DMOs Tourism Professionals Love to Follow – Oct Edition

Filed under Social Media Thoughts by on October 18, 2011 at 7:30 am {6 comments}

There’s this piece of me that just kind of wants to open this up with a whole slew of bad jokes. Wouldn’t that be awesome? No? Oh fine. Here is the list of the DMOs that have the most tourism professionals following:

 

Rank Twitter Screenname % of Tourism Pros Follow Klout Score
1. @VisitFingerLake@VisitFingerLake 63.5% 62
2. @BeaumontCVB@BeaumontCVB 52.1% 35
3. @travelportland@travelportland 41.7% 53
4. @TunicaMS@TunicaMS 37.5% 52
5. @VisitLoudoun@VisitLoudoun 36.5% 46
6. @VisitSavannah@VisitSavannah 33.3% 60
7. @visitPA@visitPA 32.3% 65
8. @visitbatonrouge@visitbatonrouge 31.3% 61
9. @VisitAustinTX@VisitAustinTX 31.3% 55
10. @gotolouisville@gotolouisville 29.2% 50
11. @PositivelyCleve@PositivelyCleve 28.1% 58
12. @columbiasc@columbiasc 27.1% 62
13. @AuthenticCoast@AuthenticCoast 27.1% 61
14. @VisitVirginia@VisitVirginia 27.1% 54
15.-TIE @BaltimoreMD@BaltimoreMD 26% 65
15.-TIE @visitphilly@visitphilly 26% 65
17. @VisitIndiana@VisitIndiana 26% 58
18. @vatourismpr@vatourismpr 25% 57
19. @SeeDesMoines@SeeDesMoines 24% 48
20. @enjoyillinois@enjoyillinois 24% 46
21. @NewOrleans@NewOrleans 22.9% 50
22. @CincyUSACVB@CincyUSACVB 22.9% 33
23. @SanAntonioCVBPR@SanAntonioCVBPR 22.9% 31
24. @Colorado@Colorado 21.9% 65
25. @VISITFLORIDA@VISITFLORIDA 21.9% 59
26. @TravelOregon@TravelOregon 21.9% 53
27. @PaducahCVB@PaducahCVB 21.9% 39
28. @TravelCoosBay@TravelCoosBay 21.9% 37
29. @PureMichigan@PureMichigan 20.8% 65
30. @VisitSpokane@VisitSpokane 20.8% 51
31.-TIE @BuffaloNiagara@BuffaloNiagara 20.8% 49
31.-TIE @TNVacation@TNVacation 20.8% 49
33. @RioCVB@RioCVB 20.8% 27
34. @visitmaine@visitmaine 19.8% 54
35. @inDowntownPDX@inDowntownPDX 19.8% 49
36. @VisitFairfax@VisitFairfax 19.8% 46
37.-TIE @GetToTheBC@GetToTheBC 19.8% 34
37.-TIE @StJoMo@StJoMo 19.8% 34
39. @MyVancouver@MyVancouver 18.8% 63
40. @DiscoverOhio@DiscoverOhio 18.8% 60
41.-TIE @lehighvalleypa@lehighvalleypa 18.8% 50
41.-TIE @louisianatravel@louisianatravel 18.8% 50
41.-TIE @VermontTourism@VermontTourism 18.8% 50
44. @ArizonaTourism@ArizonaTourism 18.8% 48
45. @texastourism@texastourism 18.8% 46
46. @GalvestonIsland@GalvestonIsland 18.8% 38
47. @visitholland@visitholland 17.7% 55
48. @VisitBucksPA@VisitBucksPA 17.7% 52
49. @VisitKissimmee@VisitKissimmee 17.7% 48

 

The methodology is the same as the tourism pros post, except in the ranking system. Klout is still very much being gamed, as there are still personal profiles being used with some of these accounts. Therefore, rank is given by the percent of tourism pros following and ties are broken by Klout score.

When I first did this list, @VisitFingerLake was done as more of a personal account where you would see the area through her eyes. That was why I ranked it as a part of the tourism pros instead of the DMOs. Sadly, the amazing person behind the account has recently left her position, and it has gone to a more traditional DMO account. It will be interesting to see how this account develops and obviously, a lot of our eyes are on it.

