Focus Session: Social Media Marketing –Getting Personal

Social Media Marketing – Getting Personal

The session will consider various marketing options and the analytics used to determine failure and success.  We will also discuss integration of the social media marketing campaign with web and mobile applications.

Speaker: Naomi Kabak, Senior Vice President, Group IST

Naomi Kabak began her career promoting tourism to Israel in 1961 by joining El Al Israel Airlines in New York working in the sales, reservations, and ticket offices. 

In 1996 Naomi joined B&V the parent company of Ewaterways as VP Sales, Marketing and Public Relations and in 2000 became the manager of the entire operation.  The principle of the company had ownership in several 8-12 passenger deluxe barges inFranceand the company did the marketing and capacity management for an entire fleet of about 15 barges.  The capacity was all managed electronically.  The company sold cruises on barges and riverboats, as well as a chain of aparthotels mostly in France. 

Beginning in 1996 the company invested heavily in ecommerce designing and operating several web sites.  This was supported with a state-of-the-art reservation and reporting system which enabled consumers to login and download their final travel documents and be kept aware of any schedule changes, new information, etc.  Travel agents could allow their clients to login and enter important passenger information, download documents, and manage their accounts without viewing any of the proprietary agent/operator/cruise company data.  It also enabled suppliers to logon and download all passenger information for each cruise and to check status.In 1998 the company decided not to publish any print materials and all sales and marketing efforts were web based.  Each site had an affiliate program with tracking capability.

In 2004 the company merged with Group IST where Naomi became the VP Marketing and Product Development and then VP Marketing and Business Development.  Among her responsibilities is overseeing the customer relationships for all Group IST brands.

 

Crew Grants still available!

Whew. We are in the final week leading up to the conference and, even though there is still a lot of work to do to make sure everything goes smoothly, we are all eagerly anticipating the start of the event.  Seeing all the familiar names on the registration list remind us that the conference isn’t just a great way to network and learn something new, but it’s also a reunion of old friends and shipmates.

There is still time to register for the conference! After 5pm (Eastern) Friday, January 27th, conference fees will increase by $100.  Click here to register for  the conference.  

The support for the crew grant program has been awesome! We still have a few grants available and I encourage you to apply. It is so easy! Click here to read more about the Crew Grants and the conference Crew Track.

Focus Session: Blogging-Content Managment

Content is never done, it is a process that needs continuous attention. This session will discuss creating and sustaining content on your blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We’ll discuss how to organize your editorial content so your message stays on focus and provide some guidelines for content creation.

Speaker – Erin Short, TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Coordinator, Tall Ships America

Erin grew up in Rhode Island sailing around Narragansett Bay. She left the Ocean State for college at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology. After graduating and a two year stint in Denver, Erin decided she missed the ocean too much and moved back to Providence.

As the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE®  Coordinator, she spends her summers travelling with the tall ships fleet during the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Race Series, hanging out with sailors, and blogging about life with the ships, including a trans-Atlantic in 2009 and a ten day sail aboard the EAGLE last year. When not on the road with the Race Team, Erin spends her days in Newport preparing for upcoming summer tall ship events, maintaining Tall Ships America’s online presence,  and talking to anyone who will listen about how much cool stuff there is in new media.