Archive for November, 2009

The Village Life, Part One—Bulgaria.

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

The month of November in Bulgaria this year has been unseasonably warm; somedays reaching 70*F/22*C. The last couple of weeks I have been taking random pictures of the village for the reader to get a good idea of the village life in Bulgaria.

On Saturday my neighbors butchered up a cow and a big pig. I found the process to be very educational. I got some great pictures of guts, blood and all the gory aspects that consists of butchering up an animal, pictures will be posted soon.


This is one of my neighbors, the gate you see on the right is where I live.

I will be posting a series are articles of the village life here in Bulgaria. The top picture, facing the opposite direction that the above picture, is my street. The house where I live is on the left, pass the car across the street from the green trash can. This is the view of most small villages in Bulgaria. Most houses in the villages have brick walls that create privacy within the home and garden area. Most places that I have traveled have surrounding walls that inclose the property. Some cases the walls define land ownership, also, it can prevent any type of wannabe thievery intrusions. Even though the inclosed comfort zone is cordial, it seems to create odd energy out on the street. I adverted before that outside my gate can consist of a strange energetic undercurrent that transmutes.

The above picture is the street I walk down to the store and the library, facing this direction, my house is to the left. The ladies that are talking by the bench, and about everyday and they always ask "where am I going", which my answer is the same everyday.

The above picture is the town center, the building you see in the background is one of three cafes, I am taking the picture from the red building pictured below; the library with fast DSL is within this building.

During the Soviet era they played movies and presented plays in this building.


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More Bulgaria and Lou Dobbs.

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Here is the wood burning stove, I have plenty of buckets that prevents from going out in the cold and fetching more wood or coal.

Last Thursday I accomplished getting my car registered in Plovdiv, a painless process with all the correct documents in-hand. Also, I paid the insurance, which is very cheap, about $100 a year. Somewhat strange when you think that some Americans might pay $2000 to $3000 a year for car insurance. The insurance in Bulgaria is a socialized state run insurance; everyone pays the same amount. And, I also got the Greed Card that insures me throughout Europe.


Shopping in Plovdiv I found some avocados, ginger and broccoli, very rare items indeed. There are several large stores in Plovdiv that are foreign owned that carry imported items. I also found some burrito tortillas, salsa, Chinese oyster sauce, and some fantastic Japanese sesame oil, and other Asian items. I will make my own taco seasoning, although no sour cream in Bulgaria. Though, at this big foreign owned store it is clearly noticeable that the vegetables and fruits are pesticide/genitally manipulated; the massive size is an indicator. The local vegetables and fruits in Parvomay are home-grown and fresh. Nowadays, I am leaning more raw and light foods such as rice, oats, and lentils. My entire diet has changed since I departed two years ago.

The vegetable roots—beets, radishes, and many others—during the autumn are just outstanding, including the delicious pomegranates. The Pomegranates are the bomb, I slice them in half in a bowl and squeeze out all the hearty red juice, fish out the seeds with a fork, discard the pulp, and refrigerate the bowl overnight. The oats I cook are similar like a granola, with seeds and raisins. I cook the oats in milk, but without letting the oats absorb all the milk, and then append homemade honey. The locally produced Bulgarian sausage is decent if a person likes eating sausage products, my cat is crazy over Bulgarian sausage.

My neighbor is making wine from their grapes and bestowed a bottle of their red stock, excellent home produced vino, also some yummy bean soup and healthy cole slaw without the mayo. I cannot over emphasize that Bulgaria is a nice place once a person is established and you are OK watching the cows shit in the streets, at least here in the village that is the reality. This might sound negative, but it is not; Bulgaria is comfortable, and traditionally relaxed as long as a person avoids the production of a project or any pursuit any ambitious ideas because many ideas just don't pan-out.

