Category
personal
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personal
Happy New Year and Welcome Back
It’s a new year and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to leaving 2020 behind and more than ever, have a fresh start.
The Holidays gave me time to process many of the things I’ve learned. Both in my professional and private life. I was also thinking about my blog here, sitting dormant for about five years. It’s not that there’s nothing to say. I’ve just switched to sharing many of them on the Destination Think blog.
But there are always more thoughts, ideas and questions floating around. And some of them I’d like to share. Because I’m also interested in other peoples perspectives and discussions.
May January first 2021 be a new beginning for my blog. Let’s see where the journey takes us.
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Management, personal, Think! Social Media
Think! Amsterdam
Today is a special day for me. The picture above is the entrance to our Amsterdam office taken by our new Thinkling Isabel. We’re starting our European operations today and I’m going to be ‘back home’ working with Isabel for the next few months.
We’ve already received a lot of positive reactions from Dutch and European DMO and tourism businesses. We’re looking forward to collaborating with the tourism industry in Europe to implement modern marketing strategies.
If you want to learn more, please contact Isabel or myself and we’d be happy to tell you all about our services.
william at thinksocialmedia.com
isabel at thinksocialmedia.com -
Internet, personal, social media
Social media and technology creates stronger relationships not weaker
08.25.11 | Permalink | 4 CommentsWhat about all this BS that technology and social media stop people for having real and genuine relationships? Social Media is making my life, and my relationships with people better every day.
Here’s my story.
My wife and I adopted our daughter two weeks ago from Japan. It was an amazing experience. But hard as well. We had to wait for two weeks in Tokyo for paperwork to processs. Anybody who is a parent knows how weird those first few days are. Being in a strange city where you don’t know anybody without a real support system can be tough.
But it didn’t feel like that at all. Skype allowed us to have our family in Canada and the Netherlands share the moment when our daughter got placed with us live. It was like they were there with us.
And over the next two weeks, people checked in all the time, we never felt alone. There was always somebody to see and talk to.
All our friends made us feel very connected and supported with an outpouring of well wishes and excitement from our personal networks on Facebook.
Even my Twitter followers, some of whom I don’t even know in person, were amazing in their support.
This wouldn’t and couldn’t have happened 10 years ago. And it was all free.
Social Media and technology connects people and builds stronger relationships with more people over larger distances. Because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s artificial or incomplete.
It’s just different, and it’s awesome.
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personal, Travel & Tourism
Giving a sh*t about your users is way better
Listening to your users? Absolutely. But giving a sh*t about your users is way better. –Gary Vaynerchuk (Web 2.0 Expo, 2008)
A couple of weeks ago, I cancelled a flight from Innsbruck to Vienna with Austrian Airlines. It was a connecting flight to Amsterdam. Because I took the train to Vienna a couple days earlier to meet up with my friends Martin and Olaf, I didn’t need the flight to Vienna anymore but I still needed my flight from Vienna to Amsterdam.
Austrian Airlines charged me $250 to cancel the first leg and keep everything else the same.
They were legally in their right but it goes against all common sense. Charge me a $25 or $50 admin fee? Sure. It took 10 minutes over the phone to make the change. Instead they charged me the maximum penalty. Because they could.
The person on the phone was very understanding. So was the person in the customer service department I emailed to complain. But the standard form letter was clear.
Please note that the change fee forms part of the existing air tariff as filed with the Department of Transportation. In the case of special fares once transportation has commenced, the change fee may not be waived especially when a situation arises that is beyond our control. […]
We trust that your flights with Austrian Airlines were otherwise pleasant, and it will be our pleasure to welcome you soon again on board.
Austrian Airlines listens. But they don’t give a shit. That’s not a winning business model.
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personal, social media, tourism bc, Travel & Tourism
Leaving Tourism BC, joining Think!
10.15.10 | Permalink | 15 Comments
My passion is to bring innovative marketing to the tourism industry so that travelers are happy and operators benefit.
The world has changed. Social media, online marketing and technology continues to disrupt traditional marketing methods and success will be defined by understanding new emerging principles, creating sound strategies with a nimble execution of tactics.
We need to bring 21st century marketing to the tourism industry. From the smallest operator to the largest DMO. I love sharing what I know and also learn from others. I want to do more of it.
So after 11 great years at Tourism British Columbia I’ve decided it is time for a change. Effective November 12, I will be joining the team at Think! Social Media. Rodney and Ben have built an impressive team of brilliant people who bring smart marketing to an exciting and growing list of clients in the travel and tourism industry.
Think! has a different approach. We live the principles of social media. The result is some impressive work and strong client relationships. Clients are now asking to build out the services beyond social media. We will do this while staying true to our values.
I’m sad to leave the organization who have given me so many great opportunities and especially the incredibly talented people I work with every day, around the world. People at Tourism BC, but also at our partners. I’m going to miss them a lot. But in a networked world, we’re only one tweet or status update away.
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Internet, Marketing, personal, Travel & Tourism
Presenting with a live twitter feed at PNWER
Today I presented our social media strategy for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the PNWER conference in Calgary. One of the things that goes through my mind while I’m presenting these days is “what are people in the audience tweeting about this presentation RIGHT NOW?” Today was different. I could see exactly what was going on.
