Google’s Spam Problem, The Social Graph Search & the future, and definition of, privacy.

How will interaction by the brand influence, connect, or impact the future of the social graph legitimizing and strengthening search? *That’s* not even the important question – The real question will be how will a search built off network science control and influence brands? Will there, finally, be a thwarting of the spam through human powered relevance ranking? Will poor management styles, lack of interaction, or opaque manipulation of the consumer made to be transparent in regards to the brand?

Our level of engagement is going to be more important in the future in a way that we can’t measure or perceive right now, and we are laying the groundwork to be heads and shoulders above other hotels in revelance and footprint. Just as some hotels are *still* reeling from missing out on the SEO boom, some hotels & brands that think social is a joke will be in the same boat when the semantic web gains a stronger foothold. It’s just – *how* will a brand’s engagement alter or impact a socially engaged search?

Posted on By Michael

The Importance of Fence Sitting, with Dr. Richard P. Feynman; Our “Thought of the Day” in Hospitality & Business

“in any organization there ought to be the possibility of discussion… fence sitting is an art, and it’s difficult, and it’s important to do, rather than to go headlong in one direction or the other. It’s just better to have action, isn’t it, than to sit on the fence? Not if you’re not sure which way to go, it isn’t.”

Posted on By Michael

The “Ubiquitous Susan Black”, Industry Titan, talks Travel’s past, present, & future #SMTRAVEL

“With the like button, with Tripadvisor, and different applications… they will find their way. You can’t just dismiss the powerhouses of today just because they don’t have the right applications. That would be like dismissing Google in the past because the algorithm was a little off. You have got to understand that these companies have the bandwidth, the smarts, and the money – and travel is one of the largest if not *THE* largest online opportunity, vertical, and once they have their sights set on it, they will figure it out.”

Posted on By Michael

Narcissism, Brand Pages, and the Challenge of Facebook.

Are numbers this small to be expected? In the world of hard to track impressions and marketing measurements that provided some data and guidance (however skeptical I always am) – some people have said, “so what, who cares, it’s to be expected”. But numbers *THAT* small? Is that part of the Pareto Efficiency, or does the principle come into play (if you believe in that)?

Posted on By Michael