Many thanks to the Pacific Business News and the Star Bulletin for covering the recent So Much More Hawaii fam tour with mainland bloggers. I started this writing as a comment on PBN, but I have a rule that when my comments exceed two paragraphs, I move the conversation over to my blog for clarity and for support. (Plus, the Star Bulletin did not allow comments on Ms. Schaefer’s article and PBN does not allow links in their comments – both of which limit the conversation and tend to make me a little grumpy.) As I understand it, this blogger trip is not the first time Hawaii tourism has paid for blogger fam trips – though it is the first official blogger tour and significant campaign of which I am aware. Paying people to come here and write about us has its own issues that I addressed here and here.
Measuring Social Media Campaigns
I agree with Derek (a commenter on PBN) on the point that internet-based marketing campaigns can be far more measurable (and accurate and targeted) than traditional print, radio, and tv-based initiatives. He was responding to this item in the PBN article:
It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of online marketing, but Lu said it may be beyond calculation.
However, just because blog software is free and many bloggers are willing to work free for vacations, does not mean there are no real costs associated with new media/social media campaigns. $15,000 to get Christine and staff working for months to conceive and produce this event, attend it, manage the bloggers, build the blog, the Twitter account and other social web assets, etc? Such a deal! Surely HTA does not expect stats with that – though they could have asked and been willing to pay more to get them.
A lot can be measured ex post facto but some of the more critical elements require set-up in advance, not least of which is doing some baseline measurements “in the space” to compare pre and post data. The better social web monitoring services also cost real money, in addition to the time it takes to set them up.
The Hidden Costs of Social Media Campaigns
I am really proud of Christine’s persistence and the state’s willingness to dip their toes in the water. The additional collaborators (hotels, Hawaiian Airlines, Avis & the bloggers) all gave from their pockets to support Hawaii tourism – of which they are a vital part. This was a low-risk venture and hopefully a terrific learning opportunity for people new to social web marketing. This model may not be replicable or scalable though. My concern is that since it was done on the fly (and on the cheap), it may be hard to truly get a sense of what is possible on the social web.
Nonetheless we produced Podcamp Hawaii last year on the fly and on the cheap with outstanding results! (It’s how Christine Lu came to meet Nathan Kam who represents HVCB and David Uchiyama of HTA.) We had over 400 live attendees, thousands more who joined us via live video stream from around the world, and our “tag” – the short label referring to our event (#pch08) – was the #1 trending topic on Twitter for a day (in the world!) and #2 on Flickr (in the world!). We made a huge dent and had people all around the world dreaming about being in Hawaii. We had the support of HVCB, the HCC and many other local businesses. We gave them each a custom landing page on our site – a place to talk directly to our audience – and hundreds of additional blog posts, twitter messages, videos, live stream banner ads, etc.
There is no Podcamp Hawaii 2009 though – despite the hugely positive response. It’s a lot of work for a group of volunteers. I personally logged over 200 hours of my time producing the event – 100% volunteer for this community service. The tools are often free, but the time commitment is substantial with social media.
It is an age old dilemma – people want to try “new” things with very little investment. If it’s successful, it is part luck and part skill. If it’s not, pessimists think they prevail when in fact not enough was invested to make a dent. Remember, blogging has been around for 10 years now; CNN uses the same software Christine used to build the blog; etc. In reality, these are not “new” technologies.
We Are Beginning to Understand the Value of Online Networks
The Harvard Business Review has been covering the social web for years now. I tripped across this article from 2001 (!) today, pointing out the exponential value that is accrued within self-organizing, peer-to-peer online networks. Author David Reed, who called them “GFN’s” for group-forming networks, actually began his research in 1997 and states:
I’ve been studying GFNs for the last four years and have come to realize that they require a whole new way of measuring network value. Indeed, I think companies that can capitalize on the power of GFNs will gain the strongest competitive advantages that the Internet has to offer.
