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TravelMuse Shares Top Insider Tips to the Obama Inauguration

fiona — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:31:05 GMT

Here at TravelMuse, we’re raring to go now that 2009 has arrived and we have high hopes for our new President, Barack Obama. Nowhere is the inauguration excitement more prominent than in Washington, D.C., itself. That’s why we’ve released a special inauguration feature to help visitors make the most of their time in D.C. !

We invited Debbie K. Hardin, former White House staffer, to share some of her top tips. Working for the Clinton administration, as the director of presidential messages in the communications department, she attended a number of inaugural parades and balls. She was even in attendance for the first swearing in of President Clinton, so is well positioned to give us valuable insights from the best viewing venues and culinary creations, to historic experiences and affordable fun.

In addition to Hardin’s great insight, we also include the best places to eat, sleep and explore in and around Washington, D.C. Lastly, tell us where you plan to celebrate Inauguration Day in our poll, or elaborate in a comment below. Here at TravelMuse, we’re planning a team huddle in our conference room to stream and project the footage from 8:30 a.m. (PST)!

If you’re lucky enough to attend the inaugural events or are planning a future trip to our nation’s capital, TravelMuse will help you to research, organize and build the best trip possible. The inauguration feature can be found at http://travelmuse.com and includes insights such as:

• Inauguration Day Planning Tips—Whether you plan to join or avoid the crowds on January 20, this section helps you navigate the nation’s Inauguration Day offerings.
• 5 D.C. Hot Spots With Obama-Inspired Menu Items—Check out the culinary creations of chefs throughout the nation’s capital who salute the inauguration with special drinks and dishes ranging from the Obama Roll to vodka-and-fruit shakes.
• 7 Top Presidential Attractions in Washington, D.C.—Beyond the White House, these historic options get you and your family closer to the Chief Executive.
• 44 Free Things to Do in D.C.—Make your trip even more memorable with this list of affordable experiences.

For full details on our press release, click here.

Highlights from PhoCusWright

fiona — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:44:51 GMT

Earlier this week we presented at The Travel Innovation Summit at the PhoCusWright conference in Hollywood, Calif. Along with 31 other innovative companies, we gave a 10-minute demonstration of our product, which you can see here. Some of the other innovations we found interesting include:

Dealbase.com—launching at the conference and run by Sam Shank, DealBase provides the largest hotel deal Web site and clearly presented its easy to use search and filter tools. In this economy, who’s not after a deal?

Rezgo.com—run by Tips from the T-list publisher Stephen Joyce, Rezgo also launched at the conference and provides an online distribution platform for tour and activity suppliers, as well as managing payment and fulfillment. It’s a winning idea and reminds me of WorldRes when it provided a platform for the long-tail bed and breakfast market.

UpTake —Yen Lee clearly explained the semantic search capabilities that UpTake provides to simplify the travel research process through creating a comprehensive database, analyzing travelers feedback and filtering preferences. Sounds like you’d need a Ph.D. to work at UpTake—impressive!

Yapta—Tom Romary launched its frequent-flier award seat alert service, enabling travelers to be notified when they can use their frequent-flier miles to book an award seat that becomes available on a specific flight. Again, in this economy, who doesn’t want to leverage their air miles—smart move.

Of the innovators who made it through to the five minutes of fame on center stage (Home & Abroad, Wandrian, Yapta, TripIt, Triporati and IM@), it was IM@ who grabbed the attention of the judging panel. You can watch the demo featuring its mobile content management platform and mobile applications here.

In addition to presenting, we seemed to talk non-stop—to our peers at the innovation summit, interested potential partners, and press and bloggers. In the pavilion, we enjoyed the company of newly launched TravelBeen.com and particularly enjoyed Technorati’s supply of Charles Chocolates. Also, it was fun to catch up with BootsnAll, OffBeat Guides and to compare notes with our friendly Austrian competitors Tripwolf.

At the Bloggers Summit, the panel of seasoned bloggers discussed a number of topical areas relating to blogging and business—some useful tips and pit falls to avoid. It was interesting to meet up with some of the industries most respected bloggers, including The Boot, Jen Leo (Los Angeles Times), Travolution and the Cranky Flier to name a few. If you’re not following these guys, then you should be!

It’s great to see so much innovation in the travel industry up close and to be a part of it. We’re back home with many more new ideas, now it’s just a case of implementation!

Vote for TravelMuse in Mashable’s Open Web Awards

fiona — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:22:11 GMT

TravelMuse is excited to be nominated in Mashable’s second Annual Open Web Awards.

