chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

youtube downloader — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:23:33 -0000

Require hefty registration processes. Make it easier than that. Room #, email address (validated), and then profile info and options, only.
Advertising thinly would be okay, but too much wouldn’t work nicely. Besides, this should be a $5 addition to your bill, like a movie rental.
Push any kind of “singles” agenda. You don’t want to become the hookup hotel. Um, unless you do.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

inception42 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:03:09 -0000

I definitely think that social networking is just a way to make your business more... popular. To be honest with you,, before going on my Australia trip, I first checked out all the facebook profile of the Perth Hotels that bothered posting pictures there. It's good because you read people's comments as well.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Duane — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 09:44:10 -0000

Great stuff i just openned up my social networking platform for hoteliers and also hope to get guest involved have a look at http://www.HotelPeople.net and let me know your thoughts.

Regards

Duane

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Shuttle Call — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:34:24 -0000

Hotel Lounger is Live check it out www.hotellounger.com

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Mercy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:25:58 -0000

Hi,
I liked this post. Specially as I am doing a report on social networking and hospitality industry. Thanks for the insights.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Yoopster — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:15:07 -0000

Ever been stuck in your hotelroom bored out of your mind, in a beautiful city to explore and wanting to meet others in the same hotel? Ever had to sit at the airport for 6 hours or more layover or your flight being delayed, bored and wanting to meet others in the same airport?

If you are a business traveler, pilot, flight attendant, on vacation .... and always are bored during your airport travel and hotel stay, then welcome to the world of "Yoopster" where travel networking has never been easier. Founded by a business traveler, Yoopster is a travel utility network where users connect staying in the same hotel or nearby location.
For those travelers who get stuck at the airport for long hours and are bored, there is a section for you to connect with other fellow travelers who are also stuck at the airport.
This service is free for ALL travelers.

Use http://yoopster.wordpress.com for discussion about the site

Please support us in spreading the word and having hotels register so all business travelers can connect with each other.

Yoopster Team

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Eeva — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:21:38 -0000

Its a great post and useful also because today everybody want to buy shopping goods online.:)
Thanks for such an helpful post

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

nancy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:07:03 -0000

Thanks for providing information and prices of different cruises. I need this information because i am using online cruise traveling services.
Thanks

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

brenda walker — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:34:29 -0000

Thanks for providing information and prices of different variety of Cruise. I need this

info because i am using online shopping services.
Thanks

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

archie — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:33:49 -0000

Social n/work for hotels sounds so great.finally we are coming to have the utilities exploited the right way.How about meeting potential target group/clients online,finding out they are on the same floor..virtual cafe's for singles as somebody said.Possibilities are endless.As well as the risks.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Lamarr Watts — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:22:50 -0000

Great post, I have been working on this type of project for 3 years and will have the beta version available for testing in December, I'm currently in the hotel business and after going to a lot of hotel conventions and staying in hotels I saw that there was a need for this type of vehicle, so now it's coming to life, after talking about it to several hotel owners we have gotten a good response and have signed on over 40,000 US Hotels as of today, if you want to contact me with additional ideas please do so at lamarw@hotellounger.com

Spread the word

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Ibrahim Ali — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:27:25 -0000

Hello All,

I am the founder of Yoopster - Travel networking for Hotels and Airports. I am a frequent traveler and always been bored stuck in hotel rooms or/and long layovers at airports. Check www.Yoopster.com it is exactly what everyone is discussing about on here. If you guys need more information, you can contact me at ibrahim.ali@yoopster.com

Spread the word and let all the travelers connect.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Orrorin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:17:44 -0000

This is a very interesting post.
Actually, I have a meeting next week with the e-commerce/marketing manager of an international hospitality firm regarding a social media project I am working on.
If interested, I can provide you some feedback.

Love your blog.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Sharon Jaffe — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:10:46 -0000

Chris, I love that you posted this. I'm a member of some member clubs like Soho House and I often attend events (and stay in hotels) on my own. I wrote a blog post along these lines a while back actually http://snurl.com/30o1f.

I yearn to connect with like-minded folks but personally find the barrier talking to a complete stranger still somewhat high. More and more I'm doing it, but perhaps missing someone around the corner who is in the same industry and/or someone who would want to work with me but we just have no way of finding each other.

The same is true for my block of flats (apartments). I see great potential for mini neighbour social networks beyond that of just knowing the person next door. I once saw someone aalso in running gear, so what about a mini running club? But how do you tap into everyone and arrange this aside from going door-to-door? How about a child-minding system when some couples want to go out? What about a lending/sharing system e.g. having a party and need some extra chairs. Instead people remain in their isolated existence and struggle with issues that could easily be resolved by people just connecting.

As already discussed, the challenge is infrastructure, but say for Soho House, you could easily activate a mini profile (or your linked in profile)when you enter and connect to where you're sitting, for how long, and perhaps what time of contact you're interested in. People can then access a site and/or touch screens to browse and then connect (or text/mail first).

Perhaps someone should start a company around this? I've considered it...anyone else interested? ;-)

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

John Whiteside — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:43:38 -0000

Tom Shea - I think Graffitio is fascinating and I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more press.

