PR BASICS & SOCIAL MEDIA

ATIA Convention – October 2010

ATIA and Thompson & Co.

Thompson & Co. Public Relations Based in Anchorage with an office in

Manhattan ATIA’s public relations contractor since

2002 Familiar with many of Alaska’s

communities, tourism offerings and people

Why does ATIA fund public relations? Promote positive editorial coverage of Alaska Introduce travelers to myriad ways to enjoy

our state – luxury, adventure, small towns, cities, etc. – as well as our five distinct regions

Communicate to Alaska residents about the importance and strength of Alaska’s travel industry

Prepare for and respond to industry-related crises

Major functions of ATIA’s public relations program Media assistance, including providing stock

photography and video footage to qualified journalists; itinerary planning; fact checking; and information gathering

Media outreach, which involves proactively identifying target journalists and researching story ideas to match their interests and publications

Alaska Travel News, a monthly e-mail newsletter distributed to approximately 1,200 writers, editors and TV producers in North America to highlight Alaska events and tourism news

Major functions of ATIA’s public relations program Online media center at

www.travelalaska.com/media Press trips (FAMs) to introduce groups of

travel journalists to different experiences, regions and seasons in Alaska

Social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter to reach out to travel journalists looking for information about Alaska and develop ATIA’s network of media “friends”

Major functions of ATIA’s public relations program Crisis communications planning

ensures ATIA is ready to respond when a tourism-related crisis strikes Alaska (e.g., if Mount Redoubt had erupted in the middle of the summer season)

Special events to connect ATIA members with high-profile travel media, including Alaska Media Road Show and Experience Alaska

Alaska Media Road Show

Started in 2002 Features a day of “speed dating” with journalists –

pre-scheduled 15-minute appointments during which Alaska tourism partners pitch their products or destinations

Journalists who have attended AMRS in the past are top priorities for ATIA media assistance

Registration, appointment selection, journalist profiles, event schedule, etc. are all available through an online event portal at www.alaskamediaroadshow.com

Registration typically opens in April/May each year Approximately 40 media and 30-35 ATIA partners October 24-26, 2010 – event registration is full

Experience Alaska

Informal networking event with emphasis on replicating Alaska experiences, e.g., ice sculpting, dog mushing and gold panning, among others

Price point lower than Alaska Media Road Show First event held in 2008, now slated annually for

spring Casual, free-flowing evening reception New York City location to tap into nation’s

biggest media market Approximately 40 media and 15 ATIA partners

Itinerary assistance / individual FAMs ATIA hosts dozens of travel journalists

each year on trips all over Alaska Depending on journalist qualifications,

this assistance can range from fully hosted trips to simple assistance like providing recommendations

Giving journalists first-hand experience in Alaska is the best way to see editorial coverage in print, online and on TV

International media assistance Thompson & Co.

works with ATIA public relations contractors overseas to facilitate international editorial coverage UK Australia German-speaking

Europe Japan Korea Taiwan

International contractors evaluate journalists and Thompson & Co. plans FAMs

International contractors follow-up to provide clips of coverage to ATIA and its partners

Press trips

Typically ATIA budgets for approximately one press trip per year

Differs from individual assistance in that press trips are usually groups of 4-5 journalists invited by Thompson & Co.

Trips are hosted by agency staff

Itineraries are fully planned by the agency and all expenses, including meals, are hosted

Occasionally pre- and post-trip opportunities are also offered

Next press trip – one more scheduled for FY11 with location and dates TBD

How ATIA members can get involved Send Thompson & Co. information about your

property or destination, particularly new offerings, awards, infrastructure improvements, etc.

Be willing to host media on individual FAMs or press trips; make sure agency staff know you want to host

Consider participating in Alaska Media Road Show or Experience Alaska

If nothing else, keep your local DMO informed so they can relay the information to us

Social media – what is it?

A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter YouTube Flickr Del.icio.us Digg

Putting it in perspective

Social media networks are growing exponentially in the United States

At the same time, traditional media are failing

Time spent on social network and blogging sites is growing more than three times the rate of overall Internet growth*

Social networks are aging and expanding with this growth, and are becoming more popular among all Internet users*

Consumer attention is being fragmented into niche communities based on common interest – social networks*2009 Nielsen report “Global Faces and Networked

Places”

Many small business owners/operators are stretched to the limit already. But remember how you felt about the necessity of a website at first?

The ugly truth?

Getting started

Before engaging on behalf of your business, set up a personal profile and use it to listen to the conversation

Build your network and watch users in action to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t

LISTEN OBSERVE

How?

