My niece is getting married in San Francisco in August. So my mom, who everyone lovingly calls “Oma,” has bought airplane tickets for my whole family so we can all go to the wedding together. After the wedding, my husband, two sons, and I are going to take four days to tour around the state. California, here we come!

Yesterday I realized we should start making some definite plans and book hotel reservations since the trip is only about six weeks away. So I went to the California state tourism website at www.visitcalifornia.com.  I looked through the site but I realized that what I really wanted to do was get a travel guide with photos and descriptions, and sit on the couch with my husband and sons to plan our trip. Continue Reading »

Yesterday I met with several managers of a hotel group to talk about PR, and the subject of social media came up. I was telling them of the power of online communities and networks. One of them then mentioned Travel Advisor . One of the managers at the table said he would not use Travel Advisor alone to plan a vacation but it might be one of the things he looks at. I told him that I agreed; I thought it should be one of the many sources of information you use for making travel plans.

So I’m putting it out to my blog readers. Do you use Travel Advisor when making plans for a vacation?  Do you use other services like Travelocity, Expedia or Hotels.com?  Do you read the comments that other people leave about their experiences? Do you believe them? How much do others’ comments influence your decision-making process? 

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I know this sounds sketchy (as my teenaged sons would say). However it’s really a good idea, believe me.

Every once in a while, I Google my own name. This isn’t driven by vanity, it’s a way for me to keep track of what’s being written about me and my agency on the internet. It’s one of my ongoing business metrics. I also Google terms like Maine Public Relations and Maine Social Media, which are terms where my goal is to come up as high as possible in the organic listings (organic listings are the ones on the left which are the non-paid listings.) Continue Reading »

I may have mentioned here before that I belong to a national network of agencies called the Alliance of Marketing Communications Agencies which is managed by Dave Wood of the Agency Management Roundtable.  At our last meeting, Dave talked about a new business development guru named Robb High. Dave had attended one of his day-long workshops and learned a lot.

So when I received an E-mail last week from Robb High announcing a series of upcoming seminars on new business development for agencies, I opened it up right away. He is coming to Boston next Tuesday but unfortunately I already have plans that day. Continue Reading »

I did it.

I completed the 180-mile Trek Across Maine this weekend for the second year in a row. I feel a great sense of accomplishment and relief. I’ve spent the last two months feeling obsessed about training and preparing for this three-day undertaking. Continue Reading »

I’ve signed up for quite a few social networking sites over the past several months. I feel that if I am going to recommend social media marketing to my clients, I need to have first-hand experience. One of the sites that is the most difficult for me to stay up on is Twitter.  It’s designed as a way for you to convey to your ’social network’ what you are doing, or where you are, on an hour-by-hour basis throughout the day. Continue Reading »

I was riding my bike on Sunday with Marcia White and her son Isaac, who just graduated from the University of Maine. He received recognition at graduation for being a real innovator, and now I know why. Continue Reading »