Another improvement I made was ranking more accounts. Despite the fact that I thought it would be too much to do another long list, the biggest feedback that I received last time was that you guys wanted to see more accounts. Well, I gave you that. And now I’m sleepy. Very, very sleepy. *Yawn*

As before, you will notice that there are a lot of mid-sized DMOs on this list. I still argue that these are the most interesting accounts to me. They tend to have hired a dedicated social media person and that person tends to be… oh… scrappy. They have very little budget and they get very, very creative in trying to make that budget stretch. I want to tackle hug these people, because what they do tends to be so much cooler than those with bigger budgets. Yes, I know it’s weird to get as excited as I do about social media.

And here is your Twitter list so you can follow along with the awesome.

Top 100 Most Influential Tourism Professionals – October Edition

Filed under Social Media Thoughts by on October 17, 2011 at 7:15 am {36 comments}

Uh oh. It’s list time again, guys!

I want to give you some thoughts, but I know why you guys are all here. So without further adieu, here we go:

 

Rank Twitter Screenname % of Tourism Pros Follow Klout Score
1. @SheilaS@SheilaS 80% 71
2. @WhosYourAnnie@WhosYourAnnie 82.1% 65
3. @theresaoverby@theresaoverby 78.9% 65
4. @mobethann@mobethann 80% 62
5. @TomMartin@TomMartin 75.8% 65
6. @GammetGuy@GammetGuy 81.1% 57
7. @pagetx@pagetx 75.8% 62
8. @andrewghayes@andrewghayes 66.3% 71
9. @decillis@decillis 70.5% 64
10. @katiecook@katiecook 78.9% 55
11. @Beaumartian@Beaumartian 72.6% 61
12. @scullyano@scullyano 69.5% 62
13. @travel2dot0@travel2dot0 67.4% 63
14. @claudiabia@claudiabia 63.2% 65
15. @mandiengram@mandiengram 63.2% 61
16. @wilhelmus@wilhelmus 64.2% 58
17. @Banff_Squirrel@Banff_Squirrel 57.9% 64
18. @Amy_Brock@Amy_Brock 58.9% 62
19. @BeckyMcCray@BeckyMcCray 52.6% 67
20. @jeremyawilliams@jeremyawilliams 62.1% 56
21. @laynadugan@laynadugan 57.9% 59
22. @theplanetd@theplanetd 40% 75
23. @earthXplorer@earthXplorer 31.6% 82
24. @AshleyTravels@AshleyTravels 63.2% 50
25. @TravelBlggr@TravelBlggr 43.2% 69
26. @CygnetUpdates@CygnetUpdates 55.8% 55
27.-TIE @traveldudes@traveldudes 32.6% 78
27.-TIE @KellyDeanOttawa@KellyDeanOttawa 52.6% 58
29. @billgeist@billgeist 60% 50
30. @lbach22@lbach22 57.9% 52
31. @sschandler@sschandler 38.9% 68
32. @oregonkat@oregonkat 66.3% 40
33. @ChatterBachs@ChatterBachs 55.8% 50
34. @EverywhereTrip@EverywhereTrip 29.5% 75
