Great online companion piece to the recent New York Times story on life as an air traveller in the US these days. Yes, flying isn't what it used to be. But - hate to tell you - as most in the industry know, US travellers did it to themselves by acting in a way that shows that price is pretty much all that matters. Yes, there is something to be said for hubs and dominance allowing for poorer inflight experience, but mostly it's the fact that travellers vote with their wallets. And now, the airlines are convinced and are acting accordingly.

I would be interested in knowing how Air Canada's move to differentiate by allowing buyers to add-on to their tickets online is working out. Certainly, their moves to sell online-only passes and only-from-them fare classes are commercially smart. But regardless, their inflight experience and pitch is so much better than virtually any US based carrier that it doesn't really matter. They - and WestJet too, for that matter - are in frankly a different league.

Too bad Canadian travellers don't seem to appreciate that.

 

I just finished my first appearance as the Web Expert on this new show.

It's hosted by Dianne Buckner, who also hosts Dragon's Den on CBC, and it's a pretty cool concept. They identify trends and then focus on people attempting to crack them (the aforementioned "Fortune Hunters"). As opposed to the Den, which is entertaining television but a lousy way to raise money, this one is much more focused, thoughtful and fun. Of course, it's also more a true business thing as opposed to the Den, too, which might be why I like it more.

Hope they do more episodes in future. I enjoyed it.

 

A cautionary tale about changing corporate focus in the tourism space, if ever there was one.

 

We are working towards mesh08 and are asking for your input. What do you want to see? Who would you want to hear from?

See the full post on the mesh blog, and leave a comment with your thoughts there.

 

Now this is how you save the planet.

 

Smart. They never got either the value or the synergy as a roll-up, in my view. Synergies were already maximzed via commercial agreements and otherwise they were a force at best.

 

 

Just happened across this:

"TripAdvisor also recently announced the acquisition of smartertravel.com, bookingbuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com. TripAdvisor also recently announced the acquisition of smartertravel.com, bookingbuddy.com; SeatGuru.com; TravelPod.com; and Travel-Library.com"

Wow. They're buying everybody that could control consideration and reach at the very early stages of travel planning. Not a bad idea, as long as you don't prostitute yourself (as TripAdvisor itself has done, in my opinion). Keeps the cost of reach down in the long haul, and keeps them from being meaningful sources for suppliers.

Neat to see TravelPod in there - they are an Ottawa-area based travel blog roll-up site.

 

Congrats to former Hotwire (Expedia-purchased) colleague Gregg Brockway on the launch of TripIt.com (http://www.tripit.com) at the TechCrunch40 event happening this week in California.

TripIt is a kind of pull-it-together travel itinerary tool, whereby you can make reservations in multiple locations and still end up with a single itinerary. In Gregg's words:

"TripIt helps you organize your travel plans. You simply forward all your travel confirmation emails to TripIt and we automatically create a master itinerary with your combined plans plus daily weather, local maps, directions and more. Then you can expand your master itinerary and share it with your friends"

It's not hard to see other possible revenue sources via affiliate relationships, meta search or advertising. As more of the US market's vanilla air / hotel / car business continues to move from third parties to suppliers, this type of a service starts to make a lot of sense.

(via BlackBerry)

 

Amazing to see 200+ people all from the tech world sitting here at the Toronto Board of Trade, grooving on some pretty cool stuff being done right here in T.O.

Man, it feels *great* to see all this capability and energy, focused on solving problems, and being done right here in Ontario.

Yay, us.

Hardly shocking to read that IAC-controlled Expedia is possibly looking to buy-back $3.5 billion in stock or up to 42% of the company at an offer of $30/share. The Financial Times also reports that there are rumours the company may spin out it’s TripAdvisor unit and eliminate up to 400 positions. In an odd turn, given that they don’t normally comment about such things, the company has denied these rumours.

 

Given that Expedia’s domestic growth has essentially stopped (1% revenue increase in Q1) and it’s international growth is underwhelming (25% growth looks fine, but it’s a far cry from the triple-digit stuff of not-too-long ago and on a small base, to boot) you can easily see why it’s valuation might be under scrutiny.

