact checking issues with its video heralding the incredible growth of social media. The video inadvertently highlights the key issues most frequently cited by social media critics: First, not referencing its obvious creative source – the Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Brenman “Did you Know” work. Additionally, the difficulty in measuring the impact of social media is amplified by several statistics turning out to be grossly inaccurate or based on unsubstantiated opinions.
