Designed for Traditional Marketing P.R. Staff Transitioning into Digital: NAJ’s upcoming eTourism Labs March 14-15 in Philadelphia—it is an outgrowth of NAJ’s annual e-Tourism Summit in San Francisco— is a “three-fer” opportunity for the serious tour and travel industry digital marketer, as well as for those transitioning from traditional to digital marketing and public relations.

“It is actually three different events in one,” said Jake Steinman, founder and CEO of the NAJ Group, which also publishes the Inbound Report, explaining that the event’s first-day program alone has three tracks—a “each of which address different pain points.” They include:

1. A “Boot Camp for Newbies.” Specially designed training for new hires or P.R. staff making the transition from traditional to digital? (Designed in collaboration with DMAI).

2. Digital Media Strategies Built around Measurement. A workshop addressing the latest media strategies and an “ROI Parade” featuring the latest ways marketers are calculating value for their funders.

3. A full-day workshop coveringVideo Creation and Distributionthat we call “Visual Storytelling.”

A sampler of program content for the track on “Boot Camp for Newbies” includes the following:

• SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

Earning rankings in the “organic” results of the major search engines. How do DMOs use search to generate incremental room nights without cannibalizing travelers that would have booked anyway? Examples: Keyword and key phrase research, on-page optimization, how SEO intersects with content marketing, etc.

Presenter: Paul McLeod, Director of Business Intelligence, Simpleview

• UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF GOOGLE ANALYTICS™

What is a bounce rate? How time is measured on site.

Presenter: Laszlo Horvath, President, Active Media

• THE BASICS OF FACEBOOK ADVERTISING

Boosting posts vs. creating Facebook ads Facebook ad formats. Targeting your audience with targeting tools, custom audiences, etc. Ad set and bidding analytics. Generating creative content that will help spread your DMO message and earn traffic Examples: viral videos, user generated content, reviews, influencers

Presenters:

Martin Stoll, CEO, Sparkloft Media (i);

Adam Gerston, Sr. VP, Client Partnerships, HYFN (i)

• HOW INFLUENTIAL ARE INFLUENCERS?

Know more about pursuing bloggers and Instagrammers.

Presenter: Al Chen, Co-Founder, Cooperatize

• SEEDING PRESS RELEASES WITH KEYWORDS THAT WILL RESULT IN SEO

Many journalists cut and paste parts of your releases to place their own stories. Learn some tips to include keywords that pay off in elevating your ranking on search pages.

Presenter: Korena Keys, CEO, Key Media Solutions

NOTE: (I) = Invited

Overall, attendees will hear from 45 experts about the future of native advertising, content marketing strategies, Addressable TV, cross device attribution, influencer marketing, video sharing psychology, social media marketing, e-mail marketing, web design and practical panels that will discuss such topics as tactics to replace website traffic lost to Google algorithm changes.

Oh! And Don’t Forget … attendees should invite your agencies to come so they can become aware of newest forms of digital advertising and how they are working for clients like DMO’s and attractions.

If there is someone else in your department or your organization who might benefit from the e Tourism Labs program, please forward this article (inboundreport.com/etourismlabs) to them.

Services were held Feb. 5 in Norfolk, Virginia for Jacob Lloyd Kimbro, warmly regarded and widely known in the tour and travel industry in the United States, especially in the New York City area. He passed away peacefully early on Feb. 1st in the care of his family and friends.

Born Dec. 5, 1965, Jay grew up in Norfolk, graduating from Norview High School and going on to receive his BFA in Theatre Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. Upon graduating, Kimbro moved to New York City, where he embarked on a successful career in the live entertainment industry. His work spanned the globe, marketing and selling some of the world’s best attractions, including Spirit Cruises, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and other musicals for Disney Theatrical Productions, and, most recently, the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil in New York and Las Vegas.
While Jay lived in New York for the last 35 years and became a true New Yorker, Norfolk, Virginia remained his home. Jay is survived by his mother, Carolyn, his sister, Charlotte, and his brother, John, all of Norfolk. Proceeded in death by his father, Willis Lloyd Kimbro.