Public Relations & Social Media Strategies for the Travel Industry
Heidi M. Allison-Shane – Managing Director
Ms. Allison’s passion for the electronic frontier and e-commerce began in 1997 when she and best-selling author, Martin Yate, launched a website named CareerBrain. This innovative company caught the attention of the University of Michigan as it was seeking the most promising new companies on the horizon. CareerBrain received an invitation to present this web-enabled, new business career concept at The 1999 Growth Capital Symposium – University of Michigan, Graduate School of Business, Office for the Study of Private Equity Finance.
An innovative marketing and e-commerce pioneer and expert, with 15+ years of experience developing sustainable websites and e-commerce, Ms. Allison has combined her Internet expertise with her love of travel. She has counseled a wide range of successful companies in the travel industry on how to leverage the Internet to expand their markets and grow their businesses, including “The Art of Positioning Your Web Site for Maximum Visibility Among the Billions of Competitive Sites on the Internet.”
She is writer as well as an international consultant, avid traveler and entrepreneur with a world-class client list, including CruiseCompete, ResortCompete, AllThingsCruise, Expert Travel Answers, Hawaii.com, TheBritishTraveler, CruiseMembersOnly, Crown Cruise Collection, Crown Cruise Vacations, Pepsi Bottling Group, Ford Motor Company’s Beanstalk, CruiseBrothers.com, and CareerBrain.com.
Heidi traveled and lectured with Lars-Eric Lindblad, who pioneered expedition travel, or “eco-tourism,” including the first expeditions to exotic locations such as Antarctica, Bhutan, China, Easter Island and the Galapagos.
“My love of travel has also contributed to my career, which included positions with Princess Cruises, P&O, American Hawaii Cruises, Norwegian American Line, Orient Lines and American Express Meetings & Incentives. I have enjoyed over 60 cruises on numerous lines. In addition, I managed travel projects for numerous Fortune 100 companies during my tenure with American Express Groups & Incentive Services. My travels have taken me to Africa, throughout the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, Mexico, North America, Asia, and South America, where I have had the pleasure of staying and also living in numerous 4- and 5-star resorts.”
Heidi has been a guest speaker throughout her career and is quoted extensively on e-commerce and travel topics.
Steve Langley – Social Media Consultant with the World Tourism Network
A seasoned travel industry professional, Steve Langley began his career as a travel consultant at the Thomas Cook Travel world headquarters in London. That career brought him to America 35 years ago, and he began working in key management positions for various cruise lines and tour operators on both coasts.
Steve most recently spent eight years with media giant Gannett Co. as Director of Sales & Marketing for travel websites Hawaii.com and 101Thingstodo.com. Steve was responsible for their innovative Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Gannett sold their travel properties in 2010, at which time their Facebook pages had over 8,000 consumer followers and Hawaii.com had become the largest Hawaii online travel site with booking capability.
In addition to the Hawaii websites, he was also responsible for the design and promotion of MustDoTravel.com, a worldwide travel web site with booking capabilities used by several Gannett newspaper websites, including The Arizona Republic.
His digital marketing experience began in the mid 90s, when he was Director of Sales for Haddon Holidays in Mt. Laurel, NJ, where he spearheaded an initiative that built over 4,000 websites for their travel agency clients. He traveled across the USA, giving seminars on website marketing to travel agency management, helping them build their online businesses.
He also owns World Tourism Network, a company providing global business solutions for the travel industry.
How often should you post on Facebook? How can I build my network of travel contacts? What should I post on my blog, should I even have one? Should I advertise on Facebook? How do I grow my Twitter followers? Steve can provide trusted and thoughtful answers to these kinds of questions about your digital marketing and the online presence for your products and services.
A seasoned PR and marketing professional, Darla Freeman has extensive experience with e-commerce sites, including her own Internet business. Her experience in Communications includes marketing and sales programs and she has become heavily integrated into the virtual business and digital media world. She is Director of Customer Care for a number of travel websites.
Darla began her career in the automotive industry, where she assumed increasing responsibilities for all aspects of Communications – internal and external, including C-level executive communications. During that time she became interested in and knowledgeable about the travel industry as well. Darla is now applying her years of experience to the travel industry, including the omnipresent social media.
In addition to her automotive and travel industry experience, Darla has up-close knowledge of the workings and communications needs of small businesses and non-profit businesses.
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