Technology
Front of Mind
Aug 31st
I’m always amazed at what becomes visible to the conscience when something is suddenly brought to your attention. I could pass the same thing every day and never notice it until someone pointed it out to me. Then, suddenly, I see that item wherever I go. It could be a new brand people are wearing, a new car model or new 2D barcode technology.
I am very excited that Global Traveler is introducing 2D barcode technology. I know advertisers will be taking advantage of this great marketing tool. Before the technology was presented to us in a recent meeting, I was not even aware of its existence. Now that I have been made aware of it, I keep seeing barcodes all over New York City. Just this past weekend, I was shopping and walked by Norma Kamali. Each item in the window had a barcoded sign with it. I asked the storekeeper if the barcodes were popular, and he said yes. When the code is scanned from the window display, it links to the item online and allows consumers to purchase the item directly. He went on to inform me that mostly businesswomen are using this technology as they simply don’t have time to go inside and make the purchase.
Stay tuned for more on this technology and keep an eye out for it on ads, billboards, everywhere. Your favorite articles, brands and products could be just a barcode away. Simply point your Smartphone at the code, take a picture, and you are instantly transported to the desired link!
– Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher
A Proud Moment
Aug 30th
I have never been prouder in my professional career than I was last Tuesday and Wednesday. We brought in Global Traveler‘s sales staff for an annual seminar. PowerPoint presentations were made by Alex Young and Kim Krol, covering everything from our competition and our obvious strengths to internal procedures and the fantastic success of eFlyer, GT‘s e-newsletter.
Alex presented, in a very artistic way, all the destinations she has traveled to in her eight-year tenure with Global Traveler — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, Tokyo, Seattle, Montréal, London and Singapore were just the tip of the iceberg shown. I followed suit, covering my destinations, including Fiji, Norway, Korea, Thailand, China, Australia and Mexico — just to name a few. Dick Evans even talked about his near capture while on a horseback safari near the Afghan border.
We then presented and summarized our airline clients, pasting their logos on their home markets as we discussed routes and services. In between the presentations, we viewed videos and commercials from Thai, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Delta, United, Air Canada, Asiana, Korean Air and many more. Highlights from Emirates’ first class and Lufthansa’s A380 were shown.
We covered Global Traveler‘s new 2D barcoding capabilities and discussed the possibilities for linking these barcodes from Smartphones to any websites desired. We thought linking a GT 2D Barcode to Dale Moss’s video interview on our website was an interesting use for the new technology.
We ended the seminar in true Philadelphia fashion — with a trip to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies take on the Astros. It was a great event and sure to be an annual gathering from now on. Maybe we should consider Palm Spring or Hawaii next?
– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO
Working with Wikipedia
Aug 27th
What’s the deal with Wikipedia? We all use it. We all know what it is. But does anyone really know how confusing it is?!?!
Over the last two weeks, I have been working to make Global Traveler a Wikipedia article. When I started, I figured I would just need to do some research about the company, add in the things I knew and then put in the finishing touches. I was mistaken.
First of all, Wikipedia has a ton of rules. Rules that you never thought would matter but that Wikipedia thinks is super important. There are rules about making lists and including people’s names. One large rule is the “Point of View” rule. You have to be unbiased and present your article from a completely neutral point of view. That tends to be incredibly difficult when you are making a page about a company that you work for. One of my favorite obstacles is that you cannot have a user name that is a company name. Despite reading hundreds of pages about Wikipedia and articles, I never came across this rule. I learned this the hard way when trying to find out something on a help chat. The person in the chat was so serious about this rule that he would not help me until I filed a “name change request.” Wikipedia is not for those people just playing around.
Wikipedia has its own language. Everyday tasks done on the word processor become difficult and bothersome. Pressing ctrl and “B” no longer makes something bold. The Wikipedia user has to use apostrophes (‘’’) to initiate the bold and then another set of three apostrophes to end it. Similar programming techniques are used to get italics, bullets, lists and headings. I would tell you how to underline, but I don’t even know if that is possible in Wikipedia world.
So after you master the rules and the language, there is one more problem. People and robots continually check the site to make sure that people are posting things fairly and legally. I tried to upload the GT logo and immediately two people were leaving messages on my “MyTalk.” If only they knew I had no idea what was going on and didn’t even know how to find their messages! Right now I have my page up for feedback. We shall see how that works out.
Working with Wikipedia has given me a new-found respect for the articles that people put up. Every link is the result of hard work, and every picture is the result of an intense copyright law. It has been fascinating learning the ins and outs of the Wikipedia world, and by the end of the process I hope to be so knowledgeable that I can call others out on their mistakes. My interaction and work with Wikipedia has confirmed my opinion that teachers and professors should count it as a reliable source. If they only knew how hard it was to get information published on it!
– Mary Carpenter, intern
A New Twist on Bargain Hunting
Aug 19th
I was reading Forbes the other day and on the cover was a guy named Andrew Mason, who founded Groupon. As the name suggests, Groupon is a blending of the words group and coupon. I had never heard of the company before, so I was curious to see what was so interesting about him and his company that they garnered the cover of the magazine.
Groupon is a website, and each day it features a product, activity or service available for purchase at an unbeatable price. The deal is only available at the cheap price if a certain amount of people purchase the offer. Deals are specific to location. It’s a really awesome concept.
An example of a Philadelphia-area deal? A 14-day all-access pass and a 30-minute massage at the Sporting Club at the Bellevue for $45. Normally, this would cost about $355. That’s an 87 percent discount.
It’s amazing, every few years it seems a young person is discovering world-changing websites. Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, was only 20 years old. Andrew Mason is 29, still very young. I wonder who the next web genius will be.
– Amanda Smith, advertising and editorial coordinator