At the start of my presentation I asked @seattlemaven (who runs Seattle’s Twitter account and was invited to speak but couldn’t be there in person) and the Twitterverse in general a few questions about social media via Twitter. I set-up Tweetdeck notifications and throughout the presentation, answers and comments popped-up on the screen.
The result was organized chaos, but I think it told an interesting story about the power and immediacy of social media. Either way, I had a lot of fun and great feedback from the audience.
Here are the questions I asked and the answers that came by during my presentation.
@seattlemaven When did you start, how many interactions do you have a day on average, and how much time does it take you?
- @wilhelmus Began Soc Med in June 2009. Currently 120K FB fans & nearly 6K Twitter followers. Brings truckloads of positive sentiment! #PNWER
- @wilhelmus Generally I answer between 10-30 ?s in a day. Time allowing, I also ‘jump into’ convos already happening about our city. #PNWER
- @wilhelmus Public tweets approx 10x/day – generates a lot of responses & builds our following AND the essence of Seattle/NW #PNWER
- @wilhelmus 1 hr/day, I’d estimate (but the fun-factor’s HUGE!) :o) #PNWER
@seattlemaven How are you different from a phone or in-person interaction with a consumer?
- seattlemaven: @wilhelmus Twitter allows me to speak to broader audience. 1 public tweet may answer question of 200 followers – that’s powerful! #PNWER
- seattlemaven: @wilhelmus Following me early (B4 arrival) they gain greater sense of area & more comfortable/willing to explore once they arrive. #PNWER
@seattlemaven What’s the best new hot bar in Seattle for a bachelorette party? (audience question)
- seattlemaven:@wilhelmus Pnk Ultralounge opens in a month – we can’t wait! Swanky & hot!!
- seattlemaven:@wilhelmus Amber in Belltown’s hip & fun – great drink specials & a private room that’d knock their socks off!
Tweeps, join me live at a conference. 1) Why should businesses care about social media? #PNWER
- mikalat: @wilhelmus Best advice for social media: figure out where your customers are/what they’re using. Start there, don’t worry about the rest
- seattlemaven: @wilhelmus #1 reason to start SM: People are talking (about you and others) you can either jump into the conversation or not. Do it! #PNWER
- mikalat: @wilhelmus Also – LURK! Read, follow and find out what your competitors are doing and take notes. Learn first, dive in second.
- erikrolfsen: @wilhelmus Don’t be a stranger. Fill out that profile information and do it in a way that will interest people.
2) What’s your #1 piece of advice when starting in social media? #PNWER
- nigel220: @wilhelmus we could learn a lot by listening to our youngest employees when it comes to social media!!
- seattlemaven: @wilhelmus über-important to be authentic — your audience knows canned vs. real! Real = experiences, voice, personality #PNWER
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personal
My Olympic Experience #2
Yesterday I went tmy speed skating event. The 10,000 meters for men was supposed to be a guarenteed gold for the Netherlands so we were all ready for it. Well, I once against was thought there’s no sure thing in life.
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personal
My Olympic Experience
I left our online activities for a day to take in an Olympic event myself. Sheri and I went up to Cypress Mountain to watch the snowboard halfpipe for women today. It was an incredible day. The weather was fantastic, our seats awesome and the athletes unbelievable. Torah Bright from Australia was a great winner.
The event was perfectly organized. Staff and volunteers were incredibly friendly and helpful. The transportation by bus to the mountain was flawless. Hundreds of buses were waiting to drive people back to the transportation points. Cudos to VANOC for this one.
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Marketing, personal, Travel & Tourism, Uncategorized
I am the media and the message: Remarkable experiences in Riga
11.11.09 | Permalink | 9 CommentsWord-of-mouth is the core of tourism marketing. Remarkable tourism product and experiences drive word-of-mouth. No amount of advertising can build credible awareness or brand like word-of-mouth.
While in Riga for the ETC eBusiness academy, I came across a few great examples of remarkable experiences that I’ve told to at least 50 people. Plus the people in my social networks have seen videos and photos. Many of these people asked follow-up questions. What are the people like? Is it expensive? Where is it?
I had dinner in 4 or 5 restaurants while I was there. They were all good. But I don’t remember their names. Except one: Hospitalis, a soviet style hospital themed restaurant. The video I took of my Austrian friend Martin below will explain why.
My new friend Maija from Riga invited me and Martin to “go flying”. No idea what she was talking about but how can you say no to that? About 20 minutes outside Riga was the Aerodium. Hovering 10 meters over a huge ventilator was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I would fly back the 12 hours just to do that again.
I’ve talked to people. I’ve posted photos and videos on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. I am the media and the message for Latvia Tourism. I wonder how many of the people I’ve connected with have heard of Riga before? And I wonder how many have Googled either Riga, Latvia, Hospitalis of Aerodrome. Will you?
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personal
In africa
03.29.09 | Permalink | 4 Comments
So here’s the view outside our tent/cabin this morning. Absolutely amazing. Unfortunately tourism is still impacted from the election trouble last year so we’re virtually alone in a fairly large camp. I’m not complaining.
William Bakker's Destination Marketing blog
William Bakker is Chief Strategist at Destination Think!. These are my personal thoughts.
