The Travel Vertical

Weekly stories curated exclusively for digital tourism marketers

19th Annual eTourism Summit 2018 Opens in San Francisco

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eTourism Summit 2018SAN FRANCISCO—With its steady stream of dozens of speakers sharing insights, the fire hose of information that is the hallmark of eTourism Summit 2018 got underway with Tuesday’s Pre-Conference Day Workshops.

Follow along at #eTS18 on Twitter and check out post-eTourism Summit summaries on Facebook and LinkedIn.

For those who could not join us in person, we emphasize that eTourism Summit is both an event and a community. We are thankful for that community and to our valued sponsors who allow us to keep eTourism Summit small enough for top quality networking.

And to those who are attending, a warm welcome to San Francisco! We invite everyone to stay in touch via The Travel Vertical…it’s free.

eTSY AwardsAnd this year, the winners in the first-time eTSY AWARDS for excellence, presented by Expedia Group Media Solutions and Simpleview, will be announced on Wednesday, October 11.

Every October (the month when this city enjoys the best weather of the year) an intimate, two/three-day conference in San Francisco is the epicenter of digital destination marketing.

Why? Because peer-to-peer sharing is integral to the aims, benefits, and actionable takeaways for those who attend eTourism Summit.

The bonus? DMOs can mitigate risks associated with trying new campaigns and digital platform uses by hearing from dozens of executives who bring their DMO experiences to life by sharing recent case studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get One of the Last Places for eTourism Summit 2018

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eTourism Summit guest speaker
Presenter Andrew Smith takes an eTS selfie
Seriously, what are you waiting for?

Only a few spots are left for eTourism Summit on October 10-11, 2018. Registration closes Friday, September 28 at midnight.

Four great Pre-Conference Day Workshops on October 9 are filling up too.

Facebook Guerrilla Marketing Workshop – only 3 spots are left

Nineteen years after its founding in 2000, eTourism Summit keeps a sharp eye on its original mission. And the 2018 agenda lives up to the promise. The workshop focuses on tactical manipulation of the platform to produce the best possible result for every single dollar invested. Thirty attendees are invited to come prepared with ammunition…a laptop. It’s a step-by-step, hands-on workshop. All the skills needed to ensure that micro-targeting is deadly accurate and that ROI will survive and thrive out there are adroitly presented by The BlitzMetrics Team.

Smartphone Video Storytelling Workshop – only five spots are left

The annual eTourism Summit is an important “See Tomorrow” moment in the fast-changing world of digital marketing. At the “Create” workshop, Instagram TV (IGTV), the new standalone vertical video application launched in June 2018, gets special attention in a hands-on workshop. Back by popular demand, the eTourism Summit smartphone video storytelling workshop makes an encore appearance with a sharp focus on IGTV. Teams of four are dropped off at iconic locations throughout San Francisco and return to edit raw footage for a video suited for IGTV. Industry leaders and professional editors lead the instruction and the editing modules. By the end of an action-packed day, a video is born.

Marketing Analytica Workshop – only seven spots are left

Geeks will love this new workshop when attendees take a day-long deep dive into data driven marketing. Sessions are jam-packed with insights and best practices for budgets of every size. Each presentation is facilitated by DMO thought leaders and marketing experts from across the U.S., unpacking and delving into real life examples. As a bonus, registered DMOs can mitigate risks associated with trying new strategies and campaigns by consulting with a curated roster of peers who share their own successes (and always some failures).
Innovation Station is free to attend for all eTourism Summit registered attendees and non-attendees. See the agenda and sign up here.

Drone Regulations: What You Need to Know

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Drone package
An $11K drone package

Drones create fun, sticky, sharable, and useful content. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as flying cameras have so many indoor and outdoor applications for DMOs:

  • Convention, facility, meeting space fly-through views
  • General destination marketing and tourism promotion
  • Website design
  • Collaboration for UGC purposes

Everybody’s onboard with enabling visitors to enjoy previously unimaginable points of view from a bird’s eye position.

If you get requests from drone owners, have a drone, or want to buy one, be sure know the FAA rules and regulations, including prohibited spaces such as National Parks, airports, and stadiums.