Thank you for nominating us; now that we are a Top 10 finalist in the Travel category, please support us with your votes. You can vote for one company in each category per day until midnight on Nov. 30—just add your e-mail to the widget on the right and “Vote Now”!

Winners of the first Annual Open Web Awards included Facebook, Digg, Google, Meetup, Twitter, Netvibes, woot!, Last.fm and Mahalo.

The first and final voting rounds will be held from Nov. 19 until Dec. 15.

Thanks for your support!

Hanging in Hollywood

fiona — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:49:59 GMT

This week Kevin and I are participating in the PhoCusWright Travel Conference, Nov. 17 to 20, in Los Angeles’ Hollywood, Calif. In between preparing for the start of the conference, we took advantage of the fact that the venue, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, is right on Hollywood Boulevard.

We took a stroll along the nearby Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s pretty fascinating to see all the stars who have contributed to the Hollywood industry immortalized in the sidewalk! There are more than 2,000 stars listed over this 3.5-mile round-trip walk. Does anyone know what the criteria are to earn a star on the sidewalk? I set off looking for fellow Scots Sean Connery and Ewan MacGregor, but failed—let me know if you find them!

On route, we also stopped at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre which is a film theater but is more famous for all the handprints and footprints of the rich and famous. These range from Shirley Temple’s 1935 signature, to Will Smith’s more recent handprints.

However, as they say … on with the show, so it’s back to work for us with an exciting few days hearing about what’s going on in the Travel Industry and presenting TravelMuse. I’ll be posting news from PhoCusWright on our TravelMuse Company Blog and you can also follow TravelMuse on Twitter.

TravelMuse Releases First Trip Planning Widget for Bloggers; Introduces Crowd Sourcing

fiona — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:09:52 GMT

At the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit, Hollywood, Calif. We’re excited to be making a couple of new announcements.

1. Plan-It! Widget for Bloggers
Bloggers can add the Plan-It! widget to individual blog posts, enabling their followers to save and share relevant content within the TravelMuse Planner.

The Plan-It! widget provides a solution to help travelers easily collect and centralize their research—while also increasing visibility for bloggers. Blogs that feature the Plan-It! social bookmarking widget allow visitors to quickly save content from the blog by simply clicking the Plan-It! button on any page. The content is then stored directly into the TravelMuse Planner—a centralized place to collect, organize and share travel research. Within the Planner, individuals can easily create trip plans and share the research they’ve collected with friends, family and fellow travelers—driving more traffic back to the blog postings they’ve saved. Bloggers can visits Plan-It! for Bloggers to find out more and easily add the Plan-It! button.

Sites using Plan-It include: UpTake, Ciao Bambino, Compulsive Traveler and TravelingMamas.

2. Crowd Sourcing
This new feature provides insights into the hottest travel destinations and topics on the Web. As individuals save content into their TravelMuse Planner from TravelMuse.com and from around the Web, lists of most popular destinations and topics are generated and dynamically updated based on trip-planning behavior—view this example destination page for Barcelona to see popular bookmarks. By capturing the actions of crowds, TravelMuse can provide valuable insight reflecting the interests of travelers in real time.

See TravelMuse at the PhoCusWright Conference on stage at 10:16 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, or visit us at our table on Monday or Tuesday in the Laurel-Doheny rooms.

For full details click here.

Multigenerational Trip to Bucerias, Mexico

fiona — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:48:55 GMT

In October, I traveled to Bucerias (a 30-minute drive north of Puerto Vallarta), Mexico, with my husband, daughter and husband’s parents. I’m a big fan of multigenerational travel as our extended family lives in Scotland, so we only see them once or twice a year. When they do come to visit, we find ourselves trying to return home from work at a decent hour, planning what to cook for dinner and thinking about weekend activities. Taking a trip together allows us all to relax, spend time catching up and hanging out, and enjoying the benefits of built-in babysitting!

Bucerias is a charming, low-key fishing town set on eight miles of gorgeous sandy beaches, which are frequented by locals on the weekend. The charming town center provides a great flea market, local art galleries, great restaurants and friendly locals. Bucerias has seen a lot of property development, with resorts and vacation homes still under construction—go now while it still holds its charm!

Casa Bella Vista, the house we rented, was gorgeous—we really wanted to pick it up and take it home with us! It was an airy three-bedroom house with a swimming pool, offering great views over the town and out to the Bay of Banderas, and situated only two blocks from the beach. The maid came a couple of times while we were there, and although there was an option to hire a chef, we decided to stock up at the nearby Mega (supermarket) or local mini mart and also try the local restaurants.