The predominant positive aspect to living in Bulgaria as a foreigner is that nobody attempts to charge me more for the item I am buying. In many ways Bulgaria is a fascinating culture, the village life is even more fascinating, I can admit the inclosed comfort zone is cordial. My dealings with the Bulgarian people are that they are honest and friendly, even though a negative undercurrent exists, but considering the dynamics of the government bureaucracy, the police mentality, the low meager wages, it makes sense. In America the predominate emotion is anger, the result of the fleecing that the crooks of the Federal Reserve (which is a private bank) and on Wall Street have created, and the police state that it is progressing to become.

My cat is crazy about my daypack.

Observing from a distance what the ultra greedy western governments, and bankers are pursuing, and especially in the United States is astonishing. Have you asked how can a country that has designed itself as a healthy, hygiene, money rich country that produces the state of the art water and waste systems (even though most American believe their water is unhealthy to drink) and the most advanced technology in disease research, and then there are reports are that over 22 million American have contracted the "Swine Flu". I cannot help from asking if anybody has wondered that these greedy manipulative control freaks of government, bankers, and wall street villains con-cocked this disease to motivate people out of fear to accept the vaccination and to produce more control for when they unleash their New World Order plan? The people who are getting the vaccination have no idea what the mixture contains. Has anyone thought that maybe the high levels of government created this flu virus? The main question to ask is "do you think the leaders in government, banking, and Wall Street are the good guy?"

Lou Dobbs quit CNN after 30 years of broadcasting, he was the only anchor that would attack the actions of the government. I said to myself three years ago that Lou Dobbs would quit or get the axe someday. Maybe he should team up with Alex Jones who reports the honest truth of the wicked actions the government, bankers, and the corporate scam artists in connection to the "New World Order", which will be a reality for everyone. Alex Jones conducts an Internet streaming broadcast, and has a somewhat large cult following; however, he is not on a major network. Because of popularity, Lou Dobbs can cause damage to these greedy, power fanatics. Under a CNN contract they possess control over their employee. Maybe Lou Dobbs, Alex Jones, and Michael Moore will team up.

A growing kitty cat.

For the millions of Americans that refuse to notice what the government and bankers are pursuing, it is time to wake up and prepared for when they act to control the nation with their high-tech gestapo tactics. Interesting enough, when I talk to other open-minded people from Western Europe or the UK with an amiable level of awareness, they comment that the same thing is occurring in their country. Once the Western Plutonomy gain the ultimate level of control to pursue the New World Order of enslavement, the middle-class will be deposed. Even after the Wall Street Bankers swindled 1.4 trillion dollars from the American taxpayers, most American people are still under their delusion, which the root cause of delusion is 60 years of brainwashing deception of the media. Even though a portion of the media workers are waking up, it is the number of years people have immersed themselves in front of the hypnotic television that creates an ultra high alpha brain condition that results in a passive mind.

Not only people need to be prepared for this occurring, they need to prepare for the arrival of the Man of Lawlessness in the flesh who is the master and director in spirit of these greedy tyrants. I am not referring to violence within the context of fighting back when using the term "prepared". The preparation needs to be of Endurance.

My cat loves the wood burning stove.

The people that cannot see this realty are glued to their TV and too afraid to face the truth. The powers of the media had created a propaganda that is a complete delusion; mind controlling TV over the last 60 years has strived earnestly to produce the brain inept to problem solve effectively. Passive activity is creating an indecisive society that unconsciously depends on the media to troubleshoot. The Wall Street Plutonomy, which is a form of fascism under the delusion of democracy is of total corporate enslavement. How many Americans know that an "Environmental Police" exist in New York. The Plutonomy government has created this entire environmental issue, by playing both sides, to make money. Closely contemplate the word Environmental, "Environ" defines as "enclosed", and "Mental" equals: an enclosed mentality.

The awareness of the truth averse to the lie and against the darkness of greed is the predominant issue. There is no stopping what will happen. There will be a rebellion, this is why there are multitudes of Fema concentration camps being built around America. However, the spiritual wise will remain neutral, clearly observe, endure, and teach others the truth: 911 was and inside job.


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PhoCusWright OnLine Ticket: Watch live from your home or office

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

This year I can’t come to PhoCusWright, but I will watch the conference and interact, thanks their great online ticket system.