 

Layer in the fact that the only real share price growth Expedia has seen since it was spun out the second time, about two years ago, appears to have been the last stock buy-back, and that IAC’s principle investor and Diller’s friend John Malone’s Liberty Media might well be wondering where their money is, and you can easily see why another buy-back might be in the cards.

 

Finally, the pressure on the model itself is intense. Strong competition from Travelocity,Orbitz and other third party players, the growing power of suppliers who want to control their distribution, the rise of meta-search tools like Kayak and SideStep, plus overall category maturation and you don’t have to squint too hard to see why getting the price up and getting out of Dodge might work out just fine.

 

UPDATE: Expedia has issued a release confirming this buy-back. However, this quote from Diller is beyond my ability to wrap my head around:

"With this action, we couldn't be clearer that the management and the Board of this company are confident in the value of Expedia and in its long term future," said Barry Diller, Expedia, Inc.'s Chairman and Senior Executive."

I guess maybe I'm just slow...

 

Congratulations to my former Expedia Europe colleagues on the launch of TVTrip.com, a bilingual (so far) video rich travel comparison site. The team, including Marc Ruff - former head of Expedia France, Anja Keckeisen - former head of Expedia Germany, and Fabien Bourdier - Marc's Number Two at Expedia France, are some my favourite, and among the most talented, members of the original Expedia team (I actually interviewed Marc and Fabien Back In The Day), so I am very pleased to see them getting back in the saddle.

More comment about the service itself once I have had a chance to spend more time with it. It looks pretty solid from a content perspective for a beta, though. They have been busy.

 

I don't know why I'm noticing more travel related stuff these days, but I am. This one caught my eye, from The Canadian Travel Press, a travel industry publication, with a primarily retail travel agent readership. The piece asks several travel agents across Canada the following question (and for the record, I am a huge fan of traditional travel agents, and think that the good ones are worth their weight in gold). Here is the question and one very telling answer:

Q: Do you believe that Internet booking companies like Expedia are cutting into your business significantly?

A: "I know we [travel agents] lose sales. It's a problem, but what can we do?"

- Suzanne Goyer, Suzanne Goyer Travel, Montreal

Well. I'm just not going to say anything further. That quote alone speaks volumes in many, many ways.

 

I share a few thoughts about WestJet's challenge to expand distribution in the US, and add new routes. The story is here.

The Star Alliance comment is true, but the real issues are deeper than what the reporter was able to fit into the story.

Firstly, the real strength of Star Alliance for Air Canada on transborder is the United codeshare, which ensures that US originating passengers flying to Canada see Air Canada flights, since they carry usually carry a United flight number. Same with US Airways (which includes the former America West now, too). This is huge, because it guarantees visibility (albeit under another name) for these services in a market where Air Canada is not well known, ties in to other connecting flights providing additional source passengers, and gives points on the other airline's loyalty program.

Secondly, WestJet's challenge isn't just in securing interline and codeshare partners (to provide valuable inbound connecting passengers, and allow it to feed same on the outbound) but in talking to and working with them. As a low cost carrier model, WestJet has had a mostly closed system in which they operate the airline and distribute their seats. I hear that they have tried to make a change to use technology provided by Travelport, which I have been told has been a real mess (if true, I'm far from surprised. Travelport has been a major disapointment almost since it's inception). Working with other carriers and other distributors means more technology investment and increased pain of "participation" in various platforms used to sell airline tickets, all of which complicates the WestJet model. Plus, they end up having to pay all the various parties for this distribution, much like full service carriers do, reducing their overall yield per ticket sold. This is as opposed to carriers like Ryanair who simply don't use any distribution and keep costs low and control in-house.

A smaller issue is that WestJet doesn't offer a First or Business Class service, which makes it harder for it to offer interline, or connecting, services to Asian or European carriers who do.