Our 2-year-old loved the swimming pool, but we did manage to extract her and the rest of the family for a few day trips. Hopping on the local AMT bus, we ventured into Puerto Vallarta and explored the old town and the Malecón boardwalk, noted for its metal statues and sand sculptures.

We also organized a couple of day trips through Vallarta Adventures. We took a family trip to Yelapa, a little village of less than a thousand people, which can only be reached by boat. The trip included a hike to the Cola de Caballo waterfall, time to relax on the sandy beaches, then snorkeling at Majahuitas cove on the way home. The next day, my husband and I left our wee one with her grandparents and embarked on an outdoor adventure in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains—move over James Bond! This was a thrill ride from start to finish—a speedboat trip to a secluded beach, followed by an off-road truck expedition, then a mule ride, followed by a series of zip lines through the jungle canopy, rappelling down waterfalls and plunging into pools. It was so much fun and I was most impressed with the professionalism and safety protocol of the guides.

In the evenings, we explored the restaurants of Bucerias, which were excellent. Close to our house were several expat-run restaurants including Mark's Bar and Grill (Asian/Mediterranean), Sandrinas (Greek/Mexican), Espressions (British!), and Rissos (Italian). We also enjoyed Famar (Mexican with fantastic margaritas) and authentic restaurants on the beach near the town square.

We would definitely return to Bucerias. In fact, on our last day I discovered an art gallery where you could sign up for a mosaic workshop and learn to break tile, which I’d love to do with my daughter.

If you consider a trip to Bucerias, here are some points worth noting:
1. October is the rainy season—it rained a few times in the evening, and it was quite humid.
2. People will try to sell you timeshares as soon as you get off the plane. Don’t be fooled by the promise of free trips.
3. Take bug spray—you’re next to the rainforest!

Win a Nick Nights Short Break for Your Family with TravelMuse and Redbook!

fiona — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:50:51 GMT

TravelMuse has teamed up with Redbook magazine and Nickelodeon Family Suites to offer one lucky Redbook reader the chance to win a 4-day, 3-night trip for four to Nickelodeon Family Suites in Orlando, Fla. Suite accommodations and breakfast are included, as well as $600 worth of airfare vouchers. A total retail value of $1,700!

To enter, visit redbookmag.com/winit this coming Sunday, Oct. 26!

TravelMuse Teams With Junior League

fiona — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:52:37 GMT

We’re excited to work with the local Junior League Chapter, the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc. (JLOEB), on their annual fundraiser. The Junior League was founded in 1935 and is an organization of women, who to this day are committed to building better communities and making a difference in the lives of children and families served by the League.

TravelMuse is delighted to have this opportunity, and as we continue to effect change in building our travel planning community, we hope we can help other groups like Junior League. Starting now and running through November 30th, the team here at TravelMuse will donate $1 per each League-generated visitor who signs up and starts planning a trip using the TravelMuse Planner—a centralized place to collect, organize and share travel research. There is no cost to participate and no obligation to book a trip. (The total donation is capped at $1,000.)

Whether League members are looking for destination ideas on where to take their next family vacation, organizing a girls’ getaway, embarking on a romantic trip for two or meeting other League members at the 2009 Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) Convention, TravelMuse.com now makes the entire process easy for anyone to plan a trip. TravelMuse.com is also the JLOEB 2008-2009 exclusive travel partner and a silver-level sponsor of the Fifth Annual Artful Living Home Tour, Nov. 7- to 8, 2008, in Alamo and Diablo, Calif.

“Oftentimes, all it takes is a simple action to result in something truly impactful,” saya Tricia Stenger, president, JLOEB. “The League produces tangible benefits for children and their families throughout the Bay Area, and I am ecstatic that our philanthropic efforts through TravelMuse will further expand our combined impact in the community.”

At TravelMuse, effecting change is one of our core values, and we believe companies should not only invest in their employees and partners, but in the community at large. The Junior League is well known for building better communities, and we’re thrilled to work with their members on this program to further inspire others to make a difference.
For full details, read our press release.

News Round Up for September ‘08

fiona — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:24:54 GMT

TravelMuse kicked off September with our appearance at DEMOfall 08 on Sept. 8, where we launched Social Trip Planning. Thanks to all the press and bloggers who covered us, we were excited to meet you and share our story so far.

Edward N. Albro from PC World said, “It looks valuable as a way to come up with initial travel ideas and plans” and included TravelMuse in the “12 Promising New Web Sites and Services” out of all DEMOfall 08 and TechCrunch50.

Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat listed TravelMuse in his top ten company picks of DEMOfall 08 and also wrote specifically about how TravelMuse plans to simplify travel planning.

