• MITBCA

    Join MITBCA Conference and learn more about travel blogging #mitbca2012

    Travel is certainly a very hot topic across all social media channels and is one of the top three online topics of discussion and engagement. It surely encourages new network build up, new clientele bases and new innovative ideas being put across. Such rapid movement of social media in travel and leisure industry was the basis of the conceptualization of the inaugural Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards 2012 (MITBCA2012), organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia.

    The conference aims to be a platform for travel writers/bloggers, journalists, authors, editors, travel and tourism professionals as well as international organizations to share exciting stories that will assist the tourism industry to a large extent. And the awards aim to encourage and honour the tourism bloggers across the globe for extensively promoting Tourism in Malaysia.

    The conference will be held on 8th and 9th May 2012 and below are the topics that will be covered:

    8th May 2012

    1. TOURISM SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST TALK

    • “Outreach Beyond Travel Bloggers” – Where to find them and how to interest them in your destination? – Sheila Scarborough (USA)

    2. SESSION ONE – Creating an Engaged Tourism Social Media Community

    • How to identify and build ACTIVE communities through travel blogs – Ali Watters (Scotland)
    • Tips for tourism social media community build up – Kiruba Shankar (India)
    • Community expansion through travel and sharing–the Malaysian experience– David Hogan Jr. (Malaysia)
    • Promoting destinations and services through communities and travel blogs – Shane Dallas (Australia)

    3. SESSION TWO – Entrepreneurship in Tourism Using Social Media

    • Creating leads and generating immediate income – KlubbKid @ Jolly (Malaysia)
    • How to create a tourism blog that stirs up interest – Anuradha Goyal (India)
    • Improving customer services through social media with the help of professionals like that virtual assistant in the Philippines– feedbacks! – James Craven (UK)
    • Driving Engagement and Add Value on Social Media through travel blog – Steve Miller (Thailand)

    4. SESSION THREE – Enjoy Your Holiday and Talk About It – The Effective Campaign through New Media

    • Lifestyle and travel – go places and blog about it! – Wilson Ng (Malaysia)
    • Shoppers paradise – Laurence Norah (Philippines)
    • Food Junction – eat, drink and blog – Anis Nabilah (Malaysia)
    • Taking a Break – closing in the gap and connecting with YOUR people – Hanie Hidayu (Malaysia)

     9th May 2012

    SPEAKER’s HIGHLIGHT
    The Great Equalizer: How the Social Web Helps Any Destination Play in the Big Time

    • Intriguing INSIGHT of people and organizations using social media to increase the vibrancy and visibility of their tourism destinations, products and services. – Jojo Styrus & David Hogan Jr. (Malaysia)

    SESSION FOUR – Measuring return on investing in tourism using social media

    • Setting reasonable key performance indicators – the number will show – Stephen Doss (Malaysia)
    • Trend setters in travel and leisure – how to engage with them – James Craven (UK)
    • Monetizing via social media – where to start and how to grow – Gerald Ang (Thailand) & Namritha Seghal (India)

    The Effects of Online Social Media on Tourism Websites Globally

    • Session is open for delegates to post questions on twitter – live on screen
    • Question and answers from the floor – taken and answered by the panel members
    • Moderated by: Terence Dass – “Hello On Two” RTM Malaysia
    • Panel Members: A Senior Official from Ministry of Tourism Malaysia – MOTOUR (Malaysia), President, Malaysia Social Media Chambers – Shahul Hameed, A Senior Official from MCMC (SKMM)

    PARALLEL SESSION – WORKSHOP ONE

    • How to make social media tools work for tourism — Live demos of several tools like Twitter, Facebook personal and business pages, LinkedIn professional networking, the backend of a Word Press blog, how to shoot and upload simple videos, etc.

    PARALLEL SESSION – WORKSHOP TWO

    • Social Media in Tourism and Leisure Business – maximizing the use of new media and the best corporate secretarial services for tourism related businesses. Best practices and tips to optimize existing social media channels available.

    Registration for the conference is FREE, so register HERE.

    conference will be launched by YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism, Malaysia. The award winners will be revealed on the eve of 8th May. A total 0f 376 blogs were nominated in 16 categories.

    For more information – see: MITBCA website, MITBCA on FaceBook and MITBCA on Twitter. Please join the group and get updated with travel and tourism news.

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