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"A Christmas Story" Comes to Life in Cleveland

kevin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:23:45 GMT

Pop quiz!

When I say “you’ll shoot your eye out, kid!” what do you think of? The movie A Christmas Story, of course! This cult classic has become a rite of passage in many homes, including ours. There are a handful of holiday must-sees that we watch year in and year out, and A Christmas Story is at the top of the list.

I’ve seen it dozens of times but did not realize that you can actually experience many of the sights and sounds of the movie in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Christmas Story House. The house is open year-round but really comes to life during the winter holiday season. The city of Cleveland is rightfully promoting this relatively unknown gem as one of the “must-see seasonal attractions” in the city.

The Christmas Story House has been completely restored “to its movie splendor.” The site states that “directly across the street from the house is the official A Christmas Story House Museum, which features original props, costumes and memorabilia from the film, as well as hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes photos. Among the props and costumes are the toys from the Higbee’s window, Randy’s snowsuit and zeppelin, the chalkboard from Miss Shields’ classroom and the family car.”

After touring this veritable shrine to holiday kitsch you can head down the street and dine at the Chinese restaurant where the family enjoyed headless Peking duck on Christmas day. Or if you have some shopping left to do, you can hit she museum gift shop and pick up {wait for it) a glowing, stocking-strewn leg lamp. Wonder if they offer overnight shipping…

Share your favorite quote from A Christmas Story in the comments field.

Virgin America Introduces Wi-Fi

kevin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:01:11 GMT

Virgin America is rolling out Wi-Fi powered by GoGoInflight. This week I was lucky enough to fly on the first aircraft outfitted with this new service. The experience was great. For $9.95 you get access to a very high-speed connection. All Virgin America planes are already equipped with 110V outlets at every seat, so you can be productive for almost the entire flight. Couple this with the already exceptional in-flight entertainment, and a trip from San Francisco to JFK really flies by (no pun intended). Virgin plans to roll out Wi-Fi on the rest of its fleet by spring 2009. I applaud Virgin America for listening to its customers and continuously improving their experience. Let’s hope the rest of the industry catches on.

An Obama Presidency and the Travel Industry

kevin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:29:36 GMT

Yesterday’s election of Barack Obama as the 44th President was an historic moment for the United States on many levels. People today are talking about what an Obama presidency means for America’s standing in the world, her economic future and the future of its citizens.

If the initial reaction from the international community is any sign, it’s safe to say that the United State’s perception in the world enjoyed a significant jump overnight. The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom said:

So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in the eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world.

For those of us in the travel business, it’s interesting to examine what this election means to the future of the U.S. travel industry. Will personal fortunes rise over the next four years and spurn more tourism? Will the United States see an increase in international visitors?
Roger Dow, President of the Travel Industry Association had this to say:

… we look forward to working with our policy leaders to address two of the most daunting challenges facing America today: improving the U.S. economy and strengthening America's image around the world. We have already seen President-elect Obama take important steps over the past year to demonstrate his support for travel by cosponsoring the Travel Promotion Act, encouraging expansion of the Visa Waiver Program and speaking out on our nation's deteriorating air travel system. He now has an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to improving the American economy and winning hearts and minds around the world by supporting lower barriers to travel to and within the United States, and by making improvement of the travel process a central priority of his administration.

It is my belief that the next four years will be transformative for the United States, and that we’ll see an economic resurgence that will lead to more discretionary income at home and abroad, and ultimately yield a strengthening of U.S. tourism. Further bolstering the travel sector will be increased investment in infrastructure—such as upgrading our airports and air traffic control system—leading to more jobs and a more efficient travel experience for consumers. Lastly, I suspect that Obama’s global perspective and multi-cultural background is likely to stoke Americans’ curiosity in the world and trigger more foreign travel.

Am I just a hopeless romantic, or do you agree?

What are your thoughts on the travel industry on this historic day?

TravelMuse Selected For PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit

kevin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:50:29 GMT

We’re excited to announce that TravelMuse has been selected to present at the Travel Innovation Summit taking place at the 2008 PhoCusWright Conference on Nov. 17 in Hollywood, Calif.

Approximately 20 of the leading travel start-ups will have 10 minutes each to showcase their solutions on stage in front of members of the press, investors and leaders from around the travel industry. If you’re in Los Angeles and would like to meet with us, grab a pass and head on over to the conference! It should be a great show.

Fall Weekend in Seattle

kevin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:19:28 GMT

Hey baby, I hear the blues a-callin’,
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs

Oh My
Mercy (alt: Quite stylish.)