The real question, for me, is why WestJet seems hell-bent on going the full-service-type distribution route. They need to expand, sure, but this way of distributing their product adds cost and reduces control, especially in a world of increasing online distribution where the suppliers should hold the cards.

I certainly wouldn't be going that way. But that's just me :)

 

Startupnorth.ca has the full story here: http://www.startupnorth.ca/2007/06/07/the-tvg-is-dead-long-live-ventures/

While it's unfortunate to see a group who was essentially supposed to be about fostering start-up financing and creating opportunities for them cease operations, you have to wonder about their stated reasoning. If they were suffering from a market that no longer wanted to support them, when they were supposed to be supporting that very market, what does that say about relevance?

(Posted via 'berry)

Great piece here.

My view: they underestimate the "commerce" part by a long shot. TripAdvisor jumped the shark eons ago; it's a store pure and simple at this point, lipstick or not.

But still a good story and they are still the most successful example of monetizing community this side of eBay.

(posted on the train via wifi)

 

It's going great. Lots of posts on the mesh blog http://www.meshconference.com/blog

(Via berry)

Congrats to the following who have been selected as the mesh 15 minutes of fame, class of 2007. Great stuff:

    -  Conceptshare: a Web-based, real-time collaboration tool for designers

    -  FiveLimes: a community for those concerned about the environment

    -  Sneakerplay: a social network for fans of sneakers and street culture

    -  Octopz: a service that powers document collaboration

    -  Demofuse: a tool for websites to automate guided tours of their
       services

    -  WildApricot: a hosted website solution designed for non-profit
       agencies

Each of these folks will get 5 minutes in the main room at mesh. I can't wait to hear from each of them.

Also, mesh is sold-out and we have cleared the waitlist as best we can, so if you had asked to be on the waitlist and have not heard from us, unfortunately we weren't able to accomodate you.

 

Looking forward to seeing you all next week.

(Via 'berry)

We are down to the wire with mesh tickets, so if you have put off getting yours I would suggest you not do so much longer.

We will keep working on floorplans to ensure that we can fit in as many people as possible, and will keep tickets on sale for as long as we can, but the fire limit is the fire limit so we can only do so much.

As they say, book early to avoid disappointment (except, um, really in this case).

http://www.meshconference.com

(Posted via 'berry)

I'm once again Chair of the CIRA Nominating Committee, and again am looking for a few good people to put themselves forward as possible Board Members. CIRA is the body responsible for running the .ca domain, on behalf of the People of Canada.

Would you be interested? Check out http://www.cira.ca or ping me at stuart at stuartmacdonald dot ca.

In case it wasn't already obvious, I've decided to reduce my blogging for a while.

I've been travelling, have had little time in front of a computer screen (I'm posting this via blackberry from a playground with my daughter) and have a lot on my plate currently. So that, together with a bit of a lack of passion for a specific topic, frankly, has led me here.

To me, a blog is much more than just writing rambling somethings to no one. It is participating in a discussion which the technology enables -- and the truth is I just really can't get to that conversation right now.

My one-time alma-mater, First Choice Holidays PLC - the parent of Signature Vacations - is merging with the massive German based TUI to form an even more massive travel cencern. This seems like a win for all. First Choice needed a tie up, their management team is solid, and consolidation in the leisure travel world isn't likely to slow down anytime soon.

Now, if they can only get that internet thing to go away, everybody can be happy :)

 

This could be huge, in terms of service and pricing.

 

I'm hanging at the ICE new media conference through Thursday. I'm on a panel about the future of the 'net and moderating one on monetizing social media.

If you are here, say hi.

http://www.ice07.com

The event is kicking off with a Gala this evening. Maybe 200 people here - feels lightly attended, to me.

Back by popular demand, we are hosting another mesh mixer. After the last, heaps-o-fun event in the Fall, we thought it high time to do it again.

Super casual, no big agenda, just a chance to connect as we roll towards this year's mesh in May. We buy the munchies, you buy the drinks and everybody's happy ;)

It's at the Charlotte Room (http://www.charlotteroom.com) is at 19 Charlotte Street, near Spadina and King in Toronto.

