The internet has done wonders for the world at large. It has changed commerce, communication, research … and so many other elements of our day-to-day existence.

But, and this is a big BUT, the internet cannot take the place of face to face interaction. This is a key factor to remember. The smartest social networking strategies take this into account. After all, it’s great to make contacts via Twitter and build a “like” base via Facebook … but meeting these contacts in person will build connections that are ten times stronger.

Why do you think Tweet Ups are so popular? It takes the convenience and coolness of an online venue and adds the invaluable element of in-person socialization. Even though we live in the digital age, human beings still crave the warmth and comfort of mingling with their fellow man.

Most heavy internet users are your average everyday man or woman, looking to build connections, make friends, network. The best strategy is an integrated strategy – which means a healthy balance of in-person communication and digital interchange. There are some things that cannot be communicated via email, Skype or Twitter.

We’re having a JB Inc. strategy meeting this week in NYC. Our team will spend a lot of time talking, planning, and brainstorming, and out of these 5 days will come a whole host of new ideas, breakthroughs and team accomplishments. While have some remote team members has suited us extremely well (given that we’re a close-knit group), these uninterrupted in-person sessions are completely invaluable when it comes to staying on track as a company.

If your organization is remote and spends a lot of time communicating digitally – think about initiating a quarterly get-together. Or, if you have lots of Twitter followers – make time for a Tweet-Up. You’ll be amazed at the connections  you make, and the fresh, brilliant ideas that start popping up!

Our week kicked off in a big way at Jennifer Barbee, Inc. this Monday morning, as we received news from HSMAI that we, along with our amazingly creative clients, received five Adrian Awards! One gold, one silver and three bronze recognitions in this prestigious competition would not have been possible without such an incredible roster of clients. Thanks to them, our entire team was truly inspired and able to make 2009 a year to remember!

The awards won include:

• Gold – Loudoun County VA Web Ad Category for our Summer Campaign Video Integrated Ad
• Silver – Panama City Beach Web Site Category for VisitPanamacityBeach.com Redesign and Launch
• Bronze – Panama City Beach Web Ad Series Category for our NBCu Ad Series
• Bronze – Panama City Beach Social Media/Social Networking Category for Facebook to Twitter and Beyond
• Bronze – Panama City Beach CVB Web Ad Category for our Summer Campaign Video Integrated Ad

The competition, held yearly by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), honors outstanding achievements in advertising, public relations and web marketing throughout the travel industry.  We look forward to accepting these honors at the fabulous NYC gala in February of 2010!

A HUGE Congrats goes out to all of our clients for a job well done this year. Our team has the phenomenal privilege of working with talented and motivated marketers in the tourism industry each and every day. We are continually impressed, inspired and honored to be a part of these partnerships. With the impact of an economic downturn making this a tough year for the travel business, our industry has spent the last 12 months working feverishly to build creative campaigns and messages that connected with audiences in such a difficult time. We are truly thankful we could help make that process just a little easier for our friends in the DMO world.

Thank you HSMAI for your recognition of our clients and our agency. We are truly grateful and honored to be the recipients of these awards. So who wants to book a trip to celebrate?! Viva travel!

We’re getting deeper with our Hot or Nots for 2010. For those of you who know us well, you know interactive marketing and media is our “Thang” but we’ve kept our eyes and ears open to the advertising industry as a whole this year who, I have to say, given the circumstances with the economy has come up with some very creative and interesting ways of reaching their audiences…this sparks our number three “Hot or Not” for 2010.

Hot or Not?

NOT – eMailed Resumes

HOT – Audio Resumes

Jennifer Barbee Inc. is featured in today’s issue of the New York Times for our work with the Panama City Beach summer campaign and video contest!

The article highlights the innovative methods destinations and travel companies are using to encourage consumers to travel during tough economic times.

“ ‘There’s a lot of destinations that have had a tougher go of it than we have,’ said Dan Rowe, president and chief executive of the Panama City Beach bureau, ‘but it’s tough here.’

‘Demand has not come up to meet an increase in supply’ of hotel and motel rooms, he added, ‘so rates are suffering; there’s deals to be had.’ The campaign for the video contest is from Jennifer Barbee Inc. in Austin, Tex.; it is part of a summer marketing initiative by Ypartnership in Orlando, Fla.’ ”, the article reads.

In addition, the article highlights the new YouTube campaign, where users who upload videos to the massively popular site will see engaging ads inviting them to enter the Panama City Beach video contest. Panama City Beach is one of the only destinations to ever utilize this innovative method of advertising.

The JB Inc. team is extremely proud of its involvement in this campaign! If you haven’t had a chance, check out the Panama City Beach video contest at RealFunContest.com, and play around with the newly launched website at VisitPanamaCityBeach.com.

It’s all about creativity and innovation when it comes to encouraging wary consumers to travel during a recession, but we can do it! Everyone needs a vacation, especially when times are tough.

Panama City Beach is making a new splash online just in time for Summer travel. The new web site promoting Panama City Beach as “Real. Fun. Beach.” among many other exciting attributes officially launched today with high praises and excited locals waiting for the official unveiling. The new web site developed by Jennifer Barbee, Inc. allows visitors to the site to begin their PCB experience with a FUN personality quiz to identify the rest of their jouney through the new site.

The personality types are chosen for the user after a series of fun questions are asked and include After Dark Shark, Leader of the Sandy Bottom Bunch, Eco-Seeker, Wave Warrior and Soul Surfer. This personality each user is given coins them and their customized experience each time the user visits the site. Many other fun games can be found within the new site keeping new as well as returning visitors coming back for more FUN.