And maybe I seem a bit confused,
Yeah maybe, but I got you pegged!
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!

But I don’t know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs.
They’re callin’ again.

Ah Seattle. Home of the Seahawks, Starbucks, Pike Place Fish Market, and yes, Dr. Frasier Crane. (It’s still not clear to me what that little ditty has to do with a) Seattle or b) psychiatry, but I had it my head, and now you do, too. Sorry.)

What’s not to love about a city that’s surrounded by water and mountains? A city where you can easily get around by foot, bike or public transit. A metropolis that feels one with nature, and yet is hip and urban at the same time.

On a recent October weekend, my family hopped up to Seattle to re-connect with friends who are now lucky enough to call this beautiful city home. We stayed in the lovely town of Kirkland, about 20 minutes from Seattle, on the shore of Lake Washington. On Saturday morning we ventured into downtown Seattle and explored the Seattle Aquarium, which sits right on Puget Sound. We arrived just in time for the scuba diver show, where kids sit in front of a 40- by 20-foot wall of glass while volunteer divers in dry suits educate them from inside the aquarium.

Next we headed up no fewer than 11 flights of outdoor stairs to Pike Place Market. Our timing again was great—the famous fish mongers were busy filling orders and flinging enormous salmon with startling precision. We fell for the “errant fish into the crowd” gag, which was actually a stuffed animal that had us all ducking for cover.

Lunch was amazing at the Steelhead Diner. The kids enjoyed what has to be the world’s best homemade mac ‘n’ cheese, made with cheese produced across the street from Beecher's Hand Made Cheese, and I had the best mussels of my life, which were prepared with chorizo and a savory garlic broth.

Sunday morning a few of us hearty souls enjoyed a tour of the University of Washington campus by participating in the 23rd annual Dawg Dash, a 5K/10K race that benefits the University of Washington Alumni Association. Nobody bothered to mention just how hilly the UW campus is, but it is gorgeous, and from the top you can take in the Seattle skyline and majestic Mount Rainier.

Our only regret on this trip is that we only had a few days to visit. The next time we head to the northwest, we’ll spend some more time in Seattle and continue on to Victoria and Vancouver, B.C.—two cities that remain high on our TravelMuse trip list!

View from Queen Anne Boulevard of Seattle Skyline Photo: Kevin Fliess

Russ Lemelin Appointed CFO of TravelMuse

kevin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:28:44 GMT

Russ Lemelin has been an advisor to TravelMuse for more than six months. As CFO, he brings a wealth of experience in the online travel space to the company. He was one of the earliest employees at SideStep, Inc., where he held the role of CFO and interim CEO. Russ spent six years at SideStep, during which time he oversaw the company’s revenue grow from $0 to $30 million per year. SideStep was acquired by Kayak in December 2007 for approximately $200 million. Prior to SideStep, Russ led corporate development at Komag, Inc.

Russ lives with his wife and three girls in Danville, Calif. He enjoys traveling to Hawaii, spending time with the family and watching classic western movies. Russ is a self-proclaimed, die-hard Oakland Raiders fan and was born and raised in Northern California.

DEMO Delivers!

kevin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:29:31 GMT

It was a whirlwind two days for TravelMuse at Fall DEMO'08 in San Diego on Sept. 8 and 9!

The experience was amazing and even surpassed the high expectations we had going in. Let’s be clear about this. DEMO is the real deal. I recommend it for any start-up.

The DEMO team is an A+ outfit. They make sure that everything goes smoothly, and as one demonstrator said, they make you feel like the only company at DEMO. The organization is meticulous from pre-event planning to the ongoing relationship management with DEMO alumni.

TravelMuse got great coverage by the press in attendance, and the show definitely stirred the interest of the investor and partner community as well.

I’d like to thank the TravelMuse team and the families of the team for enduring some very long days and nights over the past few months. You rose to the occasion time and again, and the results speak for themselves! Gracias!

Here are a few pictures from the show. We were honored to be a part of it!

Taking the stage....

Fiona does her best roadie impersonation...

Eric goes vertical on the monitors...

Plan Travel with Plan-It!

kevin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:17:09 GMT

Most travelers visit numerous Web sites when planning a trip, but they lack a simple way to organize their findings or share research efficiently. TravelMuse can help solve that problem. Today we released the TravelMuse Plan-It! widget for site publishers. (Click to read the full press release.)