Hope to see you there.

Last week, my friends at eBay once again brought Jeff Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future at USC (http://www.digitalcenter.org) to Toronto, to present the latest in their continuing study of our online habits and their impact. The stuff is fascinating - especially to a data junkie like me - so I would encouage you to read the highlights at the link above if you are interested in where it is all headed. His findings around young people and community are truly intriguing.

Also, Edelman presented the latest in their annual Trust Barometer survey results. NGOs score highest as organizations, but "people like me" are still King. Is it any wonder that Social Media is all the rage? Thanks to the 'net, it has never been easier to find those "people like me" and see what they're thinking. Marketers: ignore this at your peril.

Finally, I was one on a panel for the Canadian Public Relations Society, discussing Social Media - and blogging, specifically. A podcast of the whole thing is up on the InsidePr site (http://www.insidepr.ca) so you can catch it there. It was pretty fun to do - with 2 of my mesh Partners also on the panel, together with a lovely food blogger named Jasmine.

My key message: don't forget to put the "public" in these relations, you PR types. Blogs are written by passionate folks who are doing it for free. Don't expect that your standard media pitch will be necessarily well received.

Thanks to David "Blog Boy" Jones of Fleishman-Hillard for moderating.

That's it for now. I am trying to post more frequently - sorry for the lack of links and any typos - I'm doing this on my 'berry while on the go, after I lost the better version of this post a little while ago. And yes - I did type this with my thumbs, on the subway :)

So, I finally took an hour to write and link to a bunch of neat stuff that's going on - and then when I went to save it, the system cacked and I lost it. Like a 1985 computer glitch thing. Blue Screen of Death. I couldn't believe it.

Well, suffice to say that there is a lot going on. I will get to it later, I guess.

Grrr...

 

Fabulous - and very on-the-nose - post about DaimlerChrysler's slippery slide into brand oblivion.

 

Like last year, thanks to our Sponsors, we are offering a limited number of post-secondary Student mesh tickets at the uber-low price of $25 plus GST.

And like last year, they are going *fast* so heads up that if you want in, be prepared to show a Student I.D. at the event and buy yours soon.

Click "Register" at http://www.meshconference.com.

And don't say I didn't warn you.

(posted from chilly a power-free house via BlackBerry)

At long last, mesh 07 is Go for take-off. And what an event it is looking to be. When Mike, Mathew, Rob, Mark and I decided to do this for the first time last year, our sincerest wish was to create a venue that would cast some light on "What's next online?" Well, It looks like we are getting that done.

Our keynotes are stellar: Richard Edelman, Jim Buckmaster, Michael Arrington, Tom Williams and Austin Hill each bring their own viewpoints and experience to "What's next online."

Our Presenting Sponsors are stellar: Windows Live, Edelman, Yahoo! and JLA Venture Partners have humbled us with their support, and we are very thankful.

Our Supporting Sponsors are also an illustrious group: eBay, ITAC, Expedia.ca, Canada News Wire, gwp brandengineering, Cisco, Chapters-Indigo.ca, MaRS and MCC Planners have all said that this is an event that matters. Thank you.

We are still working on the rest of our content and schedule, but we are really excited about how it's shaping up. Mark, Mathew, Rob and Mike have more, as does Mathew on the mesh blog.

All that's missing is you.

Register now.

After a break (there's a pun there for those "in the know") I am back online. I will be posting more regularly again, I promise.

Just after the Holidays I heard from Mel Crothers, the so-called whistleblower on the WestJet spying scandal. You may recall that Mel told Globe and Mail reporters Brent Jang and Patrick Brethour that he "didn't expect a thank you from Robert Milton." Well, Mel tells me that a nice, personal Thank You note is exactly what he got not too long ago.

Nicely done, Robert.

 

Standing with fellow revellers and my significant other ("Suprise! We're going to New York! Pack a bag, the kids are with Gram"), Anna awaiting the arrival of 2007 in New York City.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful 2007.