“It’s one thing to entertain people with hoaxes, it’s another thing to cheat out the widows and orphans.”  P.T. Barnum

“You cannot fool all the people all the time.”  Abraham Lincoln

Scott Lerman, who guided SATW through its recent branding process, presented an informative session at the Houston Convention. He presented quotes from P.T. Barnum and Abe Lincoln, then suggested morphing the two men into one, and calling him P.T. Lincoln. 

He suggested that P.T. Lincoln would say that it’s ‘compelling truth’ that’s at the foundation of a great brand and great branders need to figure out a compelling way to tell their story. Lerman warned against trying to be all things to all people.

He said that there are four elements to the development of a great brand:

1. Believe
2. Evangelize
3. Infuse
4. Renew Continue Reading »
   

I had the pleasure of attending an advanced travel blogging workshop at the Society of American Travel Writers meeting yesterday in Houston, Texas. It was presented by Chris Elliott who is a renowned travel journalist and blogger since 1996. The fact that he has been blogging for about 13 years is testament to the fact that he knows what he’s doing. Continue Reading »

I saw a blurb in the New York Times Escapes section about how the state Department is posting country profiles and travel advisories on Twitter. Check it out at www.twitter.com/csistate. The quote in the release was “We believe Twitter and other social networking sites offer us a cutting-edge way to share information on international travel more broadly, especially among young American travelers,” said Janice Jacobs, assistant secretary for consular affairs.

They also have a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-DC/US-Department-of-State/15877306073.

Wow. Even the State Department is going social media. I think it’s impressive.

For decades, one of the goals of the public relations profession has been to manage reputations, whether it’s the reputation of a person, a company, or an organization. Companies like Reputation Strategies in Portland, Maine, the brainchild of my friend Skip King, focus on this aspect of public relations. Skip and I got to know each other back in the 20th Century when he was doing PR for Sunday River and I was doing PR for Sugarloaf. You can subscribe to his excellent e-newsletter, with ’musings on the latest news and how communications have been handled.’ Continue Reading »

When I was growing up at home with my parents, my mom was always a stickler for correct pronunciation of words and correct use of grammar in the English language. So much so, that when I now see the word “it’s” when I know it should be “its,” or when someone uses “I” when it should be “me,”  the incorrect sound gets under my skin and makes me grit my teeth in pain. Continue Reading »