Visitors to sites that feature the Plan-It! social bookmarking widget can simply click the Plan-It! button on any page and save content directly into the TravelMuse Planner—a centralized place to collect, organize and share travel research. Content publishers can download and install Plan-It! by visiting the Plan-It! page on TravelMuse.com.

This widget is perfect for travel content Web sites such as CVBs, DMOs, B&Bs, travel blogs— any quality travel site that wants to empower its readers with the ability to more easily plan trips.

Three TravelMuse partners—which all provide great trip planning content—have already deployed Plan-It!: Uptake.com, CiaoBambino.com and CompulsiveTraveler.tv.

Uptake aggregates and organizes reviews from thousands of different sites so that you can get a complete picture of a hotel, restaurant or attraction before you arrive. (You can read about how UpTake is using Plan-It! on the UpTake blog.)
CiaoBambino provides very rich and detailed reviews of high-end family travel destinations and properties.
CompulsiveTraveler has beautiful, engrossing travel videos organized by activity and destination.

If you’re a traveler, explore these sites and try out the Plan-It! widget. Click on a page featuring the widget, and that content is automatically stored inside of a TravelMuse trip plan.

If you’re a publisher, visit our partner page to learn more. Plan-It! is free to download and use, and gives your site visitors the power to more efficiently plan trips. We hope you find this tool as cool and useful as we do.

http://www.travelmuse.com/about/plan-it.htm

Losing My Virgin America Virginity

kevin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:21:08 GMT

This week I flew Virgin America for the first time: San Francisco to Washington, Dulles and back. The good mojo starts the minute you arrive at the check-in counter. A smiling greeter walked up to me and asked in beautiful Queen’s English, “Sir, will you be flying Virgin America, today?” No, this was not the first class check in line. I think I actually blushed. Suspicious, I checked in and found that the true joy exhibited by this employee was not an aberration: Everyone clearly loves his job at Virgin America.

Then you walk down the jet way and board what has to be the coolest commercial aircraft in the U.S. sky. You definitely feel like you’re walking into a Vegas night club as you board, with the mauve and blue lighting, the cabin crew (called “hosts”) in slick black outfits and the plush leather seats.

cc Photo courtesy of miss_rogue

VA flies new Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, so the planes are clean, safe and some of the most fuel-efficient in the sky. The designers at Virgin did a spectacular job creating ambience—yes ambience—within the cabin. The lavatories and galleys are separated from the seating area by translucent blue glass and, oh, did I mention the lighting? It’s just so cool.

(Keep in mind that this is a “low-cost carrier” yet the service I experienced far surpassed anything I’ve seen in the major U.S. airlines. Hmmm…)

Then you sit down and are greeted by a personal in-flight entertainment system with new-release movies, live television, games, and a selection of snacks and drinks that you order right from your seat. Here’s where I tip my hat to the business strategists at Virgin. How smart! You’ve got a captive audience for what—6 hours—who are desperate for entertainment. I was like a gambling junkie swiping my credit card every 60 to 90 minutes for a movie, then a snack and a beer on the way home.

Was the flight on Virgin America perfect? Pretty much, yeah. It’s obvious that the employees at Virgin are well taken care of and really love their jobs.

My only suggestion would be a “clear my tray” function for the personal entertainment system. While you can order a drink or snack, and it’s brought almost instantly, there’s no way to notify your ‘hosts’ to pick up service items unless they pass through the aisle.

Virgin made a believer out of me, and I will be flying them again. Thank you, Sir Richard.

Hotel and Point of Interest Content Update

kevin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:03:02 GMT

Within the last week, we completed a major upgrade to our hotel and destination database to ensure the most current and freshest content possible. Having a body of accurate and actionable reference content is essential for effective travel planning and booking, and we’re committed to keeping this information as up to date as possible.

Working with our booking partner World Choice Travel (a subsidiary of Travelocity), we increased our hotel count to 105,000—up from about 90,000. These 105,000 hotels cover more than 17,000 destinations and provide the widest selection of trusted hotel options throughout the world. Our hotel pages connect directly to the central reservation systems of hotels worldwide, which results in better rate and room descriptions, and in many cases, a greater variety of rates.

Working with our destination content provider WCities, we increased the number of points of interest (restaurants, shopping and attractions) from roughly 85,000 to 92,000 covering over 200 destinations.

Obviously, with this amount of data, there will be bits of obsolete or wrong information. We work closely with both partners to report and fix any data inaccuracies and you can let us know of anything you find by sending an e-mail to: feedback at travelmuse dot com.