Bay Model building (photos © John Montgomery & Diane LeBow)

As she introduced our speaker on Saturday morning, October 16 at the Bay Model in Sausalito, Laurie McAndish King let us in on a secret: In addition to being a video expert and owning two companies, Mary Cary is a “shred guitarist” and performs live in a shred metal guitar band! (I learned later she even played for Michael Jackson in the ’90s).  Mary had actually had a concert the night before and was due to play again on stage that evening , but there she was, at 10:30 a.m. bravely facing a crowded room of BATW members, all potential videobloggers ready to raise their hands with questions. Mary led us competently through the process and impressed us with not only her expertise but also with her liveliness and generous sharing of information, which even a non-geek like me could follow and understand.

Mary Cary presents information to BATW members

Entitling her presentation “How to Develop Personal Rapport with Like-minded Visitors on your Website”, Mary Cary, founder of Videoblogmarketing. com, first captured our attention with some depressing statistics from the BIA Kelsey Group:

58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school

42% of college graduates never read another book

80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year

70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years

57% of new books are not read to completion

In such an environment, Mary says many viewers will be much more attracted to websites that have videos. Using her own experience building WordPress-driven video websites for small businesses, including many lawyers, Mary encouraged us to add videos to our own websites. The three steps that Mary went on to demonstrate included: how to make an HD video with a flip camera, how  to put it on YouTube.com, and how to copy the HTML code and embed it on a WordPress website or blog.

Using a “Flip Cam” video camera, which costs between $100 and $179, Mary filmed enthusiastic volunteer and would-be actress,  BATW member Ginny Prior, who read from the following script:

Hey! My name is Ginny Prior. I am here at the the Bay Model in Sausalito. I’m attending a travel witers group, and I am helping with an online video presentation.  We’re using a Flip Cam, to record this video and posting it on Youtube right now. Then we’re going to embed this video on a post at VideoBlogMarketing.com, a site built with WordPress. We’ll send the post, with our video, out into the “Blogosphere” for those who missed the meeting! Thanks a lot …See you in Cyber Space!

Mary then went on to the YouTube website on her computer and began uploading the video. During this time, she gave us a whole slew of tips to make our videos look professional. These included:

Mary Cary

Lighting tips: Light your face. Light your background. Be sure your background isn’t cluttered.

“Modeling” tips:. Don’t keep your shoulders square toward the camera. This gives you a box effect. Angle your shoulders so one is away and the other is closer in, even if it feels odd. Remember that whatever is closest to the camera will appear biggest. Keep your chin down, then your head will be proportioned and your jaw line refined.

Speech techniques: Practice out loud, preferably in front of a mirror. Listen to hear how you sound. You may have to relax and lower your voice

Script techniques: Use a script. You can glue the text near the Flip Cam. Don’t talk about yourself but share information. Talk as though you’re one-on-one with “your favorite Aunty”. Give good, free advice (great for a good ranking on Google!). Take your audience from A to B. Plan where you’re going. Use a “call to action” at the end so they know what to do.

Presentation tips: Stand away from the camera so you get a shot from the waist up if possible. Use your hands when your talk. Don’t go on and on. Remember our brains are programmed for a 30-second commercial!

Sound tips: Watch out for wind and background sound. Bad sound can ruin a video and make your visitor leave your site. Use a mic. (Examples: Icicle studio-quality micpreamp USB to mic fully balanced low noise $39 to $50. Sony Lavaliere omnidirectional mic $110.)

Editing : You can buy inexpensive edition software. (Examples: Adobe Premier Elements for PC or IMovie for Mac)

Mary also said you can get good sarch engine optimisation (SEO) on YouTube with well-chosen key words with quotes around them. You should make sure your raw file name on your computer has a NAME and not just be a numbered file. YouTube can host your video, and it can even be semi-private.

Mary ended her formal presentation by mentioning that in the future your TV set will probably be your Internet connection so online video will become even more relevant.

Then it was back to the video Mary made of Ginny.  Now that is was uploaded to YouTube, Mary showed us how to publish the video on this site and then to copy the HTML code and embed the video onto a website, in this case her own. We can discover how to do this by consulting Mary’s free tutorials under the “university” tab on her website.

Mary is an advocate for WordPress, especially because Google has said WordPress is the best for SEO for videos, and she suggests building a WordPress blog and website together. She is available to create professional videos in her studio or to help people create their own video, video studio or custom website. She closed by inviting us to visit her website and to join her blog, where we’ll receive free tips and advice.  And if we have any questions or comments, Mary said we could call her at (415) 690-7112 or write to mary@videoblogging.com .

Thank you, Mary, for such a lively and comprehensive presentation!

– Hilary Kaiser

Diane LeBow speaks about her and John Montgomery’s recent trip to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon at the August BATW meeting. (photo © Jim Shubin)

It was clear from the August presentation on Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, that our intrepid travelers Diane Lebow, John Montgomery and Alena Bartoli agree with Shaw’s sentiments. They traveled by horse, camel and burro to chronicle and photograph some of the world’s most misunderstood regions.  They ate camel in Palmya, visited mosques in all three countries and immersed themselves in the bathing ritual of the Dead Sea. It was “Eat, Pray, Love” . . . Middle Eastern style.

Accompanied by John Montgomery’s gorgeous images, Diane LeBow narrated adventure tales, tidbits, and information about Syria and Lebanon. Visiting from Jordan for the event, educational tour consultant Alena Bartoli shared her expertise on Jordan.

Here are 10 fascinating facts that BATW members learned from the presentation:

Alena Bartoli talks about Jordan at the August BATW meeting. (photo © Jim Shubin)Here are 10 fascinating facts that BATW members learned from the presentation:

1. Syria is safe. Very safe. LeBow says in Syria they left their car unlocked without fear of theft.

2. Women have equal Constitutional rights in all three countries with a high level of free education.

3. Tourism is booming in Syria – up 55% this year according to LeBow, who says there are good highways and luxurious hotels in Damascus and other parts of the country. A new trend is turning 14^th century mansions into B & B’s in Damascus.

