A question for TAs

On Sunday I am speaking to a class at the local community college on Travel
Marketing. Primarily I am to talk about the logistics of internet marketing
(what pieces do you need to put together to get on the web, how do you set up
opt-in email lists, what are the downsides of being a spammer, how to register
a domain, stuff like that)

This is to people of whom many are NOT internet savvy (some will be, some will
not). My credentials are as an experienced IT professional with significant
Travel interest. The professor of the class happens to be my TA.

I also plan to discuss internet travel communities, primarily from the point
of view of a resource for a new agent (how do you find out what a cruise
is like if you have never been on that boat, evaluate a hotel you have not
been to). But I will also talk about the importance of truly participating
in internet communities; providing value for the value you get from the
community. As the professor is not very knowledgeable about this topic,
she'd like me to talk about them a little more.

I have some questions for the TAs on this board. You can reply, in case others
are interested, or reply to me via email. If you reply via email, I can
post a summation of findings to the newsgroup.

so here are some questions? This is not a scientific survey. I'm not trying
to say x% of TAs on rtc do y, but rather to say ta's on internet communities may
do y, z, etc.

1. Do you use internet communities (bulletin boards, review sights, usenet
newsgroups, mail lists) as a resource? Or primarily as a way to make yourself
visible to potential clients? Or do you do it out of the general enjoyment
that we non-TA members of the community use? Some combination of the above?

2. Is this a successful way to do what you identified in 1? Why or Why not
(examples are welcome but not necessary)

3. Some internet communities (especially Usenet) has more of a tendancy to
attract naysayers of all types. Is this a problem for you? How do you handle
this?

4. How much time does particpating in these communities take for you in a
typical week? Is this time worth it in terms of business? In terms of
personal knowledge?

Is there anything else that you would like to say?

Thanks in advance.

--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Hi Julie -
I'm not a travel agent anymore.... but my .02 worth is this...

When I was a travel agent, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was
turn on a computer.

The computers at work (I worked on SABRE, Apollo, and PARS/Worlspan) did not
have Internet access. Only my last job (about 5 years ago) also supplied an
Internet capable computer.

Most travel agents I know are for the most part unaware of Usenet. They may
know how to surf the web, but chat groups, newsgroups and mailing lists are
liekly not something they engage in. If only because of time constraints.

Only when I stopped being a travel agent did I start really exploring all there
was on the Internet, aside from the obvious web sites.

JMHO.

TBird

Thanks a lot TBird for your input.

I'm talking, however, to TAs that ARE here not the ones that AREN'T.

To be honest, my guess is that there is little to be gained in this kind of
forum (and I'm asking this question in a couple of different internet
"communities") in terms of business, but there may be something to
be gained in terms of understanding.

Thanks,

Julie

TBird wrote:
Hi Julie -
I'm not a travel agent anymore.... but my .02 worth is this...

When I was a travel agent, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was
turn on a computer.

The computers at work (I worked on SABRE, Apollo, and PARS/Worlspan) did not
have Internet access. Only my last job (about 5 years ago) also supplied an
Internet capable computer.

Most travel agents I know are for the most part unaware of Usenet. They may
know how to surf the web, but chat groups, newsgroups and mailing lists are
liekly not something they engage in. If only because of time constraints.

Only when I stopped being a travel agent did I start really exploring all there
was on the Internet, aside from the obvious web sites.

JMHO.

TBird

--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm