France is Coming Up…Another Great Reason to Keep Travel Blogging
Regular blogging has its rewards. I am happy to report the fruits of my blogging that came through a couple of weeks ago. And this also speaks to the power of social media as a connecting glue that keeps people on other people’s minds. I say this because I am friends with a good number of travel writers and other very connected people who refuse to use social media and scoff at its value…despite whatever I may say in the matter.
A lot of travel writers think they are above the lowly bloggers, they are “real” travelers and they think that blogging and Tweeting is for kids. So when invitations come in for press trips who are looking for bloggers, well, these guys are kicked to the curb. Right now I have trip that I am hoping to send a writer on…but it’s for travel bloggers only. And I can count on just one hand the people I know in the business who regularly update a blog.
My good fortune came when the French Tourism commission was sent a request. They wanted a blogger to come speak about social media in Dijon. They needed someone who could speak about techniques for using social media to promote wine tourism, and so…their New York office picked me. I was thrilled, as I enter my tenth year of regular blogging. I know quite a bit about this business.
After the round table discussion in Champagne, there will be a three-day press jaunt. If you’ve been to France you know what a great province this is. I recall the rolling hills and the pretty vistas that Champagne has. I can’t wait to get back, the last time I saw this place was in 1988 before I was a travel writer. After the Champagne trip, I’m heading up north to a region called Pas du Nord. The big city up here is Calais, and the scenes I saw of the spacious beaches looked awesome. I am going to go sand sailing and visit the newest French museum. It’s called the Louvre Lens, a new incarnation of Paris’ most famous museum in a far northern locale.
So that’s the reason I keep on blogging. Besides being able to write theater and music reviews in the Valley, it’s a great way to share a trip every day. And you never know when some tourism board might want a speaker to come share knowledge about social media!