35. @Joe_ExpCols@Joe_ExpCols 49.5% 54
36. @mosherifdeen@mosherifdeen 58.9% 44
37.-TIE @PeterSGreenberg@PeterSGreenberg 33.7% 69
37.-TIE @Andrea_VisitGR@Andrea_VisitGR 53.7% 49
39. @karasw@karasw 40% 62
40. @mike_vstpcola@mike_vstpcola 61.1% 40
41.-TIE @GregRuby@GregRuby 38.9% 62
41.-TIE @thePRguy@thePRguy 38.9% 62
43. @chris2x@chris2x 36.8% 64
44. @ilovememphis@ilovememphis 33.7% 67
45. @nomadicmatt@nomadicmatt 32.6% 68
46. @McMedia@McMedia 29.5% 71
47. @jeremy_harvey@jeremy_harvey 68.4% 32
48. @Marilyn_Res@Marilyn_Res 29.5% 70
49. @flyawaycafe@flyawaycafe 38.9% 60
50. @Shalyn_Marsh@Shalyn_Marsh 47.4% 51
51. @TravelSocial@TravelSocial 46.3% 52
52. @nathankam@nathankam 31.6% 66
53. @DeepDishCreates@DeepDishCreates 44.2% 53
54. @bobf_vstpgh@bobf_vstpgh 50.5% 46
55. @TroutLine@TroutLine 42.1% 54
56. @CAroundTheWorld@CAroundTheWorld 29.5% 66
57. @jccjhiggins@jccjhiggins 47.4% 48
58. @BVMatson@BVMatson 61.1% 34
59. @hmaust@hmaust 40% 55
60. @laurably@laurably 37.9% 57
61. @SeattleMaven@SeattleMaven 34.7% 60
62. @Ted_Sullivan@Ted_Sullivan 68.4% 25
63. @JoeDuck@JoeDuck 33.7% 58
64. @LeslieMcLellan@LeslieMcLellan 34.7% 57
65. @CajunMama@CajunMama 33.7% 58
66. @nerdseyeview@nerdseyeview 30.5% 61
67. @DCtravelgirl@DCtravelgirl 46.3% 45
68.-TIE @thefrontrowe@thefrontrowe 35.8% 55
68.-TIE @wendyperrin@wendyperrin 35.8% 55
70. @ElenaNW@ElenaNW 46.3% 43
71. @shannasmith@shannasmith 42.1% 47
72. @GathanDBorden@GathanDBorden 40% 49
73. @kristaparry@kristaparry 38.9% 50
74. @robertpatterson@robertpatterson 33.7% 55
75. @theslynch@theslynch 48.4% 40
76. @coldinpdx@coldinpdx 51.6% 36
77.-TIE @thetripchicks@thetripchicks 30.5% 57
77.-TIE @MeileeAnderson@MeileeAnderson 30.5% 57
79. @Travelogged@Travelogged 29.5% 58
80. @stephenjoyce@stephenjoyce 34.7% 52
81. @Susantravels@Susantravels 30.5% 55
82. @starmediaguy@starmediaguy 31.6% 51
83. @teresaide@teresaide 50.5% 32
84. @toddlucier@toddlucier 45.3% 36
85. @MommyMusings@MommyMusings 29.5% 51
86. @KellyTravels@KellyTravels 38.9% 40
87. @JEBworks@JEBworks 31.6% 47
88. @tonylyle@tonylyle 34.7% 41
89. @emilyforsha@emilyforsha 29.5% 46
90. @MoTravelMama@MoTravelMama 35.8% 39
91. @melissayaohille@melissayaohille 34.7% 38
92. @ToshaTD@ToshaTD 42.1% 29
93. @nastephen@nastephen 46.3% 24
94. @MarMcDon@MarMcDon 31.6% 38
95. @anthony0504@anthony0504 33.7% 33
96. @chrissydani@chrissydani 32.6% 34
97. @SarahElam@SarahElam 33.7% 31
98.-TIE @kagray@kagray 40% 24
98.-TIE @RickRodriguezTN@RickRodriguezTN 40% 24
100. @dsmgirl@dsmgirl 31.6% 30

