Category Archive: Ski industry

Content that goes viral – one Lake Tahoe ski resort creates a viral effect on social media

Posted by Milena Regos on February 28, 2012

The lack of snow this year has created plenty of challenges for ski resorts including coming up with engaging content to share on their social networks. I really enjoyed seeing all the posts from all Lake Tahoe ski resorts during and after the last snow storm – from videos and photos to simple updates. After seeing many of my friends reposting one photo from a ski resort to their own Facebook pages, I have to admit the photo had gone viral.

The winner is………….. Mt Rose Ski Resort! With close to 200 likes, 19 comments and most importantly 49 shares, this photo posted by Mt Rose Ski Resort went viral on Facebook and got a lot of traction. And best of all – there were no sales or promotions attached with it. Just two words: POW DAY written in the snow. Short and to the point – but also very needed visual this winter.

Mt Rose pow day goes viral

Mt Rose realized they had created a small viral effect with the photo and used it again the next day with a clever bottle measurement stick. Once again, people loved it. The content works for their audience too – skiers and apres ski fans. The perfect combination for this photo. At the time of this blog post, the picture had generated over 259 likes, 29 comments and 62 shares.

What makes content go viral on the web? The info graphic below contains excellent tips and ideas as to what will help your content take off on the social web regardless of the type of business you are in. As far as ski resorts go, a good snow storm always helps engagement.

Have you seen any content lately that has gone viral?

Categories: Blog Business Facebook Lake Tahoe Marketing Photosharing Ski industry Social Media Success Stories Travel & Recreation Web 2.0 tools | 3 Comments »

Cool brand new app for the tourism industry – TourWrist

Posted by Milena Regos on November 30, 2011

This brand new shiny object got our attention. It’s called TourWrist and we see a lot of marketing and social media potential for travel and tourism brands, ski resorts, real estate, hotels, photographers and any other company in need of a 360 virtual tour to showcase their product or service.

What are some of the reviews this app is getting:

• Featured by Apple! Winner of the 2011 Communication Arts Interactive Annual!
• Experience what some are calling the #1 Free App of All Time.
• “One of the most spectacular virtual-tour user experiences I’ve seen” – Fast Company Design

What we like:

App: It comes with an app for iPhone or iPad so to fully utilize it, get the app.

Ease: Snap a panoramic or 360 degree photo with your iPhone and using the platform turn it into an amazing visual that will really make your property, resort, hotel or shop pop up on the Internet. Professional photography will look great on this tour. Imagine the possibilities for marketing your venue.

Augmented Reality: Using this app on your iPad is super cool. Check it out today for a glimpse of the future.

Example of a tour: Don’t try to click on the image. Unfortunately, TourWrist doesn’t allow to embed tours in WordPress sites. If you wan to see a tour in action, click here. It’s a cool photo from Sand Harbor that Jen Schmidt took last summer.

Marketing tools: You can share your tour on social media, embed it on your site (except for WordPress and Posterous sites) and even create a QR code for it.

Price: So far, it looks like it’s free so that’s AWESOME. Hope it stays this way.

We are planning on spending some more time with this tool and really putting it to work for marketing purposes with travel and tourism brands. If you have used it already, let us know your feedback or just check it out.

Special thanks goes to Mike Henderson who posted it on Facebook.

Categories: Blog Brands I like Business Golf industry Marketing Ski industry Social Media Social Media Marketing Technology Video Web 2.0 tools | 6 Comments »

Should I hire an intern to run my social media?

Posted by Milena Regos on November 4, 2011

Marketing people wear many hats today and recently they have a new one – the social media hat. With added responsibilities and the same amount of time in the day (not to talk about compensation) some marketing folks are turning to interns to help out in the social space. They are after all more internet savvy and have hundreds of Facebook friends so they should be able to run the social media for the company. Right? For companies in the travel&tourism space, interns are fairly easy to find as the perks are better – free lift tickets, free access to places, and bragging rights to friends.

Proceed with caution. Some interns will make a great addition to your marketing staff and some may lead to a disaster on social media. Ultimately, it’s your company’s reputation that is at risk.

Below are some guidelines and considerations to follow.

1. Your social media intern will represent your travel brand online. Their personality will inter-vine with yours. They will become the voice for your tourism brand online. Make sure they understand your business, your market and your industry and can speak on your behalf.
2. Make sure they understand marketing. Yes, being authentic and real online is fantastic but the reason to be on social media is to extend your reach, creating new relationships while forging existing ones. It’s all Marketing 101. Does your intern get this? I’m not talking about blasting your community with the latest sale and promotion. I’m talking about how you provide value to your customers.
3. Make sure they have at least the basics of social media. The fact they have a personal Facebook page and watch YouTube videos doesn’t qualify them for being a social media guru (ninja, expert, fill in the blank here). Good communication skills and writing skills are essential for social media.  Do they have a basic understanding of running a Facebook business page? Do they know how to start creating an online community? And if they don’t, do they know where to go to find the answers.
4. Protect your brand by asking them to sign a social media policy. Mistakes happen but sometimes an intern or an employee can knowingly do something really damaging to your reputation. Make sure they sign your social media policy. If you don’t have one, at least go over some general rules and guidelines as to what’s acceptable on social media for your travel brand.
5. Create a plan for them to follow. Most interns need a lot of supervision and direction. Just spending time on Twitter and Facebook won’t be too beneficial to your company. What would be your social media strategy? It’s probably best if you spend the time to develop a plan and then go over it with your intern to make sure they understand it and can follow it. Develop a 6 months plan with KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Establish benchmarks. Create an editorial calendar. Come up with some contests. Look at your brand across different social networks and decide how to engage with your followers at each one. Then, once a month sit down with your intern and review where you stand. Learn from the experience online and improve your plan. Hold them accountable if your measurements allow.