For FAA and state-by-state regulations, click here. For PC Magazine’s popular article covering the basics, click here.

 

eTourism SummitP.S. And speaking of video, have you signed up for the October 9th workshop at eTourism Summit? The streets of San Francisco is your production set in a real-time, hands-on session led by experts. Click to find details and registration for: Create: Smartphone Video Storytelling for Instagram TV.

 

 

You’re Simply the Best: Last Call for eTSY Awards

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* Submission deadline extended through Friday, September 7 at midnight *

Recognizing that many of you are still working on your entries, we are extending the deadline. Hurray!

Don’t procrastinate any longer. Submit your innovative campaigns in order to be recognized as one of the best in tourism marketing and to be in the running to win an eTourism Summit Excellence (eTSY) Award.

With 13 unconventional awards, there is surely a category where you shine.

Winners will be recognized at the eTourism Summit in San Francisco on October 11.

Award Categories: 

Video Awards

  • Reality Check Award – Unleash the imagination and show everyone what cool looks like in this fast-changing 360-degree world of ours. We’re looking for the best augmented, virtual or mixed reality video.
  • The SQUIRREL! Award – May we have your undivided attention (for just a moment), please? We’re awarding very short storytelling videos in 6-second, 15-second and/or 30-second versions. Be quick about it!
  • Marathon Video Award – Some stories just can’t be rushed. If your story has a beginning, middle and an end, how have you kept viewers interested throughout a long-form video? We can’t wait to see.
  • “Live From…Anywhere!” Award – It doesn’t have to be live from New York and it doesn’t have to be a Saturday night. We want to see the best use of live video, and something recorded on a smartphone will do just fine.

Digital Content Awards 

  • It Deserved to Go Viral Award – Greatness rewarded. Your campaign was so clever…and it really did deserve to go viral. So let’s help you out with some extra love and shares. Tell us all about it from concept to budget to distribution.
  • X-Ray Vision Award – You know your target audience better than the average bear. We want to shine a laser beam on the best realization of a creative based on a powerful “Aha Moment” traveler insight, because…epiphanies happen.
  • Peddling Influence Award – This one is simple — just like dealing with social media influencers (LOL). Let’s find the absolute most successful influencer marketing campaign and learn why.
  • Content King and Queen Award – If the Content King married a commoner, would she be the Content Queen? We say yes, because  behind every successful Content King there’s a Content Queen. Let’s celebrate the best 2018 content marketing program in the eTourism Community.
  • Riches in Niches Award – “There’s gold in them thar hills!” We’re prospecting for the best niche marketing campaign. What have you dug up in some hidden corner?
  • Spam-Me-Not Award – Seriously, this is important. The best email marketing campaigns use so many tools: big data, best practice, personalization, graphics, a call to action. Now you can get even more out of your email signature by winning this award.
  • Post With the Most Award – Against the odds and the algorithms, you’ve captured great organic reach via shares. What percentage of your Facebook followers did your post or video reach without spending a dime? Capture a screenshot and tell us how.
  • Where the Magic Really Happens Award – The internet is a crowded place. We’re calling for the most creative, effective destination website that combines speed, beauty, function and irresistible traction in turning browsers into travelers. Is it yours? Campaign microsites qualify for entry.
  • Other People’s Money Award – We like the math when 2+2=5. Have you jumped in with both feet (and a wallet) on one of the best ideas in a digital co-op program? Share the details, the budget and the ROI to win admiration at #eTS18.

For more details, visit the eTSY Award application site.

 

Do You Really Want Another Water Bottle?

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Honestly, how many more giveaway water bottles, pens, and tote bags can you use? Conferences and trade shows are awash with a myriad of logo-laden promotional SWAG items.

However, at eTourism Summit, we’ve re-imagined SWAG (“stuff we all get”) into stuff that you’ll really want.

Instead of promotional giveaways, we’re optimizing value-added benefits available at no charge to #eTS18 attendees. For example:

Get even more value by beating the clock…the registration rate increases on September 1  and the hotel room block cut-off date at Park Central Hotel is September 21. See you in San Francisco in October!

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Laurie Jo Miller Farr, Editor
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