Methodology: I took the top ten from the original list and found 96 individual tourism accounts that the majority of them were following. I then found the 100 most followed individuals in tourism by these 96. From there, I looked up their Klout score. I added the percentage of followers and the Klout score and that gave me their rank. As before, I did take one individual off based on this person’s interactions with others. If you would like to talk about this further, we can do that in a different venue.

I had wanted to add in Peer Index into the process by adding it to the Klout score and then dividing by two. However, when trying to work with Peer Index, I found it to be clunky and even buggier than Klout. Many people that I knkow are “good tweeters” and are pretty active were given a score of zero on Peer Index. I just couldn’t do that to people that I know are doing what they should be doing on Twitter. Therefore, I decided not to use it.

In the three months since I did the original list, I think there has been a change in the tourism community. We are getting stronger. We are networking with each other more. And that’s awesome. Some people rocketed onto this list based on the fact that they simply talked to the community more.  It could have been in a chat where they gave great advice or it could have been about something not at all related to tourism. They just talked. And we started listening. I think this brand of effective networking is only going to continue, which means it’s going to become even harder to keep a place on this list. And that excites the hell out of me.

When looking at these accounts, know that not all of them are super active on Twitter. That doesn’t make them any less influential. They may choose to spread their influence via DMs or on Facebook. I think the point here is that they are there and most of them are willing to help. It’s up to you to figure out where they are most comfortable communicating.

I also want to make clear that I make no money off of this list and I have nothing to sell any of you. I do this list out of pure love of this community and a desire to make it stronger. We are only as strong as our ability to recruit new members and I want this list to be a starting point for anyone that is trying to get a start in the tourism Twitter community. If I have succeeded in that goal, then my time has been well spent.

And here is your Twitter list for your following pleasure.

So who do you think is missing?

Tourism Professionals You Might Have Missed

Filed under Social Media Thoughts by on July 20, 2011 at 6:49 am {2 comments}

We’ve gone strictly by the numbers and have discovered the professionals and the DMOs that are doing exciting things on Twitter. It’s great to see who’s doing it by the numbers, but you’re going to miss some great people if you do that. Some of the most inspiring tweeters I follow were either far down on the lists, or didn’t make the lists at all. So I really wanted to call attention to them. And if you thought the other lists were super biased and not interesting, skip this post. This is all my thoughts and therefore, I’ve got #tourismchatters and Ohio tourism industry peeps on here. That’s who I know and frankly, who inspires me.

 

1. Joe Vargo Joe Vargo (@Joe_ExpCols): Joe just joined Experience Columbus as their Interactive Marketing Manager. Joe has always been a great member of the tourism Twitter community, but I’ve been getting this feeling lately that this move has inspired him and that it’s about to take him to a new level. Every time I talk to him, I get the sense that Experience Columbus is about to come out kicking and show everyone why Columbus is the greatest place you never knew you wanted to visit. Look out for him. I think you might be surprised.

 

2.  Brian Matson (@BVMatson): I have one word for you: Woodchipper. For someone to have the audacity to embrace something that could be taken as a negative and turn it into something so positive… Brian, I salute you and your Fargo-Moorhead peeps! Every time I turn around, he’s posting tourists posing with eerie grins on their face as they push a leg into the woodchipper. It’s brilliant. On top of that, Brian is ALWAYS there to help his fellow peeps when they need it. He might not talk much and we might make fun of him for that, but if you pay too much attention to that, you’re missing out.

 

3.  Kathy Gray (@kagray): Kathy works with the Canton-Stark County CVB, and she’s smart… like super smart. Every time she asks a question or offers an answer to someone else’s question, I’m always struck by how insightful she is. She is perhaps the most underutilized resource simply because no one knows about her. Sorry, Kathy, but I have to let the cat out of the bag. She is doing some great work with Canton-Stark and is soaking everything that is going on out there up like a sponge. Watch out for her.

 

4.  Mystery Man (@AtoZion): I don’t know much about the person behind this account, but I’m intrigued. He’s been adding some serious awesome stuff to #tourismchat. I was so interested in what he was saying at the last chat that I said to my co-hort, “Remind me not to suck and to actually follow this guy.” Do I know what he’s on the verge of? No… I don’t even know what his name is. I do know he knows his stuff and is great at explaining things. I think we all need to make an effort to get to know more about him.

 

5.  Lynda Nemeth (@MsGeauga): There are all kinds of different ways to promote your destination. Lynda has her own special way and I’ve gotta tell you that I love going into her world. Instead of just telling us what’s going on, she gives me visual descriptions and tells me how she’s experiencing it. She goes off the script constantly and has a great sense of humor that always has me in stitches. And then there’s her mascot, Maple Max. Lynda ran a contest among the school children in her area to name him and now he’s traveling the county. I gotta say that little stuffed raccoon is telling me A LOT. Cheers to you Lynda on everything you’re accomplishing!

 

6.  Marty McDonald (@MarMcDon): Marty doesn’t tweet much, but when she does, it’s always something interesting. She’s really a genius when it comes to the tourism industry, but that’s not why I’m including her on this list. I’m including her, because she wrote a blog post that left me saying, “This is what DMO blogging should be.” I think she has a real passion for tourism that you can feel every time you’re around her. Add to that the fact that she also has a great deal of knowledge, and I just think she’s a powerful resource that we all should strive to get to know. Now, if only we could convince her to tweet more, so more of you can do that…

 

This is just a starting place. Who are you following that inspires you that we might be missing?