One really counterintuitive thing that I like about it is that it is anonymous - there really isn't any overt connection, you just see what strangers have 'written' in the air around your current location.

After I installed it, I dicovered that there were a couple of 'walls' in my primarily residential neighborhood already.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Netra — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:37:17 -0000

Very interesting idea and I would certainly use if such options were available.

The fact that such meetings can potentially lead to anything goes without saying.How about meeting some long lost friends or relative in a totally diff continent just by signing in on the hotel network. Well, some spooky things are possible but I guess those can always be ironed out. The big picture is people might want to use. I have written about this idea in my blog as well.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Watcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:39:06 -0000

Have you geeks ever put down the computer/iPhone/XML for a moment and stepped into the bar at a hotel?

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Rotkapchen — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:50:17 -0000

Lots of great ideas. Particularly liked comments from Warren Sukernek (including the expansion of all things related -- esp. photos). Edward Wiest's comments immediately brought to mind the need to focus on the role of 'cruise director' as an analogy.

Again, architecturally this would be more of an effort to 'thread together' a view to accommodate the various scenarios and technologies (e.g. leverage Flickr, Britekite -- any number of 'capabilities' -- behind the scenes, but have a 'branded' front that abstracts everything together that makes it look like it's a hotel experience).

Pete Simon's concept of "profile-as-XML" fits this, as well.

Bender was on the right path with the idea of "temporary social networks" -- in this case they're both temporary and virtual, but the elements have value beyond the moment because they're still available elsewhere (e.g. in Flickr). This concept of the diminished value of 'separated' is key to Enterprise 2.0 efforts. I keep insisting, other than for corporate content, there is no value to me creating a collection of links (research) that are part of a corporate-only model, because I lose it all when I leave the company. Same efficiency issues are critical here.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Pete Simon — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:30:23 -0000

If only there was some sort of infrastructure for easily overlaying a social network onto a physical area... that's what we're talking about here.

Much in the same way as we've come to expect a "place" ( a hotel, restaurant, whatever ) to have a website for basic brochure info and maybe more, I think it's time to figure on place- or event-specific networks becoming more common. Clearly there's a need. The idea of bending and folding existing networks or solutions such as MySpace or Twitter to appease this need will work only until someone develops a tailored, elegant solution for it.

Maybe the infrastructure solution that makes that happen could be built so that I could just throw my profile-as-XML ( that I own, or that I've generated on sign-up ) at an instance of a specific location, and instantly I'd have a profile on this or that network. I start going to a local coffee shop and I love it, I see that they have an instance of this insta-social-network, so I throw my profile at it. Boom, now I'm a member of this micronetwork.

The hotel I'm staying at during a conference, the conference itself, the coffeeshop down the street ( or the neighborhood, for that matter ), the cruise I take next month... each having its own virtual network to augment the physical one would be sweet.

Only a matter of time, I suspect. Hmmmmmmm

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

tom shea — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:53:42 -0000

I'm reminded of one of my favorite new iPhone applications. Graffitio allows you to create location-based "walls." So, say you were in the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, a wall created for an place would have comments from all those around, those who came before and space for those that would come after.

I think its a great idea and completely mobile based, great for the hotel bar or restaurant. a quick way to connect.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Adam Singer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:15:21 -0000

This is a neat idea...could also be a great tool for single people like me (in addition to networking, of course!)

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

bender — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:02:13 -0000

One more thing...I wouldn't WANT to stay in it for the long-haul, so there has to be an easy-and-assumed exit.

I'm attending an event, not signing up for life.

Something about receiving emails from a conference organization 2 years after the event bugs the crap out of me.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

bender — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:53:35 -0000

Ton of potential to this idea, Chris.

I'm fascinated by the idea of temporary social networks. Ones tied to specific events (like hotel stays or conferences or concerts).

It seems like there's reason to plug in to such a network before, during, and after these events, but it's temporary.

I think it's different from, say, a fan group on Facebook, because it's tied to a specific moment in time when people will be in the same place.

FWIW, I think you could logically have a travel or vacation-themed network, an entertainment/concert/sports/theater network, a conference network, etc., and have organizers of said events get involved.

Monetization could get messy, but upside is big, I think.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

chrisbrogan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:53:25 -0000

Really interesting perspectives, guys. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk about it.

Re: Should Hotels Have Social Networks

Abdul Salaam — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:08:04 -0000

A few years ago I designed a social network for a cruise line which although a little different than a hotel is certainly related and applicable. Because travel and hospitality is so experiential and guests share experiences often on a ship, a community is a no-brainer here, both for the reasons mentioned above as well as for creating the potential for repeat trips via groups of "travel friends". Sharing of common interests, experiences and photos would be extremely valuable. Repeat engagement and re-activation of infrequent or inactive guests would be extremely worthwhile. In the cruise example, I left the company before the vision was executed and unfortunately a weak representation using photos was implemented, but quickly failed. Carnival cruiselines is probably the most advanced in the area and Sheraton Hotels is using community more for ratings and reviews than anything else.