Create a Google profile and set up Google news and blog alerts

Use Google Reader to set up tools to monitor online activity

On Twitter, ‘follow’ the people you’re interested in reaching – lists of top tweeters are available through web search

On Facebook, check out your competitors’ and colleagues’ activity

LISTEN OBSERVE

IT’S ABOUT DIALOGUE, NOT MONOLOGUE

Most important rule of social media:

Choose your channels

You can’t be in all the social networks, and not all of them are a good fit for you

Doing one well is better than doing many poorly

If you start something and realize it’s not a good fit, delete it, don’t just leave it fallow

Each network has a different “personality” and some will fit your business/brand better than others

There are thousands of networks out there; starting out, you probably only need to focus on the biggies.

FACEBOOK

“Chummy” Excellent opportunities to showcase your

business through video, audio, event invitations, photos and storytelling

Networks built relatively easily through business contacts, friends and family

Creation of a fan page is very user-friendly

Lots of room to express yourself As of Aug. ‘09, Facebook was the most

popular social network for Americans over 18

94.7 M active users in U.S.

Facebook stats

500 million active users worldwide

Average user spends 55 minutes a day on Facebook

Average user has 130 Facebook friends

150 million users access Facebook through their mobile devices

1.5 million LOCAL businesses are on Facebook

Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events

User demographic is aging

Source: Facebook.com

It’s not just for kids

Facebook demographics as of January 2010

Twitter

2 BILLION tweets per month

Much less personal than Facebook Network composed mostly of people

you don’t know “IRL” – in real life 140-character limit per tweet, so

this medium is about brevity and pithiness

Only 14 percent of Americans ages 50+ are on Twitter BUT travel writers and travel influencers have a huge community on Twitter

YouTube

70 million U.S. visitors/month

Video site Now the 3rd largest site on the

Internet A great way to give prospective

guests a real taste of what you have to offer

Don’t just shoot a commercial – capture real life

Requires a handheld digital video recorder

Foursquare

Location-based social network More than 3 million users and

5.6 million venues A way to explore new venues

and let your friends know where you are

Collect points, prize "badges," and eventually, coupons for being a frequent visitor to specific businesses

Spenard Roadhouse

FOURSQUARE

504 check-ins

148 unique visitors

“The super tots rock! They just expanded their breakfast menu, too.” – Heather S., Spenard Roadhouse Foursquare visitor

How to do it

Think about creating CONTENT in a broad context instead of stressing out about each channel independent of each other Sending a Flip camera out with a guide for the

day could result in guest interviews, still images and authentic, experienced-based status updates or tweets

Link from one space to another. If you post a video on your Facebook page, provide a link to it when you tweet about it. People who aren’t connected to you through Facebook will find your presence there.

BE REAL. Show what you love about your community, business, neighborhood with authenticity. Try to loosen up and have fun.

Second most important rule:

Plan It Alaska

TWITTER

3,759 followers

Walruses Swarm Beaches as Ice Melts : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100927-us-walrus-haul-vin-video/ via @NatGeoSociety about 16 hours ago via web Reply

Icy Killers: Secrets of Alaska's Salmon Shark on @NatGeoSociety Wed Sep 29 http://alturl.com/g4vg2 #Alaska #sharks #PrinceWilliamSound

Check out this page from the Baseball The Tenth Inning website at PBS.org Film directed by Ken Burns and Lynn...http://on.pbs.org/GvECAq

We were just asked to have our #Alaska #bear video included in "Bears of the Last Frontier", on PBS NATURE in 2011! http://alturl.com/44ge2  

VIDEO LIVE NOW: Sen. Ted Stevens' funeral in Washington, DC: http://bit.ly/dqaL9s #Alaska

Kodiak Island CVB

FACEBOOK

6,810 fans

Video, photos, events

Near-daily updates

Lots of engagement

Photo contest for 2011 visitor guide

“Just spent two fantastic weeks in Kodiak visiting family and friends. Weather was great (only a couple days of rain), fishing was good and the Emerald Isle lived up to it's name with plush green hills as far as the eye could see. I posted some photos of my trip in the photo section. Thanks for a great time, Kodiak!” Malcolm Bennett, Kodiak Facebook fan

Basic tools

Digital camera Smartphone Flip video Reliable Internet connection Interest in the subject and a humble

spirit that is willing to learn – if you don’t have it, find a trustworthy employee who does

A couple of other things you should be doing, along the same lines Monitor comments about your company on

TripAdvisor.com. Unanswered negative reviews can be a big turn-off to potential guests.

Travel websites and blogs are becoming much more mainstream. You can keep track of your coverage through Google.

Make sure your local CVB and others in the Alaska travel industry know what’s going on at your business. They are all running social networks and can help build awareness of your fledgling efforts.

When you set up a fan page or Twitter profile, don’t be afraid to ask for support. Your existing friends and contacts will usually be pleased to recommend you to their friends. That’s how you build a network.

Thompson & Co. Public Relations907.561.4488ATIA account contacts: Jennifer Thompson, jennifer@thompsonpr.comAmy Cockerham, amy@thompsonpr.com Meghan Aftosmis, meghan@thompsonpr.comTara Stevens, tara@thompsonpr.com

Stay in touch!