I would encourage companies to realize that the conversational web is here to stay and it can be a very rewarding place to do business. It is a dramatic example of the concept of “the more you give, the more you get.”
Caveat: I know Christine Lu and several of the bloggers personally and have been trying to persuade various tourism entities to learn more about the social web, Here’s just one recent example. The interactive web is not easy to understand from the outside, just like most foreign cultures. In this “place” there are people issues as well as software and technology issues, thus making “understanding” a daunting task to be sure. OTOH (on the other hand) it is a very open, embracing environment though and “newbies” are always welcome!
Want to Learn More?
Our local chapter of the global Social Media Club meets once a month and our meetings are free, open to anyone, and feature informative speakers and excellent networking. Our next event is Friday, June 12th at the ING DIRECT Cafe in Waikiki. Come join us, and learn why the Club’s tagline is, “If you get it, share it.” This month’s topic is “Online Reputation Management.”
Shane and I are also launching KnowHow Café – a place to learn more about the social web, online productivity, audio and video podcasting, blogging, Twitter, and more. Join our email list to be notified of upcoming online and live, in-person classes. Use the promo code “bfs” to help us know where you heard about us. We are mid-way through a six week course called “Getting Started on the Social Web.” I’ll be posting more about that in the coming week, time permitting! Once again, time is a critical resource on the social web.
With Aloha,
You can follow and connect with Roxanne on 
You can follow and connect with Shane on 
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I am one of the local contributors on (to) this So Much More Hawaii social media project of HTA. I must say that I was very excited when I first heard about this. I am passionate about social media and one of the few active blogger here on Maui. I agree with what you have said on this post. There’s a lot to learn and it’s good to see that Hawaii HTA is giving social media a chance.
Liza – thanks for your comment. You have a gorgeous blog and are definitely doing your part for tourism. I’ve been told that HTA/HVCB cannot spend marketing dollars in the ground in Hawaii – it must all be spent “out there” which precludes the state from doing any sort of NPR-style “Brought to you by Hawaii” type of sponsorships of local bloggers. I’d love to see that changed.
I’ve had someone accuse me of getting paid by HTA for my time and efforts on this project.
http://damontucker.com/2009/06/07/hawaii-tourism-authority-hopes-to-boost-hawaii-tourism-with-blogging-campaign/
http://damontucker.com/so-much-more-hawaii-at-the-waikoloa/
I myself probably spent more time uploading pictures and organizing blogs, then I actually did at the hotel in itself!
I know that the positive image we bloggers put out to the world… will go a long way in the future for my 4 year old son in the future.
I think we have a real chance in Hawaii to make a very big impact on tourism by the way we present the islands.
Damon – I so agree with you. Tourism studies say people want to come here and meet the real people. That is where the bloggers and podcasters contribute so much value. When I surveyed our Beachwalks.tv audience, they overwhelmingly had a greater desire to visit Hawaii after watching. Including some who said they never really wanted to come here. :-)
Hi Roxanne,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful post; we are truly entering a new era and while some old ways and rules may deserve to be tossed, some are certainly still relevant and apply to even supposedly “wild child” bloggers.
As one of the mainland bloggers on the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) “So Much More Hawaii” tour, I felt this ethical conflict daily.
I believe strongly in the power of social media and what I call “Tourism 2.0,” and I personally have lived in and love the islands and want to support tourism there, but the fact remains that I was there at the behest of the HTA and that DID change how I wrote. I was happy to be open about the positive things, of which there were so many, and I didn’t say much about the negative things, of which there were very few, but they still existed.
I felt pressure (self-imposed, to be sure, but still pressure) not to overtly criticize our various hosts while I was there. I put a disclosure of my paid sponsorship at the bottom of every Family Travel blog post, but for space reasons I had a harder time doing that for my tweets, Stumbles, Delicious bookmarks, Facebook comments & photos, Flickr photos, LinkedIn status items….as you discussed, we know how to reach out all over the place and full disclosure is still very important, but not always easy to do on every publishing platform.