Donna Peck samples humus and other Lebanese food from Tannourine restaurant in San Mateo at the August meeting. (photo © Jim Shubin)

4. Across Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, people are gracious and friendly, often inviting Americans into their homes for dinner.

5. Travelers can be perfectly comfortable wearing modest, yet “normal clothing” in all three of these countries. LeBow says that in urban centers you’ll find some women covered in black from head to toe and others in t-shirts and jeans. One Lebanese girl they photographed was wearing a t-shirt that said “Girls Kick Ass”.

6. Lebanon is known as the Switzerland of the Middle East and expects 2.5 million tourists this year. Beirut is a “Phoenix” – rising out of the ashes of war and rebuilding the city.

7. The Dead Sea is famous for its spa treatments and is becoming an international tourist Mecca offering 5-star resorts by American Hotel chains like Holiday Inn and Marriot.

Anwar George Kenicer, who helped arrange the donation of Lebanese food from San Mateo's Tannourine restaurant, tries the falafels. (photo © Jim Shubin)

8. Petra, Jordan, has the largest donkey population in the Middle East and civilization that dates back to 10,000 B.C.

9. It’s an honor to have a dinner companion “serve” you by pulling meat off the bone (by hand) and putting it on your plate. Your utensil is your right hand.

10. Aqaba, Jordan, is the country’s only seaport (known for swimming, snorkeling and fishing) and a jumping off point for travel to Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Jordanian government is working to make Aqaba a destination.

Blue Mosque in Beirut, Lebanon (photo © John Montgomery)

The presentation was augmented by a Middle Eastern feast coordinated by BATW member Anwar George Kneiser and provided by Tannourine Restaurant in San Mateo. Their savory offerings of Lebanese pizza, hummus, falafels and pistachio and orange blossom pudding brought the flavors of the Middle East to life.

Other meeting notes: Thank you to the Philippine Culture Center for providing the meeting space and to Ed Walsh for providing the coffee and pastries.

The Treasury at Petra, Jordan (photo © John Montgomery)

Announcements:

Elisa Southard and Erin Caslavka are heading up the 5^th BATW Student Travel Writing Contest. Volunteers who would like to help are asked to contact Elisa at elisasouthard@gmail.com.

Lee Foster’s August 24 talk at the Walnut Creek Library follows a write-up on his work in the Contra Costa Times.

The September 18 meeting is entitled: A Great Story Idea: Stalking It, Styling It, Selling It. Panelists are Georgia Hesse and Judy Wylie.

April Orcutt reminds anyone with submissions for the BATW ezine to please put their name in the subject line of their email.

– Ginny Prior

A motion behind the seaweed caught my eye. What an odd fish, I thought, such human eyes, just like ours. I looked closer, and, under the misty bubble, the head turned, the eyes scanned and, oh, the eyes, they look familiar. I step closer and oh, look at that. Those eyes belong to BATW’s own Laurie McAndish King.  Laurie slipped under the viewing bubble for a spirited look around the fish tank.

Such play embodied the spirit of our July meeting hosted by the Aquarium of the Bay, an affiliate of The Bay Institute. The brief walk through the colorful and inviting gift shop en route to the meeting room set the stage. The sense of wonder heightened as we heard strains of exhibit music during the presentations, expertly kicked off by Kati Schmidt, Public Relations Manager, Aquarium of the Bay and the Bay Institute.  After her enlightening talk, Kati introduced Christina Slager, Acting Director of Exhibits and Director of Husbandry. Following Christina, Doug McConnell, environmentalist, ambassador to The Bay Institute and Aquarium of the Bay, founder of the global online travel community OpenRoad.TV, and a friend of us all as former host of the television series Bay Area Backroads, offered story ideas with his five top favorite road trips.

Aquarium of the Bay Mission

Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Aquarium creates experiences that inspire conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. It originally opened in 1996 as the only aquarium devoted to showcasing the marine life of San Francisco Bay. With a dedicated focus of engaging Bay Area residents and visitors with 20,000 aquatic animals from the Bay and nearby waters, the Aquarium became certified as a Green Business by the city of San Francisco in 2005. In June 2009, the Bay Institute acquired the Aquarium. Together, these organizations protect, restore and promote watershed conservation “from the Sierra to the sea.” Today, over 600,000 people visit the Aquarium annually. The Education Department has provided free, hands-on classes and tours to over 100,000 K-12 students and teachers from all nine Bay Area counties.  Each year over 15,000 students get up close and personal with “what’s going on beneath the bay.”

Want to Adopt a Sevengill Shark?

As the Bay’s environmental stewards, the Aquarium and Bay Institute have launched a $3million campaign for Watershed Literacy. Katie classified the four vital areas of the campaign:  Watershed education to restore healthy water flows, rivers and Delta to protect animals and environs, Bay Restoration to bring back the salmon population, and the Aquarium to inspire conservation of Bay waters.  Doug McConnell discussed these areas in his favorite road trips; we will cover them further along in this article.

When you adopt a sevengill shark, you contribute to groundbreaking tagging and tracking research with Christina Slager at the helm, conserving the shark population of the San Francisco Bay.  When the tagged sevengill sharks glide in under the bay and glide out, they ping. Tagging and tracking make it possible for naturalists to expand knowledge and enrich the survival of these breathtaking animals.

The Aquarium has named the week of August 7 Shark Week, with a Family Sleepover. Families can sleep in the same clear tunnels we viewed during our tour, with species including the sevengill, leopard, soupfin and spiny dogfish sharks swimming overhead. The sleepover includes shark-related activities, evening snacks, paid overnight parking and a continental breakfast.