Top 100 Most Influential Tourism Professionals on Twitter

Filed under Social Media Thoughts by on July 18, 2011 at 7:30 am {89 comments}

Some of the top minds in the tourism industry toil day and night  to make their destinations, blogs, agencies, etc. the very best on Twitter. While they often let their organization be the star, I think it’s time to start recognizing how these tourism professionals are the real stars. After seeing this list on Twitter’s most influential small business leaders, I became intrigued with what would happen if we came up with a similar list of those that are influencing tourism. Here is what I found:

 

Rank Twitter Screenname % of Tourism Pros Follow Klout Score
1. @WhosYourAnnie@WhosYourAnnie 90.8% 62
2. @SheilaS@SheilaS 81.6% 68
3. @GammetGuy@GammetGuy 89.5% 58
4. @andrewghayes@andrewghayes 73.7% 71
5. @TomMartin@TomMartin 71.1% 69
6. -TIE @mobethann@mobethann 73.7% 64
6. -TIE @theresaoverby@theresaoverby 73.7% 64
8. @katiecook@katiecook 77.7% 57
9. @travel2dot0@travel2dot0 68.4% 63
10. @decillis@decillis 67.1% 60
11. -TIE @Beaumartian@Beaumartian 60.5% 63
11. -TIE @mandiengram@mandiengram 60.5% 63
13. @pagetx@pagetx 76.3% 46
14. @Banff_Squirrel@Banff_Squirrel 50.7% 69
15. @VisitFingerLake@VisitFingerLake 61% 58
16. @wilhelmus@wilhelmus 54% 62
17. @scullyano@scullyano 65.8% 49
18. @claudiabia@claudiabia 44.7% 70
19. @oregonkat@oregonkat 76.3% 38
20. @BeckyMcCray@BeckyMcCray 50% 62
21. @jeremyawilliams@jeremyawilliams 57.9% 51
22. @TravelBlggr@TravelBlggr 35.1% 73
23. @Amy_Brock@Amy_Brock 56.9% 51
24. @earthXplorer@earthXplorer 29.9% 77
25. @mike_vstpcola@mike_vstpcola 72.4% 34
26. @KellyDeanOttawa@KellyDeanOttawa 47.4% 59
27. @AshleyTravels@AshleyTravels 50% 55
28. @traveldudes@traveldudes 26% 79
29. @ChatterBachs@ChatterBachs 52.6% 51
30. @JoeSorge@JoeSorge 36.4% 65
31. @theplanetd@theplanetd 24.7% 76
32. @mosherifdeen@mosherifdeen 64.5% 36
33. @SeattleMaven@SeattleMaven 38.2% 61
34. @PeterSGreenberg@PeterSGreenberg 27.3% 71
35. @karasw@karasw 36.8% 61
36. @CygnetUpdates@CygnetUpdates 47.4% 49
37. @chris2x@chris2x 31.2% 65
38. @elliottdotorg@elliottdotorg 29.9% 66
39. @EverywhereTrip@EverywhereTrip 24.7% 71
40. @nomadicmatt@nomadicmatt 27.3% 68
41. @billgeist@billgeist 71.1% 24
42. @CajunMama@CajunMama 36.8% 58
43. @hmaust@hmaust 42.1% 52
44. @nerdseyeview@nerdseyeview 29.9% 64
45. @jccjhiggins@jccjhiggins 40.8% 53
46. @bobf_vstpgh@bobf_vstpgh 48.7% 45
47. @jeremy_harvey@jeremy_harvey 56.6% 37
48. @nathankam@nathankam 27.3% 66
49. @laynadugan@laynadugan 35.5% 57
50. @Marilyn_Res@Marilyn_Res 23.4% 69
51. -TIE @McMedia@McMedia 22.1% 70
51. -TIE @WhosYourAnnie@thetripchicks 22.1% 70
53. @sschandler@sschandler 35.5% 56
54. @CAroundTheWorld@CAroundTheWorld 28.6% 62
55. @ElenaNW@ElenaNW 43.4% 46
56. @barbdelollis@barbdelollis 23.4% 66
57. @DCtravelgirl@DCtravelgirl 39.5% 49
58. @theslynch@theslynch 51.3% 36
59. @DeepDishCreates@DeepDishCreates 34.2% 53
60. @thefrontrowe@thefrontrowe 39.5% 47
61. @JEBworks@JEBworks 32.5% 54
62. @Andrea_VisitGR@Andrea_VisitGR 50% 36
63. @patstrader@patstrader 26% 60
64. @coldinpdx@coldinpdx 54% 32
65. @spencerspellman@spencerspellman 20.8% 65
66. @BethBlair@BethBlair 23.4% 62
67. @KimMance@KimMance 22.1% 63
68. @BVMatson@BVMatson 57.9% 27
69. @GregRuby@GregRuby 24.7% 60
70. @Joe_ExpCols@Joe_ExpCols 35.5% 49
71. -TIE @laurably@laurably 24.7% 59
71. -TIE @Travelogged@Travelogged 24.7% 59
73. @Susantravels@Susantravels 30.3% 53
74. @toddlucier@toddlucier 48.7% 34
75. @ilovememphis@ilovememphis 24.7% 58
76. @JoeDuck@JoeDuck 22.1% 59
77. @TroutLine@TroutLine 23.4% 57
78. @nastephen@nastephen 47.4% 33
79. @kristaparry@kristaparry 29% 51
80. @wendyperrin@wendyperrin 23.4% 56
81. @GathanDBorden@GathanDBorden 30.3% 49
82. @flyawaycafe@flyawaycafe 20.8% 56
83. @lbach22@lbach22 46.1% 30
84. -TIE @thePRguy@thePRguy 20.8% 55
84. -TIE @WritingTravel@WritingTravel 20.8% 55
86. @stephenjoyce@stephenjoyce 23.4% 52
87. @deliciousbaby@deliciousbaby 22.1% 53
88. @girlsgetaway@girlsgetaway 20.8% 54
89. @Ted_Sullivan@Ted_Sullivan 47.4% 27
90. @TravelSocial@TravelSocial 22.1% 52
91. @tonylyle@tonylyle 28.6% 45
92. @teresaide@teresaide 39.5% 33
93. @LeslieMcLellan@LeslieMcLellan 22.1% 50
94. @shannasmith@shannasmith 28.6% 43
95. -TIE @MommyMusings@MommyMusings 20.8% 50
95. -TIE @travelrants@travelrants 20.8% 50
97. @Shalyn_Marsh@Shalyn_Marsh 33.8% 37
98. @WeJustGotBack@WeJustGotBack 23.4% 47
99. @TravelAndrew@TravelAndrew 20.8% 49
100. @starmediaguy@starmediaguy 23.4% 46