I would MUCH prefer to be paid appropriately and regularly for my content, and then use that money to travel independently, within my normal budget, unfettered.
These hybrid “sponsored” arrangements are not ideal for anyone, but I see them as a short-term bridge into a social media-dominant future….a more balanced way of operating for bloggers and tourism organizations alike.
Sheila – what a thoughtful and transparent comment! Mahalo! While I think the blog post is the bread winner in the family you are so right to point out all the other web assets being created for the client, Hawaii HTA in this case.
I do believe all parties (sponsor, blogger, audience) all benefit most from a more independent business model. It is to the sponsor’s advantage to seek out and support over the long term those independent creators who have already built a highly loyal and targeted audience. It is to the creator’s advantage and the readers’ benefit to keep it transparent and truthful. Because we know the audience will eventually find out, as are Google and the FTC.
This seems so simple and straightforward;alas some people like to things in a veiled manner, an old style, a whatever.
My kudos to you for adding the disclaimer; maybe a universal icon akin to the orange RSS item could be developed to show compensation? Short, simple, redundant across multiple sites, etc. How would you feel about that?
I just noticed that your comment box says, ‘Speak your mind’ very nice touch.
Dipping in toes is a precise example of HTA’s recent investment in So Much More Hawaii—I am hopefully that they will emerge themselves into the waters of social media.
Everyone who knows me, knows that I love my home. I was honored to give my time and knowledge about Hawaii and social media to SMMH. Call me idealistic, but I believe good things are ahead for the social media industry both locally and globally.
Neenz – you do love this place and so do I and many others here on the ground. I am an idealist too – let’s hope we are both right. :-)
Hi Roxanne,
Whie I wasn’t part of the HTA blogger trip, I was in Maui at the same time and enjoyed following the Twitter hashtag tweets from the group.
As a freelance journalist for magazines, newspaper and on-line travel, I agree with Sheila that I would prefer to be paid appropriately for my content so that I would not need to be “hosted” on press trips.
Sorry to learn there is no Podcamp Hawaii 2009. Hawaii is leading the charge on social media tourism.
Thanks for this thought provoking blog post.
@Nancydbrown
Nancy – thank you for your comment and your perspective as a travel writer. There are a lot of economies that are out of balance, and that does lead people to taking a lower road to make it to the destination when if possible, they would actually prefer the higher road – where not coincidentally the view is broader and clearer.
So – playing out the travel metaphor, I believe readers want the whole truth, they can handle the truth, and all information is good.
One of these days sellers will have more confidence in that. When we started BeachWalks.tv, it was the worst winter here in years! It rained every day for 40+ years – nonetheless we built a loyal audience very rapidly.
To me, it’s all about the energy – people will love you based on how you make them feel – not the impressomatic dog and pony show you put on for them. The glam is fun to be sure and I personally love it, but my take home memories are grounded in something less tangible.
PS to Nancy – I do respectfully disagree about Hawaii being the leader in social media tourism though. Looks like the making of a future blog topic for me. He he.
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Interesting discussion. As I”m coming in late, much has been covered, but I wanted to share that I’ve also been TOO honest with some of my editors. I visited several spots for a story for a major American company with tickets comped (not an entire fam trip, but many expenses were covered). I was disappointed with one place and told my editor so, and left it out of my story. She chose to ignore my firsthand experience and write a review herself to include in the piece, simply because she felt it should be included. Happily, this piece does not carry my byline.
So, while in that particular case the comps weren’t disclosed, I chose to use my own journalistic integrity and NOT include a destination, only to have that integrity shot down by the higher ups. Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth, I suppose.
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Yeah, but you can look at yourself in the mirror every day – the only point of reference needed, I think.
This comment was originally posted on Sheila Guides You to the Good Stuff