The Aquarium named September Salmon Aid Month; October turns into Sharktober and focuses on sharks in the Bay.  Katie emphasized the importance of these events to “dispel myths of these majestic animals.” The Aquarium’s exhibit Finning Isn’t Funny, features the cartoon art work of shark advocate and Sherman’s Lagoon cartoon creator Jim Toomey. The exhibit, abundant with Toomey’s familiar faces, features both education and humor to drive home the reality that through the barbaric practice of shark finning.  As Christina Slater said, “The sharks have more to fear from us than we do from them.”

A Family-Centric Nature Center

As we toured the Aquarium, evidence of their outreach abounded; the tunnels got more and more crowded as we moved through the collection of nearly 200 different species of sharks, skates, rays, octopus, jellies, rockfish, eel, and sea stars.  In the same tunnel as the popular octopus, you will find Dungeness Crabs, Spot Prawns and a Deep Sea Isopod (not to be confused with a playful BATW member under bubble!).

Additional family offerings include tidepool feeding, catwalks, bat ray feeding, and sevengill-shark feeding in the tunnels pool.  Behind-the-scenes tours take place at 1 o’clock and 3 o’clock.

Behavioral Enrichment a Priority

Christina Slager, whose career Doug McConnell, “has been following since she was twelve at the Steinhart Aquarium,” briefly mentioned living in Antarctica, and a penguin biting her (sounds like story ideas abound in her vicinity). Christina named water quality and behavioral enrichment as major priorities. Water quality includes the maintenance of the tanks and extends to acquisition of glass and acrylic.

Regarding behavioral enrichment, she discussed the popularity and intelligence of the Giant Pacific Octopus and she shared a story after our visit. She said, “One of the great things about my job is the opportunity to interact with live animals.  I especially enjoy working with Giant Pacific Octopus – they’re beautiful and smart.  Occasionally, when I’m working around the octopus exhibit, an octopus will gently reach an arm out of the water and curl it around my arm.  I feel the pressure of its suction disks and then the octopus releases my arm and disappears back into the tank.  I know the octopus is using the chemoreceptors in its arm to “taste” me, but it’s almost like a friendly squeeze before returning to important underwater octopus business.”

During our meeting, Christina smiled as she described the octopus’ problem-solving talents, and its favorite toy — a Rubik’s cube. The naturalists serve it to the octopus in a bucket of blood. “They love it!” she said.

Behavioral enrichment adheres to providing as “close to a natural environment” as possible for the animals. This includes collecting and breeding animals, and releasing them as necessary. Listening to Christina and journeying through the tunnels allowed us to witness evolution. In 1948, aquariums were “stamp collections,” tanks of animals with no environments. Today the Aquarium of the Bay has as one of its proud residents an infant angel shark. It serves as the only organization to have them breed in captivity.

Christina’s Story Ideas

Christina advanced several story ideas, including:

• Jelly fish — two species grace their tanks
• Giant deep sea Isopod – looks like a crab
• Adorable Exotics — such as the blue-tongued snake and the pygmy hedgehog

Beyond Backroads: Doug McConnell’s Top Five Watershed Road Trips

As a fifth-generation Westerner, and a second-time presenter to BATW, Doug McConnell’s prediction about the Bay Institute/Aquarium of the Bay’s future reassures even the most casual traveler passing through our region: “When I look ahead, I see a Grand Central Station for information, knowledge and stories of watershed.”

His presentation balanced our excursion of water and land with his five favorite road trips. (Thank you Kati Schmidt for graciously providing Doug’s highlight list.)

1. A walking or trolley trip to explore the San Francisco waterfront

The Loma Prieta earthquake shocks brought the sea lions to the docks of the Bay in 1989, and they have stayed ever since. Those sea lions attract tourists and have contributed to the return of tourism to the waterfront.

So grab your comfortable shoes along with your reporter pad for a waterfront walk or walk/trolley combo.  Here come the highlights of Doug’s first road trip:

Focus on San Francisco’s connection to the Golden Gate and the wide Pacific. Starting at the ballpark, up into the Presidio, highlights include:

• Ferry Plaza
• Aquarium of the Bay (bring along your complimentary membership card!)
• The Maritime National Park
• Chrissy Field
• Warming Hut

2. San Francisco Bay Trail

Many of us have flown kites on, strolled along or hiked part of the Bay Trail. When fully fledged, it will provide a 500-mile network of bicycling and hiking trails that circle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays.  With 300 miles complete, Doug considers this trail one of the greatest Bay Area gifts in the last 20 years.

Highlights abound:

•             Wetlands of Alviso, a hidden community with history seemingly untouched by booming San Jose

•             Coyote Hills Regional Park (and interpretive center)

•             Hayward Shoreline Park (and interpretive center)

•             Wetlands in Palo Alto, Redwood City and Coyote Point (also the Coyote Point museum)

•             Martinez, along the river to John Muir’s home

•             Blackie’s Pasture in Tiburon

•             China Camp near San Rafael

3. Islands of the Bay

Regarding the islands in the Bay, Doug brings abundance to our imaginations with his comment, “There are many stories left to be told.” One celebrity tidbit is that the pals of Bing Crosby owned Brooks Island in the 1930’s. The East Bay Regional Park District currently owns the island and offers guided kayak tours and “views of the bay you might otherwise not get.”  Three islands comprise this trip:

•             Brooks Island — off the Richmond shore.

•             Angel Island — packed with a diverse history

•             Alcatraz — an exotic natural kingdom since the prison closed in 1963

4. Sacramento River

“To know the watershed, follow the rivers — all the ways they connect, follow them from the source to the sea,” advises Doug.

