ITT Conference VideoBlog

Delegates and speakers share their thoughts about the event and the industry:



Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Who is the bloke in the middle then?

First timers to ITT may not be aware of a chap called Tim Hames. Rest assured, you won't forget him after this week...

He will be master of ceremonies during the morning conference sessions on Thursday and Friday.

When not entertaining, sorry, moderating events like these he has a day job at the Times as a columnist and as the paper's chief leader writer.

In other words: a lot of the editorials on the comment pages are written by Hames, so you can blame him for the political stance of the paper (and not the boss, Rupert Murdoch?)

However, he does have plenty of experience in these matters. Prior to joining the Times in Wapping, Hames was a lecturer in American and British politics at Oxford University.

Delegates will remember his star turn at last year's ITT conference, when he was drafted in to talk about China after his colleague at the Times, travel editor Cath Urquhart, had to pull out.

It was actually one of the highlights of the conference. [Apart from the fantastic session on search, of course, by Travolution boss Simon Ferguson, and Travolution board member Esteban Walther from Google]

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

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Introduction to the Blog

The Institute of Travel & Tourism (ITT from here on, as everyone in the industry knows what it means) has asked us to provide a "media pod" for its annual conference, taking place in Gran Canaria this week.

Why? Well, the TW Group - the umbrella brand for Travel Weekly, Travolution and Gazetteers.com - has plenty of experience of new media for a start.

Travel Weekly reporters will be scurrying around for three days as usual, but we want to demonstrate to some of the most senior people in the travel industry how their customers are interacting with media brands - and, by extension, travel companies.

News, analysis, gossip, commentary and opinion will therefore appear in the print edition of Travel Weekly next week, on the Travolution and Travel Weekly websites, and on video.

We will be blogging live from the conference sessions each morning and adding our own observations during the course of the next four days. Senior industry figures will also be commenting here.

Travolution has been blogging live from a string of events in the past 12 months - the first time at the ITT conference in Oman last June.

There will be no other travel trade media getting involved in some many levels - it is time for a truly multi-media experience.

Of course, we want you - the delegates - to get involved, too. If you want to add your opinions about the event of what you may have heard, either post them directly here on the blog or email us.

Enjoy the conference.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Technorati tags: live blog multi-media

ITT Conference Blog set-up

[For blog build purposes]

Technorati Profile

UPDATE:

• Added page elements to sidebars, including links to Travolution, Travolution Blog, Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly Blog, Gazetteers.com, ITT homepage and ITT membership.
• Technorati is tracking content.
• Installed new skin with combo logo.

Blog ready for 6 June