For the French market, I have a special dedicated discount code, if you are interested.

Just leave a message or a comment, and I will send you the PDF file with explaination and discount code.

In the mean time, here, the global information about the PhoCusWright OnLine Ticket

The new social media interface for The PhoCusWright Conference enables you to watch the conference real-time, interact with the audience and online attendees worldwide, and review archived presentations.

  1. STREAMING VIDEO
    The best speakers, the most crucial topics and the biggest innovations, all on your desktop. Watch 32 Travel Innovation Summit demonstrations on Monday, November 17 and Center Stage speaker presentations on Thursday, November 19.
  2. NETWORK WITH COLLEAGUES
    Interact and network with other online attendees worldwide while watching the conference both live and on-demand. Gain invaluable networking through this extraordinary social media interface using Twitter and proprietary messaging.
  3. AGGREGATED CONTENT FROM HASHTAGS
    Tweet about and filter information most relevant to you by aggregating content from hashtags to give you the full social landscape on a topic. Engage in conversations with other online attendees from around the world during and after the conference.
  4. ON-DEMAND
    All Travel Innovation Summit demonstrations and Center Stage speaker presentations will be archived for 60 days after the conference. Exclusive interviews with industry visionaries will also be posted, giving you insight into the future of travel distribution. Take in the entire conference on your schedule, and review more than once to reinforce insights from industry leaders.
  5. LEARN ABOUT OTHER ATTENDEES
    View profiles of online attendees from around the world. Know who you’re connecting with to facilitate powerful conversations.
  6. POST QUESTIONS TO SPEAK OUT!
    Be an active part of the audience and ask Center Stage speakers questions real-time.

Posted in All Posts, PhoCusWright, center stage, innovation summit, insights from industry leaders, travel distribution, tweet | Comments Off

The Energetic Culture.

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

The other day the children from the school presented a performance of the culture of Bulgaria. Here are a few pictures. The cultural aspects of Bulgaria goes back to folklore. The style of dress and music is always the predominant feature. The family I am good friends with, their youngest daughter of the family preformed amongst the other kids in the old Soviet building on the road to Istanbul, which denotes the center of the village; the small library is within this building with the DSL. Within a certain perplexing position there is a strong sense of community, but then on the other hand many of these people hate each other that is clearly noticeable from the difference in energy from person to person. The family of girls avoid certain people in the village, they are positive girls that understand the importance of avoiding negativity.


I mentioned previously that the energy is transmutable and the undercurrent is afflicted with a negative value. Certain days this village is a great place to live, according to my perception within that moment. The rhythm is certainly slow, the food store is just down the street, while walking down the street to the library or food store I always see someone I know. The acquainted family of girls are very nice and positive. And, my immediate neighbors are pleasant.

On the other hand, some days the energy within the streets is overcome with a strange level of pessimism, and cynicism that causes an atmospheric entrainment of despondency. My dwelling area resides positive energy, and the strange energy that did exist transmuted. But outside the gate into the street presents itself as peculiar.

Many cultures such as the Mediterranean cultures express a closer level of physical contact that entails kissing each other on the cheek as a greeting and farewell. Predominantly, the English speaking countries are observed as distant and in need of space. Certainly, America, Canada, Australia, and the British display a distant nature. However, my good friends in California and I exchanged hugs, this was automatic with my female friends. My experience so far is that the Bulgaria culture is very distant. And, a sentimental nature is nil. Considering the overly emotional nature of sentiments in America, I don't mind the lack of sentiments here in Bulgaria. An imbalanced level of sediments caused from an overly sympathetic disposition that only leads to grief and sorrow.


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Andy is Traveling Haiti.

Saturday, November 7th, 2009
A quick note: Andy the Hobo Traveler is currently in Haiti.

I am sure this trip of his will be interesting to follow @ HoboTraveler.com


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Hoteliers: 10 tips to manage your reputation online

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

Thanks Laureen, Ulrike and Sian from Trivago team, I had a chance to give some tips for the hoteliers in the Trivago newsletter.