•              Start at the river headwaters, bubbling out of the ground in Mt. Shasta City Park

•             Head downstream through Dunsmuir, an old railroad town

•             Shasta Dam and lake for flat-water recreation

•             Redding – Riverside Park, museum education center and Sundial Bridge

•             Head downstream to check out riparian groves with lots of nearby wildlife refuges

•             Colusa – Riverside State Park

•             Port Costa – located on the river, providing a slice of the old Bay Area, with a rich artist community

5. San Joaquin River

One hundred years ago, the San Joaquin hailed as the second longest river in our region. The Bay Institute has helped lead a 20-year effort to restore the San Joaquin, considered the most degraded river in the watershed. Take this road trip and you trace its rebirth.  Doug said, “The river died in 1950 and along with it, the salmon.” In 2005, the Bay Institute efforts paid off when a Federal judge ruled that when the Friant Dam is built it needs to “leave some water in the river for fish to survive.” The trickle began, as Doug colorfully recounted, and “finally, for the first time in sixty years, the Sierra is connected to the sea.” The river is reborn.  Pack your travel assignment and head off to these highlights:

•             Get into the high country and see the headwaters by hiking the San Joaquin River Trail

•             Drive to Mammoth, on the east side of the Sierras

•             Go down Devil’s Postpile National Monument

•             Millerton Lake, behind Friant Dam

•             San Joaquin River Center – nature center, plus a starting point for many biking/walking/hiking trail

Road Trip for Tykes

In addition to his top five, Doug suggested a “sixth grade” road trip: From Bel Marin Keys in Novato around Highway 37 to Vallejo. A land trust secured protected status for this area, regarded as a “giant artifact of San Francisco Bay history.” Without this protection, casinos could have lined its shores. Instead, today it is affectionately called the “Flyway Highway,” the route to see overhead wild life. Though some folks consider children wild life, I suggest you take them to see the “real thing.”

Doug included the Schellville Airport in Sonoma, six miles north of the intersection of Highway 37 and 121.  Here children (and travel writers too!) can enjoy antique planes and even fly in several owned by Vintage Aircraft Company.

Finally, you can experience wetlands restoration and wildlife resurgence on the Tomales Bay coast. The Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project returns this former diary ranch back to tidal wetlands.  Doug called our attention back to the global contribution watershed and wetland restoration provides: “Marshlands are the cheapest way to protect against global warming.”

In closing, the next time I am with friends “sitting by the dock of the bay,” our viewpoints and appreciations will extend far beyond a travel story.

– Eliza Southard

Resources:

Aquarium of the Bay:

http://www.aquariumofthebay.org/

The Bay Institute:
http://www.bay.org

Kati Schmidt, kati@bay.org
Public Relations Manager
Aquarium of the Bay and The Bay Institute

Kati can provide you with a digital press kit

Aquarium Visit Planning:

http://www.aquariumofthebay.org/events.aspx

Campaign for Watershed Literacy:

http://www.bay.org/contribute/support-watershed-literacy

The Bay Trail:
http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/

Brooks Island:
http://baynature.org/articles/apr-jun-2009/a-refuge-in-the-harbor

Angel Island State Park:

http://www.angelisland.com/

Alcatraz Island:
http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/

Sacramento River:
http://www.sacramentoriver.org/

Tomales Bay Wetlands:

http://www.nps.gov/pore/parkmgmt/upload/planning_giacomini_wrp_legacyfortomalesbay_081026.pdf

Schellville Airport:
http://www.antique-airplanes.com/schellville-airport-sonoma.html

San Joaquin River:
Doug McConnell as well as members of The Bay Institute’s Rivers and Delta team can speak to the work being completed and how it will create new recreational opportunities for travelers, as well as restore animal populations including salmon, to the San Joaquin.

Additional information is also available at:
http://www.bay.org/rivers-and-delta/reconnecting-rivers-to-the-bay/san-joaquin-river

Open Road TV:
http://openroad.tv/

May 2010 BATW “Pictures on the Run” Presentation Notes

Presenters: Robert Holmes, David Sanger and Glenn Steiner; organized by Morton Beebe

Robert Holmes has been a professional travel photographer for 35 years and laments the fact that his profession has begun to fade away.  The main focus of his work in recent years has been the production of books.  He has collaborated on 47 books including his most recent, Passion for Pinot, focusing on wineries producing Pinot Noir in Oregon and California.  His current photographic pursuits fit right in with Bob’s love of wine and cooking.

A good part of his international travel today involves teaching photographic workshops abroad rather than being sent on assignment by publishers, and his slideshow included shots taken during a workshop he taught in Burma earlier this year.  His other work as a professional photographer is being done closer to home, making life easier for him as a single father of two teenage girls.

Bob said that the proliferation of photographs available on the Internet has reduced sales of his stock photos substantially during the last three years.  However, he pointed out that Apple’s newly released iPad is creating an emerging market for photographic content and that the iPad application Beautiful Planet is a good example of this trend.

In Bob’s opinion, the best time of day to shoot photos is dawn when the light is beautiful, even more so than at sunset.  More importantly, those pesky tourists who might walk into your shot at the end of the day are usually still in bed in the early hours of the morning!   Bob suggests getting up before daybreak and beginning to shoot as the morning light evolves.

Unlike many professional photographers, Bob rarely uses a tripod unless the light level is so low that shooting with his camera hand-held is impossible.  When shooting photographs of people, Bob likes to “personalize down” his subjects, often shooting them in silhouette or from behind.

David Sanger has been a professional travel photographer for 19 years.  He feels it is difficult for one to be both photographer and writer and do both tasks well.  His photos illustrate the book San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary.

David likes to do photo essays with minimum captions. His slideshow presentation included several stories accompanied by his photographs.  He likes to have one main image that will tell the whole story and be the “photographic nut graf.”

