501 Places

Maybe I should have expected it. Others may have experienced it long ago. It was still a surprise however, to find my words on someone else’s site, without my prior knowledge and without any reference to my name or link to my website. Here’s the post I wrote on Saturday morning and here’s what popped up on the Themelis Cuiper website only a few hours later. My post, word for word. The only mention of 501 Places is in the permalink from my site that has been copied into the corresponding link on their site.

Should I be flattered that someone wanted to copy my article? Certainly not; it appears that this site has dozens of new posts every day. It’s easy to presume that the others might come from the same route, and that no-one actually read my post before it was posted on that site.

Should I be angry? I certainly was at first. How dare they!! But then I accept the reality that if you put your content on the web, there are thousands out there for whom copyright means nothing, and who consider all content to be theirs to do with as they wish. That’s just the way it is.

Who is behind this site? Themelis Cuiper appears to be a prominent internet presence. He describes himself as a ‘positive solution thinker’ and has a high profile on LinkedIn and Twitter. It would be fair to assume he is well versed in the etiquette of distributing others’ content online.

Should I take action? What can I do? Themelis Cuiper seems to be based in Holland. Do copyright laws apply across borders? Should I find out? In any case, keeping things in perspective, it’s only one blog post.

So what should I do? It seems like this is an occupational hazard of blogging. At some point, most bloggers will find their words sitting on another site and curse the cheek of the person responsible. It seems that a ‘Name and Shame’ approach might be the most pragmatic approach. It makes me feel better to get it off my chest, and it might just put a spoke in the SEO plans of these companies or individuals, presuming that is indeed the sole motive for their actions.

What do you think? I would welcome others’ advice, and also would like to hear whether this is an unusual occurence, or whether it is just goes with the territory of blogging.

“Social media is revolutionising our world. It is changing the way we interact with others, and the way in which companies and individuals do business.” “The old ways are dead; long live Twitter and Facebook.”

Presumably this brave new world comes with its own set of new rules. In search of these new commandments I have pondered my time spent reading others’ interactions and have gleaned a few observations (I’m sure I’ve missed many more):

1. Be nice. Thank people when they promote your work, give credit to those whose work you share with your connections.

2. Laugh and the world laughs with you. Having a positive (while realistic) outlook on everyday issues will attract others to listen to you.

3. If you’ve nothing good to say, say nothing at all. It’s easy to sling mud, especially when hiding behind a veil of anonymity. Nobody likes to lose face, and stepping back before launching a critical tirade can often preserve the dignity of all sides.

4. Like it or not, we are judged not only by what we say but also by the words we choose to convey that message. Filling our communications with profanities inevitably puts the messenger in the spotlight at the expense of their content.

5. It is very easy to add labels to ourselves. Guru, expert, no.1 whatever. I look at the self-written descriptions of the widely recognised leaders in a field. None of these words ever show up. Why? Because they don’t need to tell anyone how good they are; their achievements speak for themselves. If I see a person describe themself as a guru, an expert, or ‘The Leading’ whatever, my immediate impression is not a positive one.

6. Friends come and go; they will follow others for as long as it suits them and drop them when they no longer serve a purpose; people have their own agendas and when yours coincides with that of another more inflential person you can make great progress very quickly; it’s best not to take these things personally.

7. Nobody likes being sold to, but we all appreciate others who can listen and provide an answer that meets our needs.

8. It’s easy for anyone to shout. Loud enough and people will hear. The challenge is getting them to listen.

If you hadn’t noticed, I never used the term ’social media’ once in these rules, nor mentioned any technological platform. Isn’t that the point here? That the rules of how to use social media are in fact not at all new: they are the same rules that have applied to human communication long before the advent of electricity, the telephone and even the printing press.
Social media is not rocket science. While there are particular nuances to adapting our social skills to any new outlet, one basic principle holds true: whatever the next great new advance will be, the ability to communicate intelligently with others will always be the cornerstone to using it successfully.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames

Today we took a walk along the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge to Greenwich. The route is around 7 miles long and winds its way through the heart of London’s historic docklands. The purpose of our trek? To visit the new Solar Season at the Greenwich Observatory. It’s well worth a visit if you have an interest in astronomy, and the planetarium show ‘Secrets of the Sun’ is the highlight of the current exhibition. I’ve visited the observatory several times in recent years so my main reason for going was this temporary display, but we had a quick look at the camera obscura too (the ultimate spy device), something of which I never tire.

The Meridian Line in Greenwich: 0 deg E, 0 deg W

It got me thinking about the places I prefer to visit when we travel and how I tend to be very polarised (pardon the pun) in my interests. I have to admit to not being the world’s best appreciator of art. I will rarely go out of my way to visit a gallery. I’ve been to Madrid several times but never the Prado, and to Paris many times but only once to the Louvre; we were in New York for a year and lived three blocks from the Met and never set foot inside. I know, I know, it makes me a bad person in the eyes of many. In my defence I do enjoy looking at pictures in small galleries and displays when the mood takes me, and love staring at sea pictures and dramatic skies.

I do however enjoy science museums and get very excited by unusual natural phenomena. We have visited science and natural history museums across the world, and we both have a keen interest to see volcanoes wherever we can. We’ll travel out of our way to see meteor craters, unusual rock formations, geothermal spots, waterfalls, canyons, glaciers… any of the amazing natural wonders that grace our planet. I wrote yesterday about our experiences of seeing the aurora borealis; without doubt one of the greatest spectacles on earth.