I copy my stuff and you can also read the complete newsletter here

Featured market voice of the month:

October 2009

Claude Benard, Consulting & training for hotel and tourism players – Hotelitour

10 tips to manage your reputation online

Travelers all around the world place a lot of trust in other travelers, websites and online travel agencies that allow people to review hotels that they have stayed at.

According to studies, nearly 1 in 5 travelers admit to reading guest reviews online about hotels before making a final booking, and about 1 in 10 travelers will write a review after their stay. Whether you like it or not, this new Internet trend will not change and as a hotel owner it is important to keep up-to-date with what your guests are writing about your hotel on the Internet because reviews (positive and negative) can directly impact your brand and your future bookings.

To help, I have put together 10 tips to help you manage your online reputation.

1 – Monitoring your reviews and hotel brand over the Internet

- Use the free service from Trivago that brings together reviews from a number of different sites, so that you can get an overview of your hotel reviews and watch your POPULARITY INDEX

- Use the free tool to build up your own brand monitoring tool. Sign up for Google and Yahoo email alerts using specific keywords, for example, your hotel name. (http://alerts.yahoo.com/ and www.google.com/alerts). Do the same with blogs and monitor them with http://technorati.com/watchlist/ Create your own personal search engine with http://rollyo.com/ to provide relevant results from a hand selected list of reliable sites with the desired keywords.

2 – Get your staff involved.

All of your staff need to be aware that your guests reviews impact your business. Make trainings at the reception desk and in the sales and marketing department. Nominate a member of staff to take control.

3 – Respond pro-actively

Don’t be afraid about guest reviews and negative reviews, travelers would rather write about their positive experiences than their negative experiences. Respond pro-actively to guest reviews and user generated content. Hotel management can establish a response policy. You should respond to reviews breifly, in a personal and professional manner.

4 – Develop programs to encourage your satisfied guests to write positive reviews.

Remember the mathematic rule; fewer reviews imply a less popular hotel. In your communication with your guests and after each stay you should encourage them to post a review on different reviewwebsites.

5 – Analyze/Improve

You have to take advantage of all this « data » from your guests. It’s marketing « data » for your hotel. Analyze your guest reviews to understand trends, identify gaps in your performance in comparison to your competitors, identify gaps in your hotel services. This « data » can help you with future investment decisions.

6 – Use « guest reviews » in your official communication

For example, in the next email that you send to your guests you can incorporate your guests reviews to help your customers more comfortable staying at your hotel.

7 – Be aware about your guest reviews have a big impact

While there is a high adoption rate with the individual traveler, many meeting planners now use traveler reviews to learn about hotel reputations. Bad comments may prevent your hotel from ever being considered for a group business.

8 – The automation solution

Hotel chains or large hotels may consider investing in an automated tool that monitors all of the conversations that are happening about their properties, rather than looking at dozens of hotel-review sites, blogs, and forums. Is a solution affordable? Use this formula: calculate the hours that it takes to monitor everything and the opportunity cost of what could be accomplished with the efficiency of technology, particularly where revenue generating team members are involved in the process.

9 – Hotel user review widget

You may consider integrating this widget on your website. Ask yourself these questions:

Is the integration easy and safe?

Does the widget have some design flexibility?

Ask your Trivago team representative about the Trivago Hotel Widget.

10 – Participate in global travel discussions.

Engage in discussions with the consumer, your future potential client. It is an essential part of your travel 2.0 marketing strategy; it will improve your brand awareness. I suggest engaging in discussions on leading travel blogs and leading travel forums, I am sure you will learn and discover useful tips and advice.

Conclusion:

Many consumers consult online reviews before making online or offline travel arrangements. Remember that positive as well as negative reviews increase consumer awareness of your hotel and positive reviews improve consumer attitudes towards your hotel.

I wish you all the success for the future!

Posted in All Posts, Analysis, Trivago, hotel, hotel brand, hotel owner, hoteliers, monitoring tool, popularity index, sales and marketing | Comments Off