He usually researches the location ahead of time and works from a shot list of images he needs for the story.  However, he prefers not to work with the text of the story in-hand when he is in the field.  David often shoots 6,000 images a week and submits about 400 to the editor.

Although he has shot many photos on assignment, today he primarily works as a stock photographer.  However, like Robert Holmes, he has found that on-line photo image sites such as Getty Images have decreased his own stock photo sales.

Glenn Steiner has been a professional photographer for 34 years often working with advertising agencies and directly with advertisers.  He spends two to three months a year in Greece shooting photos and teaching photo workshops.  He also teaches at universities.

Since Glenn was getting ready to depart for Greece in four days, he brought along the equipment that he typically carries on a trip.  This includes a Sony VAIO F690 light-weight laptop (about 3 pounds, costs $2,500 to $3,000; note that this model is no longer available), a Nikon D700 DSLR and three or four lenses for it.  A Canon G10 or G11 serves as his backup camera.  Glenn thinks amateurs can get great shots with today’s digital cameras.

He is fascinated by the light in Greece and likes to shoot people when he is on location there.  He said you can secretly take photos of people from a distance, but you need a long lens to do so.

He says if you get a great idea for a shot, keep going back to find it.  He likes to include interesting foregrounds and backgrounds in his shots.

Glenn usually shoots 20 to 30 variations of the same scene to give editors great flexibility in choosing the right image for the project in question.  (Marc Longwood said that we need to be aware of editor’s needs and shoot both vertical and horizontal shots of a scene to make it easier for the editor to chose the one that will best fit the photos into the page layout along with the text).

Like Robert and David, Glenn shoots images in RAW because you can get more color and tone variation.  Although some professional photographers like to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for photo editing, Glenn prefers Adobe’s original Photoshop program.

–        Dick Jordan and Sandy Sims, BATW Program Chair

Candy Harrington on
Finding a Niche, Building a Platform and Marketing

Candy Harrington (photos © John Montgomery)

BATW members have been telling me they found Candy Harrington’s presentation on March 20 excellent. Her talk was all about finding a niche, building a platform and marketing, something she has done so successfully that editors call her for stories. Candy’s niche is travel for slow walkers and wheelers. She says she had been writing general travel stories for 15 years and was getting somewhat bored with that. So she started volunteering for some nonprofit organizations. Someone at one of these agencies suggested she start writing about accessible travel. Now, some 15 years later, Candy’s expertise in accessible travel has come into a time when baby boomers will need this information. Candy does not take credit for thinking ahead about the baby boomers. It’s just happened that way. But she did think about and work on her branding, her platform and her marketing, and this is what has brought her success.

Here is a summary (sorry for all I left out) of what Candy suggests for us:

(Note: You can go to Candy’s website www.CandyHarrington.com/BATW for a list of links to her information and to helpful websites. Use the link online or print out the list.)

Finding a niche:

Become an expert on something. Candy says she didn’t know anything about wheel chairs or accessible travel but found the subject fascinating. So she did the research. She says find something you are passionate about or love to write about. It should not be too big a subject or too small. The general topic “accessible travel for all disabilities” turned out to be too big so she narrowed it to slow walkers and wheelers. She says, if you say you are an expert, people believe you, so you need to back that up with research. You will have to answer lots of questions about the subject.

There are all types of expertise — for example: destinations, writing styles (humor, etc.), unique voice or a combination of things.

Branding:

The idea is to be known for something. Then have a topic, a logo, a style, a slogan. She says the corporate world does this well, and suggested McDonald’s is a great example. When children see the golden arches they want their happy meal. Some of our members are already known for expertise.

Part of branding is coming up with things that will represent you and help people remember what you do, even engage your readers. For example Candy had a bio photo of herself on her website that included Agnes the chicken. Both Candy and the chicken had bright read hair. This was not a planned thing, but it turned out Agnes became a character that received fan mail. Agnes died so Candy is going to get another “red-haired” chicken.

Candy Harrington

She also has a stuffed bear, Cherry, who is in a wheelchair. Cherry has a space on Candy’s blog. Turns out this is a great gimmick for talking to children about inclusion of people with handicaps. She pointed out, too, that our seeing Cherry and the wheelchair pretty much cemented in our minds what Candy does.

Your platform is your fan base, and people are attracted to you because of what you do (write about). Publishers today want a ready audience, and this is what you build by networking. She says you should tell everyone what you do.

Branding and platform tools:

1. Elevator pitch – This should be about 8 seconds long. She tells it to everyone she meets. “I’m Candy Harrington. I do accessible travel for slow walkers and wheelchair travelers.”
2. Website – It all starts with good editorial design. Do it yourself or get professional support. She’s fortunate that her husband, Charles, is a website expert. You need to figure out what you want the website to do (sell books, brand, etc.). If the material doesn’t fit the purpose of the site, it goes. Make an outline of what you want. Goal of Candy’s website is to build her brand; it links to her book sites, her blog, lists her speaking engagements, Twitter, her press page. You can use www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com to set up your website.
3. Blogging – Great marketing tool. A blog is a journal, informal writing that interacts with readers. It sends traffic to Candy’s book sites and her website. Her readers’ responses help her sort out ideas for future writing. It also brings editors to her site and assignments. It builds her voice. She uses keywords in her blogs that will trigger search engines. Link the blog to professional websites. A blog is good for getting comments on topics. Newsy blogs get more traffic — that would be a blog entry that relates your subject to some current news topic. Enabling RSS feed, imports your blog to other sites. You can keep your whole story private by doing a quick lead that links to the rest of the story. She does this through Linked in, Facebook and Amazon connect. It’s good to network with other bloggers. Comment on other blogs, but know that your comments need to be “giving back” comments. This shouldn’t be all about you. Candy says to use blog tagline on articles. This is non-threatening to magazines, but gets people to your blog. Some interviews are done on blogs. You can even do guest blogs on related topics and link back to your blog. She’s done a virtual book tour on blogs. And Candy says blog content needs to be premium content.
4. Google Alerts – If you go to Google alerts, you can put in any subject (including your name), and when it shows up on the Internet, you will get an email from Google notifying you. You can put subjects like your niche, book title, article title, etc., in Google alert. You can go out on the Internet and comment on the places where these are showing up. This is also a great research tool on your subject or anything you might be working on.
5. Social Networking – Candy describes this as online mingling. She says it doesn’t take long if you keep at it everyday. Candy gets up, has her coffee, checks email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Sometimes she retweets on Twitter, etc.