Traffic light art; Canary Wharf

I wonder if others are also drawn strongly to either artistic achievements or natural wonders. Of course it is possible to appreciate both, but do most of us possess a strong bias for one or the other? I can look at a sculpture or painting and remain unmoved when others are speechless, while the sight of nearby flowing molten lava or a spectacular waterfall will have me enthralled and inspired, and I will want to spend a long time admiring the power and beauty of the sight in front of me. I appreciate that for others it is the opposite.

We are thinking of a trip to Italy at some point soon, and it’s not surprising that Florence will not be our destination. Instead we will head for the Aeolian Islands, and the active volcano of Stromboli in particular to see nature at its most fiery and majestic. And who knows, I might even buy a picture of the lava flows to hang on our wall back home.

75% of travellers take into account the reviews and comments of blogs and review sites before deciding on their holiday destination. That was one of the main findings of the GfK Ascent survey that was presented at last week’s CIMTIG Travel Vision 2010 event. Should that be a surprise? I suspect for those of us who book our travels independently the figure might even seem low. But when considering that the majority of the 15,000 respondents had just returned from a more traditional resort holiday, we should maybe sit up and listen.

If three quarters of holidaymakers are researching blogs and reviews to help them decide where they go on their vacations this confirms the high level of influence that certain sites have. I did get quite excited at this point. The thought of 75% of people consulting blogs before deciding where to go on holiday made me feel very important. Sadly that excitement was replaced by despondent realism after less than thirty seconds when the name TripAdvisor was uttered.

There was no breakdown presented of which sites people refer to for this ‘intelligence’. I would however suspect that TripAdvisor is far and away the most influential site in this regard. I rarely come across people who haven’t consulted TripAdvisor to check out the hotel they’re about to book, and most of us believe that they can see through the fake stuff and pick out the real reviews. So although I have no doubt that reading about a story on a blog can influence some people to want to visit a place (it’s certainly been the case with me), I am sure that most of the 75% of this sample was made up with those who just want to check out a hotel.

It is striking how much sway TripAdvisor does carry these days. I have stayed in a place where the owners need to spend almost nothing on marketing as almost all of their guests come via TripAdvisor. They provided outstanding service and people (myself included) were only too happy to spread the word.

When things go wrong on the other hand, there really is nowhere for hotel owners to hide. A bad review is seen by all, and if over half of future guests are reading the reviews, what does a hotelier do when a disgruntled client publishes his complaints online?

Some properties actively use Tripadvisor to manage their complaints publicly. They will reply to each comment, good or bad, thanking the reviewer and offering explanations or apologies as appropriate. It’s a great opportunity to show off customer service skills. After all, we all know that every business will get complaints. Those who are open enough to face up to these with public commitments to fix the problems identified will win out in this new world.

Of course this is only great as long as the hotel management are actually acting on their word. If you read the same complaints for six months and each time there is a promise to make things better with the complaint appearing again the following week (it happens), then it might have been better for the property management to have kept their head in the sand.

Brewing storm?

Last night’s excellent Travel Vision 2010 seminar at the Travel Club in London threw up a flurry of statistics about UK travellers. Hosted by CIMTIG and the British Travel Awards, the main part of the evening was the presentation of the findings of a survey of over 15,000 UK holidaymakers, exploring their decision making behaviour and travel plans. I will dwell on these results in future posts and some of these findings are directly relevant to those of us who scatter our words freely through cyberspace.

I felt one comment however was worthy of instant analysis. Simon Calder, the well known UK travel journalist and host of the Travel Clinic on LBC, a London radio station, spoke about the thousands of enquiries he gets each week from listeners looking for advice and information on all things travel; everything from where to go on honeymoon to how to pack a carry-on bag. In two years of hosting the show, the subject of carbon footprints, responsible travel or any environmental aspect of holidays has never once been raised. Not once.

My immediate reaction was one of surprise. Not that I expected it to be no.1 most popular item on the public radar, especially in these difficult times. But given the number of calls the show receives, to draw a complete blank in two years is telling. So what’s going on?

There is no shortage of green propaganda going out to the public. A favourite topic of the broadcasting media, the climate change message has been derailed to some extent recently by allegations of selective release of data. But we still see regular news items on the subject, and in the UK Channel 4 in particular offers a regular diet of documentaries focussing on social responsibility violations from around the world. The travel blogging world is full of those who focus on a green theme, be it reducing our carbon use or the social impact of our travels. A robust market in pushing the green message is there for all to see.

Many specialist tour operators are actively marketing their responsible travel credentials. Some feature the awards received for their social responsibility, others highlight the local communities who benefit from their activities. Hotels are keen to jump on the bandwagon, telling us how they will save the money they used to waste in changing our towels daily or having decent lights in the room, all in the name of saving the planet.

So the lavish Save the World party is meticulously planned, and everyone has been invited. But guess what? When the guests turn up, their only focus is the free booze. All the messages that have been carefully designed to capture the imagination of the guests are wasted as they concentrate on getting the most value from the free bar.

That’s the reality. While there are exceptions, when it comes to the crunch people decide on their travel plans based on cost, value, convenience and comfort, and the green issues are of no more than marginal importance. The messages relating to the long-term health of the planet or the welfare of those who are impacted by our travels are largely disregarded in favour of our immediate needs from our well-deserved holiday.

Many businesses have woken up to this, and market being green as a ‘nice to have’ extra rather than a customer winning benefit. Maybe the BBC and other broadcasters will also tire of sending out the same message to an audience that’s increasingly immune to its significance. Is that a damning indictment of the ineffectiveness of the messengers, or of the selective ignorance of the population. How have we got to the point where the potential destruction of our planet as we know it has become a boring story?

If, as it seems, there is little commercial gain to be had from the reputational boost of adopting a green strategy, the only organisations that will continue to drive responsible behaviour are those who do so because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Let’s hope there’s enough of those to make the difference required.