Now, I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty happy with who came out on top. It’s right on as far as I’m concerned and validated my methodology, despite the fact that I made the list…

Methodology: I identified seven individuals that I considered to be influential on me. I pulled the lists of who these seven people followed. Everyone on those lists that were followed by five or more of those influentials and could be considered a tourism professional then had their follow lists pulled. There were seventy-seven. From the list of who they follow, I determined who received the greatest percentage of followers from that list of seventy-seven and I looked up their Klout score. Adding those two numbers together gave me their rank.

The most subjective part of this process was determining whether a Twitter account was an individual. If you go through this list and find that I made a mistake on that, please let me know. Being one person, I’m prone to mistakes.

As far as whether I should have used Klout, I needed to use something to figure out how influential these accounts were. Yes, this is a faulty system and yes, it rewards those that create a profile. However, I think it makes good sense to take care of your online profile by making an account since this number is being used with greater frequency, and therefore, I am okay with those that have not getting penalized on this list for not having taken that step.

I will admit fully to having taken one person off of this list. I believe this person to be a predator and I did not want to put anyone at risk by putting this person on this list. If you have any questions on why I did this, I will be happy to answer them in a different forum.

I created a Twitter list with everyone from this list, so that you can easily follow as many as you would like.

So what do you think? Is this list accurate? Anybody you would add? Anybody that you would take off?