LinkedIn – This has a more business focus. You can ask a LinkedIn member for an introduction if you want one. She has connected with old colleagues. You can offer resources and ask questions.

Facebook – This is a mix of personal and professional.

She likes it because it’s personal, has readers, and you can request help with something you are writing. It gives you a personal face and puts writers and editors in touch with each other. There are Google indexes on Facebook. You can import your blog. She says to note if you are the only one pasting on your wall, you are doing something wrong. There should be interaction.

Twitter – This is business and private. You do micro blogging, which is usually a small statement that links to some bigger statement, story or the like. You can follow anyone. You don’t need permission. You want to be listed and can create a list, for example, maybe you start a list for vintage aircraft or some other interest of yours. This will get you more followers. You tweet on the subject and sometimes get retweeted to others and get more followers. But it’s important to be contributing and not writing just for yourself. Once you have followers, occasionally you can use this list for self-promotion. Successful tweeters are retweeting, listing and getting new followers. Tweet tools are Tweet Deck (to organize tweets), Twellow (yellow pages in which you type in a topic to find out if there are followers on that topic). Look for sources and interviews. You might find PR people who represent the place you are writing about as well as other resources. You might even announce a contest on your website.

Traditional branding

Print collateral materials, business cards, book cards, blog cards, handouts, anything about yourself and your topic that you can hand out.

Learn to work with the media – do interviews. Candy has a pressroom on her website that is helpful to media. It should include things that you can do to help a journalist. Put a link to your press room at the bottom of your website because that’s where reporters look for it. There’s a website called HARO (Help a Reporter Out ). Look in the travel section and see if there’s a reporter’s request. You can do radio interviews from home (in your robe no less). Candy offers a website for learning how to work with media. She has gotten print jobs from editors because of radio interviews.

Candy’s six tips for working with radio
1. Know your subject.
2. Tell the host “that’s a good question.”
3. Use the hosts name.
4. Be succinct.
5. Don’t use jargon language or acronyms.
6. Never give the answer: “It’s in my book; buy it.

Write industry tip sheets – this strengthens your expertise. It’s freely distributed and gets media outlets. Example: 12 tips for finding lodging accessible to wheelchairs. Write for ezines with a byline and tag line. Keep them to 500 words use bullets and subheadings.

Event driven press releases – find significant anniversaries for your subject

Become a sought-after speaker – at bookstores, libraries, assisted living housing. Candy makes money as a speaker. She charges. She says to take collateral material with you. And if you have trouble with public speaking, join Toastmasters and practice, practice, practice.

You can have an ask the expert section on your website in the expert section of your website. Always be approachable. If you don’t have the answer, point them in the right direction.

Why bother with all this?
The market place is changing. Her first book was released two days after 9/11, so she went to Print-on-Demand and sold lots of books because of her branding and marketing. She had readers who wanted her product. Publishers came to her wanting to publish her 2nd edition. She is now a consultant and makes money that way. Even CVBs (convention and visitors bureaus) refer editors to her.

– Sandy Sims
BATW Program Chair

a lively trade show at the BATW associates meeting at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in October, 2009 (photos by Yuri Krasov)

“Evolve to Survive: Notes on BATW meeting October 17, 2009″

The BATW monthly meeting “Diversification in Changing Economic Times” attracted a large number of participants to the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square in San Francisco.  About 65 travel writers came to meet with a group of BATW associate members to discuss new ways of collaborating and to discover industry perspectives.

The “Thinking Outside the Box” part of the meeting started with the associates’ introductions and presentations about their clients and their areas of coverage.

1. Molly Blaisdell, President of Hook, Line & Thinker – Palau Visitor’s Authority; Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts, and Hyatt Regency SF and Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf
2. Stephanie Fermin – San Mateo County/Silicon Valley CVB, also Palo Alto and Stanford
3. Dan Marengo, Communications Manager – Berkeley CVB and Film Office
4. Sue Price and Kerrie Walters – South Oregon and Grant’s Pass Visitors and Convention Bureau
5. Chris Chandler, Executive Director – Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association
6. Linda Parker, Founder of Alta Communications – Wine growers of Monterey, Santa Barbara, and SLO
7. Ronele Klingensmith, President, and Kristen Power of RKPR - Reno, Nevada
8. Lucy Steffens, Director of Travel Media – Sacramento CVB
9. Hillary Angel, Public Relations Manager – Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism
10. Brinn Wellise, Founder of Switchback PR + Marketing – Reno-Sparks, Lake Tahoe, Truckee
11. Ronee Nassi, Executive Director of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce – Los Gatos.

Grant's Pass/Rogue River, Oregon, PR crew

Associates’ presentations were followed by a lively trade show, networking, and planning of future stories. Associate members dispersed press kits and souvenirs relevant to their respective destinations.

Ginny Prior and Maxine Cass moderated a luncheon panel discussion featuring associates Molly Blaisdell and Brinn Wellise, writers Lisa Alpine and Laurie McAndish King, and photographer Lee Foster.