The Jennifer Barbee, Inc. creative and marketing team had an amazing and “FUN” time developing ideas and promotions for the new site. Having an array of marketers and developers all fitting a variety of the personality types developed for the site really allowed for some very creative and interesting ideas to drive the new look and feel of the web site. Check it out! http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com. Send us your feedback! We would love to hear all your comments and enjoy the new site!

The marketing team at Jennifer Barbee, Inc. attended the SES Conference in NYC last week. With over 50 speakers including marketing reps from Google and Microsoft, the content of both the educational sessions and the panel discussions was great. Cutting edge marketing tactics, interactive media development, paid and organic strategies and mobile marketing tactics were just the tip of the “marketing iceberg” for attendees at this year’s conference.

After attending over 12 educational sessions and a “Twitter” keynote delivered by Guy Kawasaki, we have so much to take away, it’s hard to boil down to a “Top” list but we want to share with you some of the key points and tactics learned by our marketers at Jennifer Barbee, Inc. To read more about the conference and the presentations, visit www.searchenginestrategies.com/newyork.

• Optimize the Right Content – The more important content on your page: Headline, Sub Headings, Bullet Points and Paragraph Headers.
• Optimizing Flash – Oh yes, there is now a way to do this. Web sites will be flashier and more search friendly than ever.
• Utilizing Google Analytics – There is now more ways to track and report than ever before. Make sure you are utilizing all the aspects their reporting system offers.
• Twitter as a Tool – We can’t begin to explain all the new Twitter Tools and Tactics being utilized by the best Twitter marketers in the world. But here are some to definitely look into:
  • Retweetist
  • Twitter Counter
  • Monitor What People Say About You – Search.Twitter.com
  • TWIBS.com
  • Tweetdeck.com
• Social Marketing – A great quote from Guy K, we have to share: “Forget the A-List, Nobodies are the New Somebodies”
• SEM – Links are still important to Engine Algorithm (Links to your site AND Links within your site).
• Design & SEO – It’s more important than ever to train your graphics team and designers in SEO stategy. Optimiztion HAS to start from the ground up. Before you build your web site, your team must design the blue prints together.
• Your Web Site URL – Buy whole domain names instead of developing a special page or section within your site. The more relative your URL is to the content available on that URL, the more points you have with engines.
• Mobile Marketing Statistic – In 2007 80% of mobile customers weren’t online. By 2011, 90% of mobile users will be searching.
• Test Your Site’s Usability – Before you launch your site, test it on top mobile browsers for compatibility. Also test your site’s compatibility on all internet browsers including Firefox and Google Chrome.
• Have Videos? Post Them! – YouTube is the 4th Biggest Site on the Web. 1 in 4 searches on the web happen on YouTube. If you have videos, start a channel and make sure you add relative titles, descriptions and tags to your videos.
• Theory by Many Marketing Execs – Everyone will be Mobile in 5 years, the screen for which we search is definitely shrinking.
• Blog Marketing – Find blogs in your niche market, contact them to offer a blog within their blog in which you could become their guest blogger. Add your links and other helpful links within your posts as well.
• Crazyegg.com – Find out whether your site is user friendly or not. See where users are clicking, whether they are clicking clickable areas or not.
• Importance of Media Placement & Tactics – Retargeting is the most important tactic for media placement. If users don’t engage with your first effort, Maximize this effort by going back to users with different (but retargeted) ads and offers.
• Marketing during the Recession – Digital media efforts are holding their own against TV, Print and Radio during the recession. Be more targeted, Be more efficient, Be smarter with your Buys.

We’ve done it…officially unveiled the program we have been working on for some time. We at JB Inc. are all so amazed by the overwheming response from destinations and the media. It’s a program we are all very proud to be a part of. JB University is a virtual education program that allows agencies, marketers, pr professions, media, etc. to be involved in a one on one education program combining classroom style education with individual training. Each month JB University will host a live webinar attended only by JB University students where topics and discussions are left open and to the point.

Students can discuss challenges, concerns and questions and our panel of experts weigh in with helpful suggestions, thoughts and actions you can take to improve your program. We’ve thrown in a ton of extras including quarterly consulting, assignments we grade and review with you, online polls and surveys about YOUR questions and thoughts…and so much more. We are very excited to have the opportunity to do something no other agency is doing right now…educating and empowering the travel industry to rise above the times and build the strongest marketing strategies seen so far this decade. Our first webinar is March 2nd. Don’t miss this exciting start to a program everyone is buzzing about. It’s well worth it. www.jenniferbarbee.com/jbu

The thing I love about the South is that adversity doesn’t define us, it ignites us.  The conference in Louisiana last week was focused on educating the industry about the economy, it’s impact on their business, tourists and the community.  With such a sobering topic, and people (rightfully) concerned about firming tourism strategy in the near and long term, you’d have thought that “buckle down” would have been the theme.  Not at all, quite the opposite, tourism professionals were openly sharing ideas and challenges and creating some of the most innovative approaches to marketing.  My session was an overview of Web Marketing, and the specific impact of different mediums.  As has been the trend this year, the section on Social Marketing Strategy was the hottest topic.  Louisiana has a unique set of tourism product, and the culture is richly enhanced with Social Groups online.   I was delighted to find attendees “Twitter” me after the seminar.   It’s super gratifying to help others understand the web, it’s impact and how to utilize the tools. 

To my Louisiana peeps:  Keep Tweeting!