In the July 2014 issue of Travel + Leisure, I interviewed experts on how to maximize social media before, during, and after your trip.
One of my favorite tips came from Southwest's Rob Hahn, the airline's team leader for Customer Advocacy and Social Media: "Reaching out through more than one channel will multiply our efforts to assist that customer, and can inadvertently slow things down."
Apparently it sometimes doesn't pay to be the squeaky wheel. Who knew?
Check out the story online or below.
Is there a point to social media? Non-believers might want to give social media a second chance. Travel + Leisure recently sent me to Portland for a quick weekend getaway. My mission: To experience how travel companies respond to social media. After all, no one wants to be greeted with the sound of crickets.
Would my tweets and posts vanish into the Interwebs? And from a trip-planning perspective, could I eat my way through Portland using suggestions gleaned from Gogobot, Yelp, Foursquare, and Foodspotting?
Well, I certainly tried. From booking hotel deals to asking a blogger where to eat, these "9 Rules for Using Social Media on the Road" pretty much sum up what I learned. (Here's the online slideshow.) My only regret is not checking the Twitter feed of Blue Star Donuts sooner. If I had, I would've known that they sell out quickly—and I wouldn't be haunted by this sad photo.
I will be going back for the blueberry bourbon basil doughnut. That's a promise.
How do you build a community? I was recently asked to share my thoughts on this billion-dollar question as part of a Q&A with Axiom Marketing. For my two cents, read the interview here.