Business Week’s Carmine Gallo took a look at the DEMO presentations from a slightly different angle and wrote about how to deliver a presentation under pressure, highlighting TravelMuse’s presentation and comparing it to advice from Moore—the need to create a new place in my brain to hold the information you’re about to deliver.

Troy Wolverton of San Jose Mercury News listed TravelMuse in his Top 5 picks from DEMOfall 08 and referenced the pain he feels when planning his own vacation with his wife … and how TravelMuse aims to solve that problem by providing a work space where multiple people can swap travel ideas and research.

Michael J. Miller from PC Magazine listed TravelMuse in his “My favorite DEMOfall 08 Products” saying, “I very much like the look and features of TravelMuse. I like the idea of gathering and collecting information on the trip from any Website in one place, and letting multiple people work together to plan a trip.”

Rolf Potts of Vagabonding said, “TravelMuse makes a nice way to bookmark and store your research, and it’s definitely a must-have for groups planning to travel together” , adding ”you’d be hard pressed to find a travel site that looks as slick and is as easy to use as TravelMuse”.

PLing of TripHow said, “TravelMuse is the best thing on the market right now.”

Thrillest said, “Organizing a killer trip with friends can be a serious pain--open up the planning to everyone and prepare for a parliamentary stalemate, but leave one person in charge and risk visiting MimeFest, again. Make group trip planning frighteningly easy, with TravelMuse.”

To read more, visit our press page.

Now while most of our attention was on DEMO, our Interns, Hannah and Marissa, managed to score free passes at TechCrunch50, by volunteering—here’s what they had to say:

“Our volunteer duties included everything from building a bunker of backpacks on Sunday, to manning the registration tables—in between we managed to listen to company presentations and check out the booths in the Pit. Our favorite companies included Swype, which we had a lot of fun trying out, and GoodGuide – we’re glad to know what’s in our shampoo! Marissa also learned a lot from the lunchtime panel about Venture Capital firms and loved hearing Mark Cuban’s keynote discussion.

We managed to do a little TravelMuse guerrilla marketing on the side, before heading to the after-party, where we ate our weight in canapés and watched TechCrunch attendees network up a storm. Hannah returned to TechCrunch on Wednesday to see Joss Whedon and loved handing him his name badge as he checked into the conference."

Uptake Takes $10+ Million in New Funding

fiona — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:17:18 GMT

We were pleased to learn that one of our partners, UpTake successfully closed its second round of funding, raising more than $10 million. Congratulations to Yen, Elliott and the rest of the UpTake team!

UpTake has so far focused mainly on hotels and activities and has cleverly indexed more than 20 million online reviews and opinions from travelers across the Web, personalizing results to match user preferences. Compared to TripAdvisor, which claims 15 million online reviews in its company fact sheet, that’s 33 percent more reviews!

UpTake includes content from thousands of trusted Web sites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, Fodors, goCityKids, Virtual Tourist and Yahoo Travel. I put its site to the test with Puerto Vallarta, a destination I’m visiting in a couple of weeks on my own family vacation, and found some great sites for activities, including canopytours-vallarta.com, which offers zip line tours through the jungle.

I was able to save the research I’d found on UpTake into my Mexico Trip plan on the TravelMuse Planner using the TravelMuse Plan-It! Widget that UpTake has placed on all of its content pages. I simply clicked on the TravelMuse Plan-It Widget at the bottom of the UpTake page, and just like on Del.ic.ous.com, I bookmarked the information. So now, my family and I can refer to that information as we collaboratively plan our trip and can revisit the relevant page on UpTake.

UpTake has done a truly remarkable job to grow traffic to 150,000 unique visitors per month over the past five months, and as research shows, 73 percent of people use the Web to find information for their trips. The SEO investment Uptake has made is paying dividends with Google’s search results, where its content is highly discoverable. If I type “Santa Barbara family hotels” in the Google search box, UpTake shows up as the first result, beating TripAdvisor (which, let’s face it, has been around for a lot longer and has a much larger budget than UpTake).

So what’s next? Having built a solid search offering in Hotels, it sounds like UpTake is heading off to champion new categories such as UpTake Lodging, UpTake Things to Do, UpTake Restaurants and UpTake Beaches. This makes a lot of sense, given how it has excelled in aggregating information so far.

It’s also not surprising that UpTake seems to be investing further in business intelligence and analysis—after all it’s a data driven business! However, on a lighter note, I really do think the key lever for UpTake will be the Facebook Secretary. Elliott, do you not have this covered already with all those Twitter connections ?

UpTake has brought order to the mass of fragmented travel data that exists on the Web today. I’m excited to see what it rolls out next to help people find relevant travel information even more quickly.