Interns can be a great addition to your marketing team – from developing content like videos and blog posts to monitoring your brand reputation online and your social media presence daily. For brands in the travel&tourism space it may be easier to find social media interns that are passionate about the company. It also helps if you can pay them. Who wants to work for free these days? At the same time, who doesn’t want to ski powder all day long and take videos or stay at a nice hotel, go kitesurfing and write a blog post about the experience? Interns can be very enthusiastic about what they do and they can bring lots of energy to your marketing team.

Capitalize on the good and minimize the dangers by having a good plan before you go out seeking interns. For more information on what to look for, I found this post on Mashable.

What is your experience with interns? For the most part, I have to say mine was favorable under the right expectations. And yours? Leave a comment in the space below and let us know. Would you hire an intern? Why or why not? Interns, what do you look for in an internship? What companies would you like to work for?

Categories: Blog Golf industry Marketing Ski industry Social Media | 2 Comments »

I’ll be jumping in Lake Tahoe on March 6 for Special Olympics – Support the Cause

Posted by Milena Regos on January 23, 2011

In support of Special Olympics I’m going to jump in Lake Tahoe on March 6. Crazy? Yes!

1. The Cause -  Special Olympics. Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

2. Special Olympics history – The concept for Special Olympics was born in the early 1960s when Eunice Kennedy Shriver started a day camp for people with developmental disabilities at her home in Rockville, Maryland. The first International Special Olympics Games were held in 1968 at Soldier Field, Chicago with 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada.

Mrs. Shriver’s vision has grown into one of the largest and most successful sports and volunteer organizations in the world. There are Chapters in every state of America and in more than 140 countries worldwide serving more than one-million Special Olympics athletes.

3. Special Olympics Northern California is proud to serve more than 13,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities.

4. Diamond Peak and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe have been the proud sponsor for Special Olympics two years in a row. This event receives support from the community and many IVGID and Hyatt employees.

5. My pledge - My goal is to raise at least $5,500 for this organization and I’m counting on your support.

6. It’s a party! – On March 6th, come to the Hyatt pier and watch me jump in the freezing waters of Lake Tahoe. Temperature is around 40F (4C). Brrrrrrrr!!!!!! Bring your cameras! I will need your support.Even better, sign up to jump in with me.

7. Please, donate. Every little bit will help me reach my goal. You can donate online here.

8. Spread the word. We can do it together. Let’s use social media, online and personal networks and let’s raise some money. These kids need it. We can all help.

Are you in?

Categories: Blog Business Customer service eMarketing Events Lake Tahoe Life Marketing Ski industry Social Media Word of Mouth | 3 Comments »

Is the Travelocity contest on Facebook good or bad?

Posted by Milena Regos on February 1, 2010

Travelocity announced a new contest on Facebook: The roaming Gnome asked you to vote for the next ski trip destination: Lake Tahoe or Utah.

The Good

This is a brilliant idea to get everyone associated with the travel & hospitality industries involved and engaged. It’s working. It’s a friendly competition and visitors bureaus, hotels, ski resorts and local businesses are showing their support and posting the contest on their own websites and Facebook pages.

At the writing of this post, the Travelocity Gnome fan page had 36,277 fans. Not bad at all. In addition to generating fans and buzz on social media, Travelocity is promoting their iPhone app on the page.

The Bad

1. You can vote as many times as you want. I can just imagine people sitting in their offices and clicking away on that button.

2. Travelocity is giving away a ski trip for two as an incentive for people to participate. Excellent idea! The bad – the contest is between Lake Tahoe and Utah and the ski trip is to Colorado??? I feel like they are sending me the message: Don’t go to either Utah nor Lake Tahoe. Head to Colorado – that’s where the best snow is. Very confusing to say the least.

3. My friends in Utah couldn’t access the Facebook page for a while – the application had some bugs that shut it down for some time. Technical difficulties or simply traffic overload.

4. My biggest problem with the contest – Lake Tahoe is only a small part of California and Nevada. Lake Tahoe VS Utah? It doesn’t seem fair to compare a ski destination against a state? Does it?

Overall, the contest is a very good idea for creating buzz on social media. It’s lacking however a little bit in the overall strategy and execution. I’m looking forward to see who’s going to come ahead. Currently, it’s 50% / 50%. Go vote today. I’m also looking forward to seeing the results of how successful the contest is for Travelocity.

Your turn. Did you vote? Do you like it? What do you think?

Categories: Blog Facebook Lake Tahoe Marketing Ski industry Social Media Social Media Marketing Travel & Recreation | 1 Comment »