Molly emphasized some new phenomena in the industry, saying that in the past PR organizations were not considered a revenue-generating source, but now that is changing. She spoke about the importance of writers’ feedback after press trips to various destinations. Stories, published in a timely manner and announced through the social networking media outlets, are being disseminated farther by the PR officers to create a wider promotional field for the clients. She said blog entries on writers’ websites and on public blogs such as Examiner.com are fodder for promoting her clients.

Her words about the promotional abilities of social networking were echoed by Laurie, who used You Tube to promote a book, and by Lisa, who used Twitter to sell another book in massive amounts even before it was offered to a distributor.

Brinn spoke about new venues of collaboration between writers and PR, saying that editors sometimes ask PR representatives what writer they would suggest for coverage of a particular topic. She also said that PR might give assignments to writers since their own schedule is getting busier with each new client.

As in a number of previous meetings, the perpetually discussed Examiner.com was mentioned more than once in the discussion. Foster spoke against it, saying that the pay is very low, authors lose republishing rights, and Google searches are directed to Examiner.com instead of an individual author’s website. He wants to keep away from that controversial website with user-generated content. Laurie added that unless a writer sells something from his or her website, it does not make much sense to use Examiner.com primarily to drive traffic to his/her website.

Other topics were raised by the audience members.  They asked about which software is better for creating a website or a blog and how all social networking media outlets are tied together so posting on one of them automatically generates content on others.

An important topic of the new FTC guidelines for disclosure of endorsements was raised by an audience member but re-addressed to the BATW online forum by the moderators due to the lack of time.

Beet salad at the BATW luncheon

Sea bass main course at the BATW luncheon at the Westin St. Francis

The meeting was organized by a BATW member Janice Nieder and associate member Molly Blaisdell, and hosted by Gina Egelston, Marketing and Communications Manager of the Westin St. Francis. An upscale three-course lunch was served by Chef Thomas Rimpel, courtesy of the hotel.

For information about the Westin St. Francis Hotel, contact Gena Egelston.

– Emma Krasov

BATW Website Discussion Panelists Erin Van Rheenen, Laurie King & Ed Hasbrouck, introduction by BATW president Diane Le Bow.

[Many thanks to Joan Aragone for writing this summary of the September, 2009, BATW meeting, which received rave reviews from members. Information from the handouts from the speakers is below Joan's write-up.  We plan to get both audio and video clips of the speakers on the members-only section of the website next month.  -- Ed.]

Establishing a presence on the web is essential to promoting your name and your work. The process may appear intimidating, but help is available, and the results far outweigh any investment in time or money.  That was the message at the September BATW meeting from three web-savvy members who explained the whys, hows and benefits of going online.

Erin Van Rheenen, Ed Hasbrouck and Laurie McAndish King approached the web with different intentions and different levels of expertise. Relying on consultants in early stages, each experienced a learning curve and eventually took control of their sites. Today, each operates and maintains at least two sites, and each blogs.

Information from handouts by the speakers follows this article (below).

Following is information not included in the handouts:

1. Erin Van Van Rheenen’s sites are hosted by Godaddy.com, a “very inexpensive” host that provides good phone support. Traffic to her first site, www.livingabroadincostarica.com, averaged 150,000 to 300,000 in a year, with two categories receiving the most hits: Yoga and living in Costa Rica. Including fees for various designers involved in creating that site, she paid between $1,000 and $1,500.

The second site, www.missmoveabroad.com, was built on WordPress, a free blogging software available on www.wordpress.org, if you have your own host. Otherwise use www.wordpress.com. You can choose a “theme” or template. She used “magazine basic” theme, available free.  WordPress is a content management software, compared to Dreamweaver, an html-based software.

Recent blogging on www.examiner.com is an experiment to test how linkage will draw traffic to her other sites. Although she has made little income from the Examiner site, traffic on her Costa Rica site increased 30 percent in one month due to links with the Examiner. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the linkage,” she said.

She holds a full-time job at the San Francisco Exploratorium.

2. Because Ed Hasbrouck’s original domain, www.practicalnomad.com, was controlled by the publisher of his book to promote sales, he started his own site, www.hasbrouck.org., with the home page providing links to his other sites, articles, appearances, bio, etc. Every page provides space to sign up for his newsletter. The site provides income from ads and through book sales. Like the other panelists, he keeps a monthly history of hits, and he stressed the importance of linkage from various articles online to his site. Largest share of his income comes from monthly retainer received for the “Identity Project,” a blog for non-profit, www.papersplease.org/wp, where he posts two articles per week of 1,000 to 2,000 words and often writes shorter entries, too.

Best ads are from companies that have relation to what you are writing about.

3. Marketing consultant Laurie McAndish King, works online in her spare time. Her first site, www.TravelWritersNews.com, started in 2002 to archive and organize information for herself and friends. Now expanded using WordPress, the site provides many services, including a newsletter, calls for submissions, event listing, book recommendations, etc. Her personal site, www.LaurieKing.com, showcases her work as a consultant. “If you have articles or a book, you need a website,” she said. King is working on www.LivingResumeBlog.com to teach others how to blog. Starting out is time consuming and research and knowledge of software alternatives is important, she said.

All speakers stressed the importance of site statistics that chart what site visitors seek. For help in finding ads, Hasbrouck recommended the use of commission brokers such as www.chitika.com, www.hostedbroker.com, www.commissionjunction.com and www.linkshare.com.  A consortium, www.travelwebowners.org, has a list serve.

August 2009 BATW Photojournalism Presentation Notes

Presenters: Carol Stevenson, Morton Beebe, John Montgomery, David Sanger

Carol Stevenson has just returned from an extended shoot in Thailand where she documented the elephant population. This project evolved into an understanding of the relationship between the elephants and their trainers, called mahouts. Mahouts live with their elephants their entire lives. Carol now plans to further document this relationship. Fresh off the plane, Carol kindly brought along her carry-on camera gear and her pelican case in which she packs her checked photography equipment.

Carry-on gear is packed in a photography backpack and weighs 15 pounds.

The checked Pelican Case weights 51 pounds, the airline’s allowable limit.

In her crry-on, Carol packs her Nikon 18-200 zoom lens, a Slik compact tripod, flash gear, and a Gary Fong diffuser for her flash gun.

She packs her 25 mega-pixel Nikon camera body in the Pelican case?

Carol uses the 2X2 rule. Copy all files twice. Once to her laptop. Again to her Epson P8000 160 GB storage device.

She carries three 16 GB and two 8 GB memory cards.

Very valuable is the Neck Storage Card Case which holds her memory cards.

Other items: Lithium Battery, iPhone..

What she actually took:

Check-in Pelican Case: Waist pack, 2 camera bodies, (1 in the carry-on) plastic, waterproof lunch bag from Safeway. She rolls the camera body in a protective cloth and then packs it in the foldaway bag

Three Lenses: 12-24, 24-70, 70-300mm.

Gitzo tripod.

Really important was the portable lighting system she took which includes a wireless battery pack which attached to portable strobes, included master and slave lighting.

She always uses a 3X3 rule. Only puts A images on her laptop.

Makes 3 copies. Puts best A images on a DVD

Carol’s elephant project can be viewed at www.elephantproject.com. Email is: carol@stevenson.images.com. Quote: “There’s a story behind every picture.”

Morton Beebe: Morton showed a video with audio that he has devoted a great deal of time to creating, “The Masai Oral Histories Project.” The project seeks to record and preserve the indigenous language of the Masai.

Morton cautions against traveling with one camera. He learned this lesson the hard way and is presently purchasing a Nikon D300 which records audio and video.

John Montgomery, Montgomery Photographic:

Sunset at temple ruins near Agrigento, Sicily (photo by John Montgomery)

John gave an example of “painting with light” where with a 30-to-45-second exposure, he passed a flashlight’s beam across the scene.

John showed a series of images taken under various weather and lighting conditions and explained various techniques to optimize the final outcome. For a carry-around camera, John uses a Canon g10. He recommends the waterproof case that Canon sells as a separate accessory for the camera. John recommends carrying insurance on your camera gear in case of loss or theft.

David Sanger: David carries 3 hard drives with him. He started photographing in the 1970s when he traveled as a hippie backpacker. For travel writers, David recommends taking your time when photographing. “You can’t just take two shots and call it a day.” He says. Take the time to show the atmosphere. In travel photography, showing people in an image is very important.

Leaf through a National Geographic magazine and you’ll see that 90% of the images include people. Try to avoid shooting in mid-day because the light is glaring at that time. David is drawn to themes when he travels. As an example, in Ireland, he found himself drawn to stone walls and sheep. This theme sensibility often leads to a series and helps him to create a themed portfolio.

Whenever possible, try to get a model release. Another theme to focus on is detail shots which magazine editors often favor. David likes to photograph hands. David advises editing your work by throwing the worst half out and then re-edit by culling out another half. This is a good discipline. Also, carry two camera bodies with separate focal length lenses.

On assignment trips, David carries 2 camera bodies, 4 or 5 lenses, a couple of flashes, a lap top, 3 drives. He dumps the day’s shoot at night and averages about 20 gigs of shots per day. Shoots RAW and jpeg.

– Lee Daley

Oceano Hotel Lobby (photos courtesy of Oceano Hotel)

The new Oceano Hotel and Spa in Half Moon Bay — just 30 minutes from San Francisco — hosted BATW’s July 18 meeting. From the windows in the lovely Monterrey room where we met, we could see the boats at Pillar Point Harbor just across the road. And just outside, the hotel was making preparations for an afternoon wedding. The San Francisco Chronicle has already voted the Oceano, which only opened in 2008, the best wedding venue in the San Francisco area. And some 80 nuptial bookings this year support that vote.

Ship at Oceano Hotel in Half Moon Bay

“It took 25 years to build this hotel,” Tony Canadas, sales and marketing director at Oceano, said. It took that long for three developers, one of which is local, to overcome the no-growth policy of the coastal commission and construct the hotel on what was an open field.

The outcome is 95 beautifully decorated rooms, all suites of varied sizes, with fireplaces, flat screen TVs, Balconies and wet bars.

The enormous skylight over its elegant lobby is only part of the hotel’s effort to have environmentally friendly, energy-saving practices. In fact, this is the only hotel in San Mateo County to be certified eco-friendly by the Bay Area Green Business Program. Almost everything, including paper products, linens and cooking oil, is recycled. The cooking oil is used for biodiesel fuel.

Adjacent to the hotel and also with a broad roof-style skylight, is Harbor Village where the 5,000 square-foot spa sits. The 18 village shops (9 already occupied) include a bookstore, gift shops, a yarn shop and more. Canadas says the developer is committed to keeping the stores mom-and-pop types, rather than large retail chains.

Deluxe room at the Ocean Hotel in Half Moon Bay

Room rates start at $179 for a standard suite — which is large and divided into a bedroom and living room areas — to $449 for a grand villa, apartment size, with two bedrooms and a full kitchen. The rates are flexible, and the hotel offers packages that include: spa treatments, golfing, helicopter tours, horseback riding, deep-sea fishing and more.

The Half Moon Bay area is filled with possibilities for free activities, including hiking, surfing, biking, even watching the famous Mavericks surfing competition when it’s on.

Oceano Hotel
280 Capistrano Road
Half Moon Bay
www.oceanohalfmoonbay.com

For story information contact Tony Canadas at (650) 726-5400. His cell is (415) 420-5040. Tell him you are a member of BATW.

– Sandy Sims
BATW Program Chair